Hello from Vermont. I am in my late 60s. Most of my experience with psychedelics was in my early 20s but recently grew some psilocybin and partook out of renewed interest and years of reading on the topic.. My interest is in the metaphysical, spiritual/shamanic, healing and creative aspects of psychedelics. My use of psychedelics fueled decades of spiritual practice and artistic growth. My major medium is stained glass( website removed by self after reading attitude page, sorry), with gardening being a close second but I also paint, and carve wood and play the flute. I want to try DMT in various forms. I am looking for a place to talk about my psychedelic interests and would like to post my art on the Nexus gallery and get some discussion feedback from others about visionary art. I need to get to work this morning , so I'm keeping this introduction brief but greetings and good will.
Intro continued: I like the precepts of the website shown in the 'about' and 'attitudes' pages. I need to bone up on the chemistry and extraction methods as well as a more thorough botanical vocabulary to be able to get membership privileges and to get the most form nexus interactions. I want very much to try aya or pure spice, but am trying to keep gas fueled travel to a minimum,
I also want to check out other persons' introduction pages and get a feeling for the interactions happening here. I really like the lack of insults. I personally think even the strongest disagreements are best exchanged with respect.
Cont.
Have been reading intro pages. Wow. Some powerful trip reports. also reading some extraction information(https://www.dmt-nexus.me/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=1085) recommended by dreamer 042

Hard to introduce myself without showing some art. The image below was painted in mixed media as the result of my first psylocibin trip in many years. There was this moment where I slipped into a dream state and everything was like the liquid proteins inside an egg. Everything was translucent. Then some darkish stuff was coming around and it seemed like a jaguar emerged from the liquid light to dispel the fears. I will also be adding 2 more images from my glass art. When I returned in my 30s to art making as a serious endeavor, getting a teaching credential for art and english, I found many of the ideas that had been at work in my mind over the years had origins in the psychedelic experience. I was particularly fascinated with water, light, the plant world, and certain mythic stories like Jacob’s ladder of angels. The 1st window below was a breakthrough piece for me, breaking away from starting with a plan or drawing and starting instead with glass arranged on a light table. The appearance of a collage element from art history( Fra Lippi’s impish angel) was also new. This collage approach does not so much capture the visual qualities of a psytrance but for me it allows me to get at the connection of diverse elements that emerges from visionary states and to dance accross time. I kept working with the ladder of angels theme for years and came to the conclusion that it was an image of the universal genetic code of life embodied in the double helix. I came to this insight before Jeremy Narby’s book came out and was veryt pleased to see others coming to the same conclusion from a different body of experience. Below the oriiginal ladder of angels window is a recent work with the same theme that came out of a dream with a blue fence weaving its way through creation.

Welcome to the nexus.

I visited your website and I am impressed. If going to a church I often wondered how in the old days they created this beautiful art. Unfortunately as with everything, time is relentless and no matter the quality, things finally go bad. Luckily there are still people that do have the craftsmanship to repair and maintain the stained glass imagery. Tribute to your profession .

Thanks strtman
I got into stained and later fused glass primarily as an artist to do original work which is most of the work on my website. But I soon found that most paying work in the field is the conservation of older windows. So I learned to do that working at one of the most prestigious restoration studios on the east coast. Truth be told prestige is as much about salesmanship as it is about talent or rigorous and elegant craftsmanship. But I certainly learned a lot about stained glass doing conservation work.

Glass can last a heck of a long time and retain its original qualities. The oldest intact windows are from the 12th century. That oldest glass has more soda content than modern glass and needs to be protected from acidic precipitation.