meditations

Although it’s thoroughly Spring outside complete with the showers we should have had in April, my mind has been moving forward and contemplating deeper, woodier hues, darker spaces, and scents.  Particularly, I have been meditating on dry, incense, subtly smoke-tinted resins and woods.  It may be that I have been working on a series of designs for Dawn Perfume in Japan; a collection that I design for and reflects a kind of west meets east collaboration between myself and my cohorts (the link takes you to ‘cohort’ Anzu’s instagram).  Which isn’t to say that everything I create for Dawn Perfume is of this woody, meditative vibe.  In fact, most is not.

 

No, there’s something coming out of the ether that wants to manifest.  I find myself dreamily contemplating soft, powdered wood shavings and the accompanying burnt sugar and smoke lingering to give an added dryness to the sensation.  And frankincense.  I’ve just received a new batch of the most wonderful frankincense from Oman (boswellia sacra) with a potent sweet gummy-ness and dry spice complex that makes me swoon every time I open the bottle.  I’ve also been going, again and again, to a new batch of frankincense absolute (boswellia serrata) from India.  It’s got a touch more of the typical terpene bite of many Olibanum essential oils, but it also has some of that spicy, gummy quality that the ‘sacra’ has only less sweet.  And delicious cedar; the drier, the better.  I’m daydreaming in Texas cedar with all of that tar and smoke, hiba (even with that band-aid thing you do), and dusty, soft Virginia cedar.  (How could I forget you?)   I’m really feeling compelled to sit down and get some sketching done.  But what is the premise, exactly?   This is not my usual way.  Generally, I get a very clear picture or series of images with a new inspiration for a perfume.  It all comes at once and I have to take time to put the pieces together and design in my head until it’s distilled but this one is coming on hazy clouds and shadowy half images as seen through gauze.  Maybe my psyche is just telling me I need more time to sit in meditation; or maybe I just have to keep looking through the smoke.

What are your thoughts on this subject ?  I’d love to hear…

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image credits: I found these images on the web: japanese crane screen image here; japanese temple image here.

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the retrograde files :: part 1

Mercury has just gone direct.  (woo hoo!)  I’m sure that a bunch of you have heard of the astrological term “Mercury Retrograde” which basically means that the appearance of Mercury, as it moves in its orbit when seen from earth, looks like its moving backwards.  Symbolically, it means that everything you are trying to do to get ahead on projects, move through traffic, deal with communication of any kind, etc, will also be moving (or feel like it’s moving) backwards, too.  Travel goes haywire, electronics get goofy, and the basic gist is to stop working on moving forward as it’s time to do a re-wind so you can reexamine old ideas, old projects, and or older works to see if they can or should be updated, made more perfect, or reworked in some way or just tossed on the heap.  It’s great for clearing out and making room for the new as well.  So while now is the time for getting back to the *new* stuff, as this phase passes I’m still working on something I’m calling the “retrograde files”.  Its actually kind of exciting.

 

 

I’ve been slowly compiling a list of materials, oils, single notes, and older designs that I used to sell on my website that people still write in and ask for.  Usually clients can get these items by special order or what have you but I’ve been attempting to create some “Archives” pages for the site so as to make the process easier.  And instead of getting annoyed at the apparent cosmic slowdown, it’s been a wonderful journey, like taking some extra quiet time to look at a scrap book or an old photo album.  It’s the scented equivalent of “This is your Life”.

 

 

As I’ve looked around in my notebooks and dug out some old bottles I’ve rediscovered some very interesting ideas and lovely perfume names (you know I love that) that I had sort of forgotten about.  Some of these designs are from very early in my body of work and I see now that had I had some of the materials available now, the concepts might have been realized very differently.  So, my big idea is this: when Mercury goes retrograde I’m going to set myself down to re-imagine some of these older works.  It’s a go with the flow and artistically grow kind of thing.  I don’t know if I will release the new visions or not but I know that I will enjoy the process.  I like this looking back / looking forward notion.  We’ll see how it goes and I’ll keep you posted. ❤

ps: here’s the next retrograde phases for 2016: August 30 – September 22; and Dec 19 2016 – Jan 8, 2017.

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image credits: I found these images on the web: beautiful mercury planet image found here; moving backward image here; berlin 1994 photo album here.

 

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dude, you smell great

It’s no surprise that more and more men are stopping into the studio to find the perfect scent.  I’ve been blessed with a pretty strong male clientele from the beginning of my perfume practice, but lately there have been more than the usual…and I love this…for lots of reasons.  I’ve known for quite awhile that scent culture is blossoming among young men; that they are checking out niche firms alongside the mainstream houses to see what’s new, what’s different, and even what’s challenging.  Yes, challenging; intellectually and aesthetically.  I think this is huge.  We know that scent has the power to get inside you before you are consciously aware and start you on a path to emotion, memory, and experience.  Now add that it can open your mind to design elements that may not be initially ‘handsome’, or easy, or even recognizable.  There is a push that can make you go deeper and the result is a true(er) connection to yourself and the art that you are experiencing.

