The Book of Dust

Back in late 2006 or so I had a very simple website that I had put together myself using my newly acquired color palette. The intention of the website was to start an online presence and have some visibility for when I attended my first Sniffapalooza event in February 2007.

The spark of creating "perfume" came when I attended a class with John Steele in Malibu. At the time I was mainly making aromatherapy blends and a few products like herbal salves and salt scrubs. Most of my clients included friends and students of the aromatherapy classes at the Massage School of Santa Monica.

The first perfumes I began constructing were basically aromatherapy blends called "perfumes", as I studied the craft they became much more complex and required a different way of thinking and working with the essences. My very first perfumes were: Q (originally called Quercus), Lyra, Aurora and Sierra. Vespertina arrived in the Summer of 2007 for the San Diego Comic Con followed by Vera introduced at the Ojai Lavender Festival in June 2008.

Todays post is about Lyra, whose story began as a custom perfume for my daughter Eve. This morning Eve sent me this note from The New York Times Instagram page about Phillip Pullman and a continuation to the trilogy His Dark Materials.

"After 17 years, Lyra is back. Lyra Silvertongue, Lyra Belacqua, but really just Lyra: she’s one of those characters in literature — Pip, Emma, Lolita — who’s on first-name terms with her public. After nearly 2 decades, the author of the trilogy “His Dark Materials” is continuing her story. “La Belle Sauvage,” the first volume of Philip Pullman’s next trilogy, “The Book of Dust,” will be published on October 19. The period before publication is a skittish time, particularly when readers’ expectations have had so long to ferment. When @nytmag’s Sophie Elmhirst visited Pullman at his home in September, he said he wasn’t exactly nervous, “but I just don’t know what the reaction will be.” The British author has written 35 books, but Lyra stands out among his protagonists. Over the 3 books — “Northern Lights” (“The Golden Compass” in the U.S.), “The Subtle Knife” and “The Amber Spyglass” — she embarks on a multiverse-crossing quest that becomes a battle against the dark forces of a totalitarian religious government. For a man whose novels are restless, Pullman leads a relatively static life. Every day from roughly 10 until 1, he sits at his desk at home in Oxford and produces 3 pages, longhand. He has written 3 pages a day ever since he started writing. Habit, he’s fond of saying, has written far more books than talent."

Eve and I absolutely adored the trilogy The Golden Compass and are thrilled that Mr. Pullman is continuing the story of Lyra. In fact, I'm going to get the audio versions of the first book and start the series once more.

Greg was a concept designer on the film version, although they ended up cutting most of his work when the producers choose to alter the story. One of my favorite characters in the book was Lee Scoresby, the Texan aëronaut with his dæmon named Hester. Sam Elliot did such a fine job of interpreting Lee in the film.

I'm happy to share that I have ample amounts of Lyra in all three formats here with me. I've slowly been adding perfumes to the website, Lyra is on the top of the list now that this recent development with the story has presented itself.

Read more about Lyra here at the journal.

Photo of Phillip Pullman by Nadav Kander for The New York Times
Classical painting: Music by Thomas Ralph Spence
Perfume photos ©RoxanaVilla

Lyra is back!

Lyra is back in all formats: solid, perfume extrait and the new eau de parfum! The difference between the three is in the base materials and concentration. The solid contains beeswax, jojoba and an infusion where as the extrait and EdP are in 190 proof alcohol. The difference in the concentration of the two liquids is subtle. Since the extrait is meant for "dabbing" and the EdP is for spritzing the fragrance strengths of these two versions will be dependent on individual perception. I have found that the extrait is stronger but more localized, where as since the EdP projects the aromatic molecules onto more surfaces the scent may be experienced

Next up will be Cimbalom, the new edition of the solid is ready but I need to decant the eau de parfum and liquid. I'm also going to be formerly releasing Mellifera and Fleurish soon. I also have the new Gardenia enfleurage which is spectacular. All this, and more, with juggling the shop and new teaching venture...thus please be patient if I lag a little.

