Sunday, March 30, 2014

Visions From the Minds Eye


For the past year my husband, Greg Spalenka, has been working on a retrospective book of his artwork that is being published by Titan. Together with his buddy Jeff they have designed the entire book which was just submitted to the publisher in England this week.


They have created two alternate covers and are looking to fans of Greg's art to help decide which one to use. If you feel inspired please head over to the Spalenka Eye and vote for your favorite. The book will launch at the San Diego Comic Con this summer.


Friday, March 28, 2014

The Three Violets


My studio right now is wafting with the violet, fern and leathery notes from the filtering the latest edition of Gracing the Dawn. It's one of my favorite fragrances of the line, I love how the notes meld together so seamlessly.


After filtering I thought I better take a few photos of the little 1 gram vial so I wondered outside and found three little violet flowers peeking out from under the leaves of one of my plants. I thought this a particularly auspicious event since the fragrance was first titled The Three Graces and there were three violets.



The formula is basically exactly the same, although I am always looking for ways to extend the base without impacting the beautiful floral heart. Gracing the Dawn contains five chords/accords with twenty five other individual essences. With so many individual chords and the amount of essences makes this perfume insanely complex. Seriously, what was I thinking! Oh, right, I was chasing the muse again, in this case three of them, filled with grace.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

The Griffin and Impromptu


The reconstruction of Impromptu is starting to hit the website. As I designed the new little info and image card that accompanies the fragrance I choose the legendary Griffin as the archetype. I asked on my facebook page: Why do you think I've chosen a Griffin as the archetype for Impromptu? My customer Yvonne came up with this, which isn't exactly the reason, but I love it:

"Is it to do with an old legend ? .......... On the island of Usedom there is a recently made-dry swamp called Thurbruch, also Auerochsenbruch. Much of the area used to be covered by forest, in which griffins were said to be living. Once a herdsman took his little son with him in the forest, while grazing his herd. When he had to leave his son alone for a while, a griffin came and took his son with him to his nest, where he put him between his own young. When the herdsman returned and didn't find his child, he immediately knew what had happened. He hurried to the griffin's nest, and found the old griffin already flown out again. The father bravely climbed into the mighty fir-tree, and saved his son who had managed to keep clear from the griffin's young. When they stood on the ground again, he put the fir-tree on fire to destroy the griffin's nest. In that he succeeded, but unfortunately the whole forest was set on fire. So, until recent years, peat-diggers will sometimes find carbonized tree-trunks in the swamp, that reminds them about that big wood fire....... and the woody swampy herb notes of Impromptu."


Deciding on the Griffin all began with wanting an animal image because the fragrance is a "leather" perfume, albeit botanical. When I mentioned this to Greg he said, "It should be a bird because of the wings." I asked, "Why a bird?"  He said "I used the wings because it represents freedom and spontaneous, fleeting creation." Love that, but a bird didn't seem right. Then the Griffin popped into my head which led me to do some research to find that in ancient cultures this mythological creature, like the dragon, is a symbol of divine power and guards treasure.

In alchemical texts both the lion and the eagle are solar creatures often depicted in relation to the achieved goal, alchemical gold, and a new direction. This juxtaposition and dualistic nature stems from the Griffin having the attributes of two powerful beings. 


Since the color harmony for Impromptu is a antique mossy gold, chosen from Gregs illumination and Impromptu as a fragrance contains spice and smoke, the association of the sun and a spiritual guardian of gold seemed auspiciously appropriate.

Impromptu is a woody, smokey, leather perfume. The first rendition was not documented since it was created with the contents of bottles from multiple experiments. This new manifestation has been built by looking over the formulas of those experiments and rebuilding based on the fumes emanating from the two large empty bottles that housed the original version. 

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Refresh


Part of the inherent impetus of the new season is the urge to purge on multiple levels, most often referred to as Spring cleaning. For me, the purification impulse has been directed at my website and the studio. To the website I changed the opening slide show and added some more content and photos to the "Who is Roxana" link from the About page.

In the meantime, I submitted my site to Peek for an evaluation. I was aware that whoever I received to critique the site might not be my niche market, but, I figured I had nothing to lose. Here is the link to the review if you would like to check it out. I feel pretty lucky with the person who took the time to look at my site, she clearly had no troubles moving through the links and the information.

Thus, I must be on the right track. If you feel the website could use something added to it please send me a note, I really appreciate all the feedback from the best fans and customers in the whole world. One of the things I've been considering doing is adding a new slide show every month or season, what do you think?

Thursday, March 20, 2014

The Return of Persephone


Spring is officially here embarking on the time of rebirth, all things new, vital and green. The energetic impulse of the season births forth from the earth through the flowers. Everything feels fresh and alive. It's a playful time of year when we emerge from hibernation and begin peeling away what no longer serves. We come out of the darkness, shed our woolens and match the radiance of the sun with an inspired outlook on life and new vision.

