This journey of moving both the perfumery and our household has been epic! During the entire process I've been listening to a a book series proposed by my daughter Eve. Today, as I was driving from our little woodland house to my moms home in Encino, I realized that most of our personal experiences mimic iconic stories of heros/heroines. We all have characters in our lives that hurtle fire balls at us and a wizard/wizardess or two who come to help us as we attempt to refine ourselves into the wizard/wizardess. Personally I like the image of Galadirel as the powerful force that battles the dark forces with me, but Serafina Pekkala is pretty cool too. I'm sure there are others I could conjure given some extra time. Who do you envision coming to help you or yourself becoming? I really need to go check out the new Wonder Woman movie.
Ah, speaking of fantasy, Greg is currently at Comic Con in San Diego, find him in Artist Alley at table EE-24. He took the Divine Alchemy banner with him along with lots of original art that he has been threatening to burn in a bonfire in New Mexico. If you have always wanted to own one of his vintage original pieces, get it now before the burn!
Speaking of characters, the garage sale was good but a really odd experience due to some of the very eccentric personality traits that descended at the event on Saturday. Ben mentioned that "garage sale people are a different breed", yea, no kidding! Thing is, I go to garage and estate sales hunting for vintage treasures, and I am definitely not part of that breed. However in the end we were able to get rid of things make some bucks to help this journey we are on and also meet lots of my moms neighbors.
Next on the task list is donating items for a tax deduction and/or listing others on venues such as Craigslist. I began the process of listing items with my four original, vintage Emeco chairs. After taking the photos, writing the listing and putting it up I'm feeling sorta done with selling furniture and other stuff online. I prefer to donate the stuff and move onto teaching about the plants and pure fume. If your interested in the Emeco chairs, keep reading, if not I'll catch ya later with another update soon, probably with dates on live, local classes.
The Emeco chairs are light and extremely cool, Greg and I decided to sell them since we are planning on going for a more classical type style in Santa Fe. While typing out the description I learned quite a bit more about the chairs and the company that have made me fall in love with them again!
The legend of these simple, sturdy, humble chairs begins with its founder Wilton Carlyle Dinges and the creation of the Electrical Machine and Equipment Company (EMECO), still located in Hanover, Pennsylvania.
Originally created in 1944 for US Navy submarines and warships to withstand harsh conditions such as salt water & air as well as an occasional torpedo blast. The story goes that Dinges tested the strength of the chair by tossing them out of a sixth-story window! By using salvaged aluminum, which was plentiful in 1944, Emeco perfected a 77-step proprietary process which yields aluminum three times stronger than steel resulting in a chair so durable that it has an estimated life span of 150 years.
The chair has survived seven decades of the military’s need and now is a fixture in restaurants, hotels, offices and film. Emeco’s all-aluminum chairs and stools come with a lifetime guarantee and tested to withstand 1,700 pounds of weight. Besides the aluminum is completely recyclable.
We are all moved out of our little woodland Mid-century modern house, whew, what a task that was!
As we packed and cleared out rooms, on our tail was a laborer who was painting and smoothing the ceilings. Then came the "stager", who brought all sorts of furnishings and decor for the house, as if putting together a set on a movie. You can see some of the results in the photo above and below, quite different from our more artistic/eclectic style.
Instead of bringing in art for the walls they used many of Greg's paintings and banners, along with a few of my pieces from my illustration days and a beautiful piece by our friend Kinuko called Queen of the Golden Wood.
The biggest transformation was the garage, which was Greg's studio and has now been staged as a family room. Although not quite our taste, the house looks great and officially went on the market last weekend!
In the meantime Greg and I have been catching up on some much needed sleep and getting things ready for a massive garage sale this weekend at my moms home in Encino. With the intention of making our load lighter as we set sails to enchanted lands, we have quite a lot to offer, including some very cool items like my vintage Emeco chairs, lab glass, loads of art and design books, etc. We will also have artwork including original paintings and posters.
My mom is unearthing loads of beads, threads and other trinkets from her needlework days making sparkly dresses for Charo, back when the cuchi cuchi gal would regularly appear on the Merv Griffin Show and perform in Las Vegas. I have such sweet memories of playing barbies with Charo at her Beverly Hills home during dress fittings. Since my mom has been having challenges with her eyes its possible that she may not be able to continue making some of the heirloom pouches that house the round solid perfume compacts, particularly the darker colors. More on that once I able able to resume perfume making and access my stash again.
GARAGE SALE
Saturday and Sunday (July 15 & 16)
8am - 2pm
Come early for best picks and to beat the heat!
Addison Street is between Balboa Blvd. and Petite Ave.,
Just north of Ventura Blvd., south of the 101 FWY.
In terms of botanical perfume, my plan is to offer some live classes here in the Los Angeles area before we head out of state. I am also planning a special online class, updating the online course and getting product on the website again.
