When an object-artifact suggests itself for inclusion in the Agincourt matrix, the question for me is obvious: How does a new thing enhance, extend, or expand the story? So, when the image below (actually only a part of the image, but this was the best I could download from eBay) showed up, I knew it was too good to pass by. Also, the price was right—about the cost of two lattes, in these parts—and it seemed more illustration than art, which meant fewer competitors. I was fortunate to be the only bidder and the piece is on its way. Now: What to make of it?

An object must do one of two things for the project. It either 1) creates a new thread in the narrative, something to be woven into existing fabric, or 2) avoiding the “loom analogy” for a moment, it affords an opportunity to link parts of the story, characters or events. Perhaps it was the illustrative nature of “The Apothecary” that caused me to think of artist Karl Wasserman, theater director Seamus Tierney, and author-dramatist Abel Kane. How might this illustration link these three near contemporaries?

Working.