These characteristics are more obvious in Northern climates, than in temperate zones like here in the City of Angels where we dwell in a more monotone climate. Never the less, we do can "feel" the energy of the season and can visibly see it in the blooming California poppies and other natives displaying their seasonal beauty.

Ah, which reminds me, the Theodore Payne Foundation will be having their Poppy Day Spring Sale of native plants and their spectacular once a year Garden Tour.

For some interesting insights about the energetics of Spring in terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), check out this post by Jennifer Raye on her blog.


Figure 1: Noir is a moist, loamy earth of perfume of early Spring compared to say the fresh greens in Hedera helix or Gracing the Dawn that embody her in full bloom mode. Where as Blossom, Lyra, Rosa, Cimbalom and Chiaroscuro are the waning of Spring and Summer. However, your intuition always trumps knowledge (in my opinion), follow your nose and go with what "feels" most appropriate for your self.

The opening image that accompanies this post is a painting by Lord Frederick Leighton of the mythological figure Persephone as she returns from her time in the underworld. The second image is a photo Greg took of Gwen Cunningham which illuminates Hedera helix, which is now ready as a liquid!

Monday, March 17, 2014

Cabinet of Curiosity: Week 1



The creative Cabinet of Curiosity fling began on Friday, March 7th has turned into an almost daily ritual. Each day, if inspired, I've been creating little scenes using bits and pieces of collected paraphenilia ranging from herbs, leaves, found objects, ribbons – anything that will add to the visual story. The composition is usually captured via my phone and then posted to instagram, tumblr, twitter and facebook. If I am not too busy I will also do some shots with the SLR camera as well.


I'll keep going with it as long as time permits and I am having fun. Eventually I'd like to get more conceptual with them, but for now its serving as play time.

Here are the shots via my camera which I did a little editing on, beginning on Saturday the 8th leading up until today. Enjoy!





Sunday, March 16, 2014

Verde que te quiero verde



Wishing you all a very green Feast of Saint Patricks day! I'll be wearing Hedera helix as my green scent.


In Buenos Aires, where I was born, my fellow Argentine descendants of the Land of Éire will be celebrating in the pubs downtown. The Irish in my roots comes from my maternal grandmother who had the surname Gardiner.

Verde que te quiero verde.
Verde viento.Verdes ramas
El barco sobre la mar
y el caballo en la montaña
~ Federico García Lorca



The greenest note in the palette of the botanical perfumer is galbanum, available as an essential oil, C02 extract and an absolute. GreenWitch, Gracing the Dawn and Hedera helix perfumes all contain galbanum. It's a note that requires mindfulness because of its strong vital character.

Want more on green, check out this post from the Perfume Illuminated series.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Spring Fever



Thursday was Greg's birthday. Since he is so busy finishing up his retrospective book and working on illustrating a Comic and a Tarot deck, spending the time celebrating was not on his agenda. Thus instead he conceded to a birthday lunch somewhat locally.


The delicious uber-healthy lunch was followed by a bit of spontaneity. It all began with observing that the structure that the restaurant was in would be a great location for a perfume studio, thus we began exploring which led us to a gelato store which led to a bit of antiquing.



A short, local lunch turned into a fun adventure that I am yearning for more of, I think I have a case of Spring fever.


Wednesday, March 12, 2014

The Return of Grace


The word grace as a noun means elegance and refinement, the perfume Gracing the Dawn was named after the The Three Graces also known as Charites, known in Greek mythology. The fragrance began as a concept for the Perfume in a Poem project back in 2008.

The perfume has been out of stock while I sourced some of the precious essences contained in her formula as well re-constructing some of her chord. In both the liquid and the solid formats the fragrance contains five chords, one of which is a chord within a chord and twenty other individual essences. The complex fragrance has been referred to as a "sensual symphony of violets, mimosa, the irrepressible Night Queen and a cool hint of bergamot." by Beth Schreibman Gehring. The challenge with the perfume is that it is ephemeral and subtle to those who are accustomed to stronger aromas. Thus, her devotees tend to be those who have the ability to perceive the whisperings of nature.


First up and ready for olfactory adventures in violet is the solid facet of Gracing the Dawn. I made a few subtle adjustments to one of her chords to enhance the floral heart and the base, but besides that her harmonic composition remains the same.


Almost daily I am asked for fragrances that resemble other main stream perfumes. If Gracing the Dawn or any other Illuminated Perfume reminds you of a synthetic on the market please let me know. Beth, mentioned above, considers Gracing the Dawn to be similar to the original Magie Noire by Lancome. Donna Hathaway, in her review at Perfume Smellin' Things refers to Gracing the Dawn as resembling Jolie Madame by Balmain.

