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.
DSH notebook 