Lyra Solid Perfume - 2014 edition

There is a new edition of Lyra in her solid format now in the shops, the new version has a subtle difference that some of you may or may not pick up on. The shift was not intentional but rather has mainly due to some botanicals coming from different sources and variations that occur from year to year with crops and distillations. For example I have an organic Jasmine sambac from a new source and my Jasmin grandiflorum is slightly thinner in consistency than the essence I purchased last year. All my essences are purchased from very high end sellers, I avoid the cheaper essences that are sold to soap and candle makers that also make perfume. I suppose this is due to my background in aromatherapy and the desire to support small farmers.

In looking over Lyras formula to ascertain where exactly the transformation took place I noticed there were also a few subtleties in the gram weights of a few of the ingredients which may have also played a role in the deviation. I've been doubling my formulas lately to keep up with the demand, sometimes when the amounts get increased that will also add a new layer to the fragrance, although for the most part I haven't seen that happen, probably because I work with weight instead of volume.

I am putting the notation 2014 edition on all of the Lyra solid variations from this new batch. There is one round solid compact that is wrapped and ready to be shipped that is from the previous formula here.

To my nose the 2014 edition has a little less of the anise note and more of a floral macaroon quality. I had Greg experience both of them and he perceived the new version as having more of a camphor note. Keep in mind, everyone will perceive a scent differently depending on where they stand with all their personal history and emotions coming into play. I look forward to hearing if you all since a difference and what those differences are. If you place an order and would like a sample of the Lyra 2014 solid sample, let me know in the notes to seller and I will include one for you.

Pretty in Pinks

Today I poured Lyra solid into an oval compact for a customer in South Africa which transported me into a "pink" mood. It also occurred to me that Lyra is a perfect in between season perfume, due to the balance of warm amber with sweet floral and licorice.

Here is a little assemblage of handmade and vintage beauties inspired by the pink hue of Lyra. Clockwise from top: Lyra Botanical Perfume, Vintage Lace Party Dress, Pink Freshwater Pearls by JarosDesigns, Embroidered Initial Necklace by merriweathercouncil, Roses Tea Cup by lofficina and Black flower on Rose Pink Coin Purse by oktak.

LYRA as the Muse

"Rich, full-bodied, sweetly tinged amber, floral fragrance, warm sensuality, hint of licorice." 
~ V.Austin, Sniffapalooza Magazine

A few weeks ago we assembled four beautiful young people here in the woodland to do some perfume photos. The image above, to the right is one of those. The model is Gwen Cunningham, she is wearing an antique, silk nightgown from the family treasure trove in Argentina.

When Greg showed me the photo I thought it would work well for Lyra given her femininity and the pale pink hues. I've paired it with a flacon and the gift box with vintage French woven ribbon and milliner ephemera. The intention with this composition and more arriving shortly, is to evoke the mood of the fragrance, in this case the sweet, floral, amber quality of Lyra, whether its a solid or liquid natural perfume.

The Replacements

The new round bee tins are slowly replacing the honey pots and thus eliminating a little plastic from the shop. My ideal is to find something that will accommodate 5 grams of solid natural perfume, like the honey pot.

The quest continues.

Photo: Lyra Bee Tin

Gift Guide: Shabby Chic, Pink and the Vamp

Here's a few beauties I found on Etsy weaved in with some of my pieces. The first collection is for the romantic, lover of shabby chic and vintage style.

Bed from Painted Cottage in New Jersey
Vintage Crochet Bedspread - Coverlet from Ethanol in Portland Oregon
Large Coral Branch from EveryEskimo in Michigan
and the Page 47 mini compact from my shop.

I choose Page 47 natural solid perfume because it is a soft and feminine floral vanilla fragrance.


This second collection is along the same lines but pink with a touch of the Girly Girl.

White Chocolate Raspberry Macarons from The Whimsical Spoon in Charlotte, North Carolina
Pink Moon 8x12 Print by MKendall Photography in Atlanta, Georgia
Ballerina Series Blush Tank by ClaireLa Faye in Portland, Oregon
and Lyra solid perfume compact from my shop.

For her I chose the sweet, floral oriental profile of Lyra in her pretty pink crochet pouch.

Off in a completely different tangent we enter the world of the red, hot diva who likes sophistication and bling.


Set of 3 Holiday, Soy Wax Candles by Accessory Closet in Cleveland, Ohio
Red Rose Cocktail Hat w/ Black Netting by Sai Sai Arts in Nashville, Tennessee
Vintage Red Ruffle Stilettos by CaptainCat in Portland, Oregon
and Vespertina liquid botanical perfume from my shop.