The liquid is just about ready to accompany the solid, she just needs a few more days of final marinating and then a filtering session.

Image: Sculpture The Three Graces. Museum of Art in Stuttgart, photo by Robert V. Moody

Monday, March 10, 2014

The Birds and the Bees



The heavy rains from last week gave our very dry earth a much needed soaking producing a few blooms in the garden.


The girls have been hard at work collecting nectar and pollen. A hive check is over due, which will likely result in a frame of honey or two.


The Cistus is flowering. I went out to photograph the blooms in the afternoon and saw the petals on the ground, seems I've got to get out there super early in the morning if I am going to capture a photo of the flower without sunshine hitting it. The evergreen shrub, also known as Purple Rock Rose, is not a California native but tolerates drought, poor soil and little maintenance like its neighboring plants.


The front slope is finally filling out a bit. The wild roses and Matilja Poppies (pictured above) have been spreading on there own, while animals have been seeding here and there.


Meanwhile, the succulents that were planted on the lot by a previous owner are doing quite well. I'm not particularly found of them since it perpetuates the myth that cactus are California native plants. Greg really likes them though, so we are putting them all along the fence side of the driveway where the slope doesn't need strong roots.



Friday, March 7, 2014

Musing



I had intended on attending a trade show today but couldn't get a pass, thus my day was fairly open and then the muse walked in. She arrives very spontaneously and usually leaves a trail of art and disaster since creativity is, after all, a bit like a hurricane.

There's a nice article about creativity at the Huffington Post which describes the attributes of creative thinkers. Some of them are how Greg and I function, very out of the box and in the circular warm embrace of the Goddess.

18 Things Highly Creative People Do:
They day dream
They observe everything
They work the hours that work for them
They take time for solitude
They turn life's obstacles around
They seek out new experiences
They fail up
They ask the big questions
They people-watch
They take risks
They view all of life as an opportunity for self-expression
They follow their true passions
They get out of their own heads
They lose track of time
They surround themselves with beauty
They connect the dots
They constantly shake things up
They make time for mindfulness

What resulted from the presence of the Muse today was a continuation of the Cabinet of Curiosity type photos. The ones I took today are more of a sketch, as I'd like to get more conceptual with them. I loved the process of losing myself in the flow of creating, this is much more do-able in the visual arts than the aromatics. In perfume work I am constantly taking notes and documenting what I am doing, which encages both the linear and circular thinking, where as drawing, photography, etc. is much more round and lush.


I turned my studio, the kitchen, the living room (which is already a second studio space for me) the computer studio upside down looking for herbs, leaves, roots, letterpress paraphernalia, ribbons, sea shells, etc. Time to go do some clean up before tackling more blending this evening...although I'd really like to go see The Grand Budapest Hotel film debuting this weekend.

By the way both Hedera helix and Gracing the Dawn are melding quite nicely, expect to see them back next week with a report. Besides the muse leaving a mess in her wake I also discovered a jasmin sambac bloom in the garden, which means Blossom will be arriving back shortly.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Rosa 2014


Monday morning I filtered the 2014 edition of Rosa liquid perfume and began listing all the variations. The wafting of the aromatic molecules from the filtering process wafted throughout the entire house for a few days and is still very present within the studio.

The photo above of the Rosa flacon was taken amongst fresh roses from a friend in Topanga, although beautiful and lush with a heavenly order they are not the California rose. Thus, once the real CA roses beginning blooming in the garden perhaps I'll capture a more authentic portrait of the fragrance. Since we just had a massive rain storm, this may transpire in a couple months.





Saturday, March 1, 2014

Seeding Truth


It's a rare thing to inspire me to get away from my work and the studio, particularly in the middle of a rain that has been producing flash floods in a drought stricken area. Be that as it may, in the early evening last night just as the City of Angels was in the midst of an epic storm three of us braved the roads and headed into Santa Monica.

Our destination was the Unitarian Universalist Community Church where Marianne Williamson was scheduled to speak with author of Diet for a New America John Robbins about "Health and Food in the Age of GMO's". Luckily we parked just as the rain subsided, however, once seated inside everyone in the building received an alert that there was a flash flood warning for our area.


Given that my art form relies on plants, the GMO battle is of primary concern but also represents our basic right as human beings to know what we are consuming and the facts.

I've been a fan of Marianne Williamson and John Robbins since the early nineties, both come from a passion for awakening consciousness. On October 20th of 2013 Marianne Williamson announced her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in California's 33rd Congressional District. She is running as an independent because she feels that the two party system has a choke hold at the moment and that we could use more independent candidates that will infuse the current system with the voice of the people not the corporations. It's a bold, visionary move that will be the catalyst for change and moving politics into supporting the vital fabric of freedom that our country was founded upon, not the aristocracy that currently controls the dysfunction.

