blue-violet-grey = the color of “perfume” {aka carrie meredith’s bespoke perfume part 1}

the * blue-violet-grey hue

Today is a special day… not just because it is 9-11 or my birthday (yep: really) but even better, I am here to tell you a little about a most exciting project: carrie merediths’s bespoke perfume.  For those of you who missed my 1 year blog-iversary drawing, I offered up a bespoke perfume to the winner to commemorate the day.   Carrie meredith (from the fabulous “eyelineronacat” blog won he random draw, but I have to say from the start, I felt her vision as she described it in her winning post: “…I have many ideas for bespoke perfumes, but I’ll settle on this one for now, since it’s where I’m at in my creative head space: Iris, violet, milk, powdered sugar, ozonic note, bitter almond, anise, civet. The goal is a dreamy gourmand with a musky quality.”  That enigmatic vision has (nearly) become a reality at this point but we are still making minor changes to get it ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.

Being a synesthete, I had a palpable reaction to her description in my mind.  I saw a lovely swath of silk charmeuse in a blue-violet-grey color moving gently in a breeze.  The weight of the fabric and it’s lushness balanced perfectly with it’s hue and value.  This is what I have worked from when interpreting Carrie’s concept.  Of course, I have also worked from her note list and a sense of incorporating “classic Guerlain” sensibilities and a modern gourmand aesthetic to make her ‘holy grail’ perfume.  She mentioned that she is a huge classic Guerlain fan (who isn’t?) and also her love of the iris/gourmand.  All I could say is YUM.  So, the first run of samples was just to get the structure down.  It occurred to me when starting on Carrie’s perfume that I had had an idea in the back of my mind for some time which was to create a classic accord, a base really, that was a touch dry, a little creamy wood and warm in an orris/ iris mode.  So, I started with that.  It’s actually called: “blue violet grey accord”.  That is the center heart note of Carrie’s perfume.  I then worked my way out from there.  Here’s what we have so far:

bergamot, bitter almond, ozone note, violet leaf, aniseed, lemon, powdered violet, rose otto, *blue-violet-grey orris accord, sandalwood, honey beeswax, cocoa butter, cocoa bean, heliotrope, tonka bean, virginia cedarwood, vanilla absolute, green oakmoss, vetiver, civet.

"This one is just right!"

And I have to say that it is, so far, unlike anything else I have made.  How incredible!  🙂   I  just love this process… the bespoke is always completely unique and each perfume is full of idiosyncrasy; a very special beauty.  That is not to say that this perfume would only appeal to one person… no.  It is lovely, warm and inviting as well as chic and a little mischievous.  (Remind you of anyone you know?  I’m looking at you CM…:) ) I think it has real appeal and it is thrilling for me to work on this design with such a creative mind as Carrie’s.  What fun it’s been and it’s not over yet.  There are a few more mods as I mentioned before and then the big reveal: the name.  (Yes, we have a name but I’m not telling just yet.  I think the perfume needs to finished before we know for sure that this is a match of concept, name and essence.  But  I’m sure we’re going to get it , as Goldilocks says, “just right”.

ps: * this color, the blue-violet-grey hue I saw in my head is aptly called “perfume” from a super fun color /design website  just type in this code to see it:  B7A2D8

** image credit: goldilocks image found here

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live and learn

I have certainly noticed something: August is not my best month for writing.  I suspect that everything must go right out the window and I’ve gotta get my “freedom on” before the Autumn sets in and it’s practically Holiday time.  Plus I take a little time away in August to spend with my family on the shores of Cape Cod.  It’s bliss, really.  I always come back to Colorado wondering how I can get to spend even more time there next year.  I’m contemplating that right now.

So, now I am back to the studio and back to work.  I’ve actually got four, no five, new projects on my desk.   Well, one of them is Carrie Meredith’s bespoke design and you’ve all heard about that.  ( One of my next posts is going to be about what I’ve been working on for her.  You’re all going to LOVE it, I think).  But this is going to be a shorty.  I felt that I just had to get a little something up before September is here…tomorrow.  I’d like to at least try for a post or two when it’s August. 🙂 So, I thought that I would just ramble on about some thoughts that I have been meditating on this past week or two… here goes:

1) Nothing,  I mean NOTHING takes the place of experience. You will never really know something through and through until it has landed in your lap and you have gotten your hands on it.  And it will take time to master it.  (I never understood this when I was younger.  Then, I thought that talent was the THING.  I think that I have been wrong about that).

2) People do crazy things.  I see it all of the time in small and large ways.  It seems silly to get shocked by anything at this point but I still do.

Believe it or not these two ‘meditations’ have produced what feels like deep spiritual lessons that continue to reverberate.  I’m still sitting with them.  Live and learn, my friends. ❤

* photo credit: this image is actually of the South of France but it looks amazingly to me like the view from E’s uncle’s house on the ‘ocean side’ beach in Wellfleet.  I really liked it so here it is.

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DSH notebook turns 1 (happy anniversary…to me!)

"june bouquet", egg tempera on paper, 1997, DSH

Well, when it rains it pours…again.  Two posts in two days??  WOW!  Am I on a roll?  I wish.  It’ll probably take another week or two before I get a chance to do another blog post.  But I am here now and I’m here to celebrate: It’s my anniversary.  My Blogging Anniversary.  🙂 It was exactly one year ago today that I started my little blog project and while I had every intention to dedicate more time to writing, I think I have found a happy medium in terms of expressing what I am doing and while I’m at it, gaining more practice writing.

Before I started the blog I had been in contact with a number of other bloggers and artists with blogs and was given such encouragement… I can’t tell you how much it still means to me.  (Thank you for so much inspiration and good thoughts.  I am eternally grateful).  Looking back, it’s been an incredible year filled with projects and more projects and so much artistic growth.  It’s been my pleasure to share it with you and I look forward to what comes next.

As a big thank you to all of my subscribers, regular and sometimes readers and dear friends, I want to do a draw for a big prize: ** a Bespoke perfume creation.   This prize was mentioned on a thread of a facebook perfumista group not too long ago and I am happy to oblige.  So, to enter, please leave a comment about what your dream perfume would be.  I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts.  The draw is open for a week, so it will end on June 20 at 11:59 pm.  Good Luck everyone!   And while you’re here, maybe you’d like to subscribe as well.  Those  growing numbers sure do make me smile.

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