I chose Vespertina liquid for this vamp who likes rose and jasmine in her perfume with a bit of mystery. The melding of floral, incense and botanical musk seemed right up her alley.

Fresh!

Fresh and ready for your sensuous delight is a new batch of Lyra solid perfume. Since maximum busyness has become a way of life here in this apothecary in the woods I've decided to make even larger batches of the synergies for the perfumes and create more of them at one time.

The synergy for the solid expression of Lyra contains fourteen essences, making her one of the less complex perfumes to put together. This is in contrast to Vera or Rosa which contain chords within chords, making the creation of the synergy quite a complex adventure.

I created a little slide show in Flickr for Lyra Solid. The show begins with the illumination by Greg and then moves into three main ingredients within the top, middle and base note structure. Grapefruit in the top, Jasmine in the heart and vanilla anchoring the melody at the base. The fourteen essences are individually weighed and added to gether to create the botanical synergy of the fragrance. Once melded and alchmetized the synergy is added to golden jojoba oil and local, grated beeswax. This blend is then poured into the tins that will go into the solid perfume minis, bee pots, lockets and compacts.

The color harmony for Lyra is a pale pink also called blush, it was chosen from the skin tones of my color palette. Originally Lyra was created as a custom perfume for my daughter Eve. I altered the formula to include the fragrance in my line and thus giving it the name Lyra, from the character in the novel The Golden Compass. The fragrance is a floral amber with a hint of licorice. It is sweet and warm connecting to the feminine within, as so beautifully depicted by Greg's illumination.

Ode to Lyra

LYRA

"A rich, full-bodied, sweetly tinged amber, floral fragrance that evokes the essence of Fall with its warm sensuality. Through a veil of tropical flowers, the amber and somewhat licorice tinted base glows leaving a dry down trail of light citrus so as not to allow the amber to overpower." and "The glowing amber floral fragrance exudes an ethereal waft of a bonfire note arising then transitioning in a light citrusy orange drink at the end of my sensory-awakening tramp in the cool, late October forest."
~ Victoria Austin, Sniffapalooza Magazine

Fragrance family: FLORAL, ORIENTAL

The sweet headiness of this botanical natural perfume lies in the melding of Jasmine and Ylang Ylang at the heart. In aromatherapy circles these essences are considered relaxing, euphoric and strong aphrodisiacs. The word aphrodisiac comes from the name of the Greek Goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite.


"...vivacious, euphoric affair with the immediacy of flowers, especially the fresh, almost fruity piquancy of what seems like orange blossom, jasmine and tropical ylang ylang singing out of the bottle like alto voices in melodious thirds. Inspired by the brightness of the night-sky asteroid near Vega but also the heroine of the book "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman, the floriental Lyra is shining with its own bright veneer. This white floral composition is especially appreciated in a natural blend as there is none of the florist shop headspace of department store fragrances: rather the blossoms exude a deeper, more solid, hefty presence in the accompaniment of a classic warm base of ambery resins and hesperidic overtures. Perhaps the only drawback is the rather limited lasting power, but this is something that can be easily amended by re-application."
~ Elena Vosnaki, Perfume Shrine

There are twenty different essential oils, absolutes and C02 extractions in this perfume. The solid and liquid perfume versions have been created by hand utilizing pure, plant essences. Main notes include: Amber Accord, Jasmine, Ylang Ylang and Citrus. Many experience an anise note, although there is no anise or fennel in the ingredients.


"Lyra is described as a "veil of tropical flowers, [with an] amber base, and an effervescent twilight of citrus notes." It is an extraordinarily lovely and subtle creation, completely wearable at all times, and smells to me less like a perfume and more the way I wish I actually smelled. It evokes the sweet, soft scent of a beloved child's skin."
~ Heather, Memory and Desire

The fluid liquid fragrance is in a base of organic grain and grape alcohol available in samples packs, a 1 gram glass vial and the French, Chanel type, flacon.