The Friday evening talk took place in a beautiful Unitarian Universalist Community Church where in the nineties Marianne conducted many speaking events during the nineties. Her guest, John Robbins, acclaimed author and advocate for being aware of where are food comes from joined her to speak on one of the most important subjects in America today, GMOs in our food.

“There is a revolving door between big agriculture and our government," declares Robbins. "Consequently, the United States does not and will not even remotely do adequate testing for possible health dangers on GMO’s and the affect on our food supply.”

To highlight the revolving door syndrome our elected officials perpetuate, Robbins sited the example of Michael Taylor who was first an attorney at Monsanto, then became policy chief at the FDA, then became Monsanto’s vice president and chief lobbyist, and in 2009 was then appointed by President Obama as America’s food-safety czar.

“How can a defender of Monsanto, protect our food?” he asked the crowd. “To make matters more dire,” he said, “the Obama administration, announced in January that it expects to approve corn and soybeans that have been genetically engineered by Dow Chemical company to tolerate the toxic herbicide, despite the fact that use of this herbicide is associated with increased rates of deadly immune system cancers, Parkinson’s disease, endocrine disruption, birth defects, and many other serious kinds of illness and reproductive problems.”

On Thursday Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinch announced that they were supporting Marianne's campaign shortly followed by another announcement that they would also be attending Friday nights talk. As you may know from previous posts here I've spent personal time with former Congressman Dennis Kucinich and find his level of consciousness and clarity outstanding. At the event he was accompanied by his gorgeous wife and food safety activist Elizabeth Kucinich.

The attendees at the gathering included individuals within the spiritual, Hollywood, yoga and foodie community. In fact, as I walked into the church to find a seat I kept recognizing faces although I was unable to put a name to the individuals. The heightened awareness of the four presenters combined with the collective wakefulness of the crowd produced a very high level of consciousness within the church that I am still buzzed from today!

Each of the speakers harkened the idea that the time is NOW to get activated to create a shift in the political system beginning with Ms. Williamson who perfectly represents the voice of the people in a very eloquent voice.


Marianne opened the evening with her strong and powerful presence, despite have been soaked from the rain. She shared that 200 years ago "the people" banded together to overthrow the Aristocracy and its time for that to take place once more.


Dennis Kucinich, who is much loved here in Los Angeles, told us that supporting Marianne is a cause bigger than all of us. The people are a party of their own and we hold the key to the transformation.


The eloquent John Robbins spoke on how the current politicians in Washington should wear corporate logos like Nascar racing cars. For example Coca cola, Monsanto, Dow, Walmart, McDonalds, Merck & Co. would all be featured in prominent locations on just about every individual, like Supermans emblem on his chest. 


Although in this case, these corporate puppets have none of the qualities exhibited by the heroes portrayed in popular art culture. The blog "How Stuff Works" details how sponsorship is conducted for Nascar here. In order to have a truly free and transparent government public awareness on who is funding these politicians is clearly the first step into revealing why the people are not their primary concern.

Next up was the extremely elegant Elizabeth Kucinich whose beauty, English accent, striking red hair and luminous complexion combine with her commanding words skillfully presented like a Celtic warrior with a sharp sword. It became clear that Elizabeth is not one to be taken lightly and knows very well how to remain in the feminine while being strong. The tall, young dazzler is an organic food vegan advocate and film producer. In 2013 she produced Hot Water and GMO OMG.

Elizabeth spoke on the importance of being mindful of the top GMO contaminated cash crops: corn, soy, sugar beets and cotton. She said to buy USDA Certified Organic as much as possible and write personal messages to our representatives in the Congress and the Senate. Signing online petitions is good, but rewriting a standard letter with personal words is better and writing our own words is ideal.
Someone in the audience asked about organic foods at Walmart, those come from China where there are NO organic measures in place, thus avoid, and always look for the USDA Certified Organic label or something similar like CCOF or Oregon Tilth. The Biodynamic label is even better.

John Robbins came back into the spotlight to say that the reason organic foods are currently more expensive is that they are not receiving the government subsidiaries like big agro. He suggested taxing big agro and giving subsidiaries to those who produce organics.

After the presentation we went up to say hello to Dennis, who gave Greg a big hug when he saw him. The three of us were on a high as we walked back to the car, visualizing an America where the people are courageous and demand their rights from the government.


The challenge ahead is how to get others outside of the conscious community to realize that Marianne Williamson represents the party of the people and a complete 360 degree turn for all of us beginning right here in the City of Angels.



Read a great account of how Dennis and Elizabeth met here at Common Dreams.
Marianne Williamson for Congress
John Robbins, Diet for a New America