 

 

 

Unlike many perfume establishments, in my studio / shop I don’t categorize the perfumes by fragrance family, dominant note, or gender.  I arrange the bottles by collection as each collection has meaning, a story, and a relationship between its members.  It’s my hope that people will take notice of how each design relates to the others sitting next to them.  This can be a little disorienting to the casual shopper who doesn’t know what they’re in for when they walk in.  I often get asked: “Where’s the stuff for guys?” to which I reply, “everywhere”.  🙂   This allows me to ask some important questions so that I am able to curate a bit for each client.  I like that.  Not so much to be in control but to break the usual patterns to allow for a really authentic experience.

 

In the past few months I’ve been seeing some interesting patterns forming and I’m pleased because some really great scents (IMO, of course) have been getting some serious love.  SEVEN, one of the first designs I created specifically with men in mind and with a kind of meditative yet vintage-y (non-fougere) vibe has been the pick of a number of new clients.  I love its vetiver meets incense, woods, and herbs.  It’s really easy to wear and since it’s 88% botanical there’s an intrinsic quality and depth to the perfume that comes through.  SEVEN has had a steady stream of admirers over the years since it came out, as a limited edition, in 2002.  It hasn’t been a sleeper, but as of late it seems to just hit the spot and I am really happy about it.  Another design that came out with SEVEN that’s been garnering new fans is Michelangelo.  When I created this design I didn’t have scotch on my mind (and the “whiskey notes / boozey thing” hadn’t happened yet) but there is a really distinctive single malt scotch note to the opening of Michelangelo that I truly love.  It’s not exactly Macallan, but it’s in that ball park.  It bursts open with a slightly herbal nuance, and a hint of oak and caramel in the background but it’s not sweet and it’s very low on the (smoky/loamy) peat.  The remainder of Michelangelo is a wood paneled men’s club (think the Bohemian Club meeting at the Bohemian Grove ) with the whispers of the cigars once smoked and patina-ed leather armchairs.  Michelangelo is also high in naturals (94%) and masculine in very artistic way… (maybe that’s why a number of women also love and wear it, too!)

 

 

 

From my viewpoint there may be a trend in the making for herbal notes.  I’m not sure if this is because younger people are getting more familiar with herbs through exposure to aromatherapy or new culinary interest, or if it’s because it’s very foreign and new.  I do see more and more interest, especially from men, in herbs, conifers, and woods.  We know there will always be a love of musk (the clean and the dirty ones), leather and oakmoss, as well as the citruses.  And vanilla is still really big with the guys (Vanille Botanique and Vanilla Bourbon Intense, I’m looking at you), but I am very encouraged by the recent gravitation to the retro-nouveau / classic stylings of SEVEN and Michelangelo.  As they say in Boulder: Dude, you smell great!

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image credits: found on the web: 1st image found here, 2nd image found here, 3rd image here.

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on the green

Once again it’s been a pretty cool and rainy Spring.  Last year we had a similar vibe with days at a time of mountain in fog and mist; and real rainy days (which don’t happen like they do in New York or Boston, my two locales before making Boulder my home).  It produces a wildly vivid greenness in the grass and the new leaves just starting to come in full as we get ready to move to Summer.

I absolutely love the moist earth smells, the freshness of the lawn with its sweet apple-y watermelon rind mixed with hay, the cool mineral-y vaporous atmosphere that resides around the irises as they open to the world.  Since creating last year’s “big project”, Giverny in Bloom for Denver Art Museum, I seem to re-connect with the green perfumes that I have created over the years all the more.  Maybe it’s because the real garden I was using to model the gardens at Giverny was my own.  I am so familiar with that violet / violet leaf / misty cool greenness meets powdery sweetness mixing in the air with the slightly fruity anisic nectar of the iris all mingling with the fuzzy spicy woody glue-like lilacs around and in my yard.  I don’t have nearly the explosive volume or variety of Giverny but the pieces are there for me to puzzle together again and again.

 

 

 

Recently at the AIX fair in LA I got to do a soft re-launch of my “CHROMA” collection and in preparation I was filling lots of sample vials and mini flasks of Celadon: A Velvet Green and Viridian.  Again, the experience was filled with remembrance of Springs past.  The deep, almost dark forest-y quality of Viridian juxtapose the soft, almost frosted stillness of Celadon seemed completely in step with this current spring, a rather misty and dark mood.  It occurs to me just how much I love the green fragrance in all of its forms.  Even the muguet in my neighbor’s garden returns me to the roots, as it were, of my love affair with green.  This Spring, once again, I’m feeling inspired by the bounty and intensely joyful rebirth, even with its dark, rather cool, and drizzly days, to explore the “green”.  Two new designs are tapping on the shoulder of my creative psyche asking to be put down to paper in the notebooks and maybe sketched sometime soon.  I’ll leave you to wonder what they are and what will come up next. 😉

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rainy day dreaming

It’s day three of rain and fog, and it’s beautiful.  Misty, subtle color saturation, and soooo much green.  I never know how long this part of Spring will last.  My garden loves it and so do I.

 

 

It sets me to thinking about art, image making, new perfumes, and setting my heart free.  Lately there has been so much busy-ness, travel, and so much to do.  The sound of the rain and the feel of the mist make me want to slow down and….dream.

 

 

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