Friday, June 27, 2014

Summer Breeze



At the end of May we set up two photo shoots with two different models. The first was with one of my "Summer" color tribe sisters Sophie Fletcher and the second was a second shoot with Savanah. Regrettably the secondary shoot didn't happen, but the good news is we did a follow up session with Sophie and between the two days have loads of imagery to work with.

Above is a sneak peak, more arriving as soon!

Model: Sophie Fletcher
Flowers: Rebecca from Flower Power Studio


Thursday, June 26, 2014

Illuminated Space Update


"Go confidently in the direction of your dream. Live the life you’ve imagined."
~ Thoreau

My new space in Agoura has been inching along at a snails pace, due to the management taking their own sweet time. This week things have progressed much more swiftly, although I was informed that the paint I had chosen, for the second time, would cost a fortune mainly due to labor.


Thus, the textured Venetian plaster wall look for the entire space is now being re-evaluated. I contemplated painting it myself or having Greg do it for me but it would involve an entire day of work and setting up scaffolding because of the eighteen foot high ceilings. I also looked into the Ralph Lauren finishes like RiverRock, that wouldn't require much labor, but the cost was over budget.


For the paint I settled on a low VOC, environmentally friendly, flat taupe for most of the walls, particularly the high ones. Greg and I may add some texture to them as well as some Venetian plaster to the front facing low wall.


The wrought iron garden trellis I bought for the door to the apothecary has been made into a door and now needs some antiquing to the newly added metalwork frame and a door handle.


Once the painting is finished the electrician will return to put in the chandeliers and two antique scones that were my grandmothers. At that point the real fun will begin as I begin to move in the furniture followed by shelving, glass ware, etc.

Since I've used up my allotted expense money for the space I am crafting a fan funding event to help me get a few things, such as counters for the apothecary area where I'll be making all the fragrant potions, etc.

Images: Opening painting by George Henry Grenville Manton, photographs by Roxana.


Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Pink to Natural


The pink pots that hold a sample of solid perfume will soon be departing as I go with natural toned ones instead. As I was contemplating how to display items for the new space I noticed that the pink color doesn't work at all when looking at everything as a whole. The reason is that the pink hue of the container is over the top compared to the subdued and dusty pinks of my palette. One of the great things about having an existing palette to work with is that when I stick to the colors everything harmonizes nicely.

Samples in the photo above are: Page 47, Gracing the Dawn and Vera.

Friend Infusion


This past weekend was infused with lots of friends. Friday night we attended a dinner party our newly arrived friends hosted at their new home in Topanga. Then on Sunday, after Eve and I had did a quick early morning hunt at the Topanga Vintage Market we headed to the Getty Center to meet up with Gregs long time friend Michelle among others.

As with most meet ups at the Getty, we began with a bite at the cafe, which doesn't seem to have the same great cuisine as when it first opened, its become very mediocre cafeteria food in my opinion. Then with full bellies we drifted toward the museum. First on my agenda was the Heaven and Earth: Byzantine Illumination at the Cultural Crossroads, the best part being a very old liturgical scroll from Greece that was only partially viewed.

At that point in the visit our group dispersed a bit as everyone traveled to different galleries. Eve and I headed toward the garden by way of the European collection stopping briefly to gaze at Spring by Alma Tadema (a perennial favorite pictured above), a few Davids and a beautiful pastel and graphite on paper by Odilon Redon.


From there we wondered over to the Ansel Adams photography exhibit, then out the door into the sunshine to the garden!





After a bit of tea and New York in the 80's stories we said goodbye to our friends and headed back into Topanga. We arrived at our destination, greeted by an enormous amorphous head sculpture, to a Summer Solstice party hosted by more art buddies who live and work deep in the oak woods. 

Art image via the Getty blog and exhibitions page.

Monday, June 23, 2014

Movie Monday: Mr. Nobody



Mr. Nobody is one of those super happy accidents found via Netflix. The film premiered in Europe in 2009 and stars Oscar award winner Jared Leto as the young adult version of out protagonist Nemo, meaning nobody in Latin.


I was hooked immediately by the glorious eye candy and stellar color script. The sci fi/fantasy/psychological/mind bending aspects kept me completely engaged beyond occasional confusion.


I dived into the film knowing absolutely nothing, which is what I suggest, particularly if your into beauty with a bit of quantum physics and food for your right brain. Some of the things I wasn't super keen on was the make-up on the elderly Nemo, than non-consistent accents and the length. For those of you who need a bit more to go on, I suggest venturing over to this review from the Washington Post describing Mr. Nobody quite perfectly as surrealist poetry.

Screen shots via listal.com.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Happy Solstice!


Happy Solstice from the Santa Monica Mountains to each of you. The potted jasmine sambacs in my garden started their blooming cycle in April. Each morning I have been gathering the little white blossoms and placing them into the organic, 190 proof grape alcohol. The base starts off a crystalline clear liquid slowly turning toward a golden yellow by the end of the process in the Autumn.


Some days there are no flowers, just a few or like today too many to count. The amount of blooms seems less than last year which may have to do with the un-seasonal warm winter we had. These little blooms will infuse the alcohol until it can no longer take on any scent. At that point I will start a second batch.


In the meantime I am working on the new edition of Blossom Eau de Cologne. There is still a bit of the 2014 edition which can be found by following this link for a sample and/or a 30 ml spray bottle at the website.


This post has been pinned here, follow the process on Instagram here.



Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Perfume Feature & Giveaway


Katie over at The Green Product Junkie has a little feature and giveaway happening on her new site. Please head on over if you'd like a chance to win one of my trio sampler sets. If you choose to accept this mission be sure to list three of your all time favorite plant scents.

Here is a link to a review Katie did last year when she first came across my work.


Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Celtic Tree Month of Oak


I've been diligently finalizing my paper for the proceedings of my presentation titled "The Tree of Life: A mystical approach to the art of botanical perfumery" for the Beyond Aromatics conference up in Seattle this Autumn.



The paper is due today which happens to be the first day of the Celtic Tree Month of Oak. Thus, the scent of this auspicious Tuesday is Q for Quercus agrifolia, the California native oak.


Read more about the Celtic Tree Ogham, the oak and Q at these posts here at the journal:
Celtic Lunar Month: Oak
Tree Ogham
Q Review
Q, Queurcus agrifolia
The Duir Way


Find Q liquid and solid at the site here.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Paris 1900


Early Monday morning Eve and I headed over the hill to Santa Monica for a "Preferred Customer Closing Sale" at the shop Paris 1900. We had been tipped about the closing of the store by Eve's grandmother Marilyn, who had met the owner Susan Lieberman through the Eames office in the 1950's.


Paris 1900 is deemed a home of "romantic refinery" with vintage and era inspired pieces that cater to brides, collectors and romantics. Beautiful, antique lace dresses share a space with a plethora of trims, hats, jewelry, table linens and many odds and ends including early Vogue magazines.

My intention in going to the sale was to find items for the new space, in particular furniture that could be used in the lab or showroom area of the perfumery.


Susan has decided to close Paris 1900 and focus on her secondary shop next store titled jAdis. From now through June 17th the contents of the shop and fixtures, as well as her 40 year personal collection of vintage treasures are on sale for the first time. These include laces, ribbons, millinery trims, buttons, fabrics, linens, lace trimmed hankies, hats and hat boxes, vintage clothing and jewelry, among others. She will also be parting with her rare collection of period mannequins, paintings, showcases, and other display items.

While there I learned that Susan met her late husband Park Meeker while working as a receptionist at the Eames office. Park was one of those multi talented individuals, like John Neuhart, who worked with Charles Eames in a variety of departments. His passion for collecting combined with his skill set as an engineer and carpenter resulted in the shop jAdis next to Paris1900.


Eve and I had a personal tour of the glorious prop-shop meets cabinet of curiosity named jAdis. The museum-like space is an absolute wonder filled with props used in films, early optics, photographica, electrical and scientific advancements, aviation and planetary models, steampunk widgets, gears as well as lab equipment that has me drooling. Here's a short vimeo film of Parke before he passed to the other side.

Paris 1900 photographs by Roxana, Jadis shop image from their website.