"Lyra is orange and bergamot over amber. According to the website there are tropical flowers in there, but I don't get much, certainly not anything that I would normally think of as tropical: no hothouse gardenia, no over-the-top tuberose. I could be crazy but I think there's a touch of heliotrope in there. It's tropical in that bright, sparkling way that Patou did with Colony, but there's no pineapple."
~ Tom, Perfume Smellin' Things

I created an amber accord in the base of this fragrance that is a sumptuous perfume on it's own and appears in other fragrances as well, like Aurora.

"Lyra- This one feels complex and multifaceted. There's a candied orange in there that doesn't become too sweet. Unlike Tom, I did get the tropical flowers, and surprisingly enough- I liked it. A lot. Out of the four here, Lyra is the strongest and most tenacious, but it stays close enough to the skin to make it very wearable."
~ Gaia, The Non-Blonde

Reviews:
Scent Hive
Perfume Shrine
Memory and Desire
Perfume Smellin' Things
The Non-Blonde

Images: Solid and liquid photo montages and vanilla beans by Roxana Villa, Illumination by Greg Spalenka

Tricks and Treats

No tricks today only sweet delicious treats, in the way of a perfume review and rain. Indeed, rain has arrived to the dry arid climate of the City of Angels. Along with the aroma of wet, vegetative earth is the "full, bodied dark roast" of Lyra being reviewed today by Sasha Muradali over at the Little Pink Book PR blog.


Sasha describes the botanical perfume Lyra as "...sweet and floral, but evokes thoughts of a glowing Autumn night and perhaps some crisp November air." Rather auspiciously, one of the main notes in Lyra is Vanilla, which is one of over six ingredients in the Amber accord I created for the formula. How to make a Vanilla bean infusion will be featured at Lillyella's blog tomorrow.

Wafting gratitude to Sasha for her review on this percipient day.

Lyra Review at Scent Hive

"Collect your pollen and fly away inspired" is the subtitle to the blog Scent Hive. Please fly on over to Scent Hive, Trish the Queen bee of her hive has posted a review of our Lyra Solid Botanical Perfume. She shares her impressions of the fragrance and a lovely personal story.

Lyra Review at Scent Hive

Trish Vawter, the owner and writer of this blog, is a mother and a nurse midwife by profession. Her muse, like myself, are all things natural. At Scent Hive you will find recommendations on "Greening" your hive, from perfume to hair and body care as well as fashion. From what I have encountered, this the first natural perfume blog. Cheers to Trish for finding her niche.

Scent Hive

Perfume Illuminated at Vital Juice

We've got a little mention over in todays column at Vital Juice, they have even used our Lyra Botanical Perfume picture to illuminate the article. Here's the link: Vital Juice LA

Scent of the Day: Lunation

Mornings now begin in the pitch black, which I rather dislike. Who thought of this weird tradition of moving back and forward time anyway!?! Bah humbug. Thus scent becomes even more crucial on such mornings. I find the aroma of rosemary, eucalyptus and juniper in my salt scrub invigorating in the morning shower. An excellent start to the day.

The full Moon in Virgo beckons change and thus I begin the day with the grounding aspects of Patchouli followed by a small dab of Chaparral solid. This will shift around mid morning when we depart for a journey behind the orange curtain. Greg is doing a multi media presentation at an art college. Thus I will embody feminine and floral as I take on the role of an adornment at his side.

Not sure what the feminine and floral will be...most likely Lyra liquid and solid layered together. The Ylang Ylang and Jasmine equation in Lyra is romantic, feminine and sensual, complimented by the citrus top notes the fragrance also branches into euphoric.

According to the Claudia Thompson of Moonsurfing: "The trick the Full Moon teaches about is how to keep inspiration alive while also keeping your eye on practical mundane matters." This sounds like my astrological chart.

Wow, I just got massively distracted by my treasury going to the Etsy front page. It's so thrilling when this occurs with one of my items or a treasury I've constructed. Yesterday Greg and I were both featured on a treasury together that hit the front page about this time on the morning.

Alright...back to balancing the mundane with inspiration.

The illustration above is ©Greg Spalenka and is currently for sale at his shop on Etsy. It was originally created for Sports Illustrated, read more here. I cropped the image a bit so that it would suit this post.

God is in the details

“God is in the details.”
~ Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

There are so many minute particles to be contemplated and fine tuned when one has their own business. It is truly a staggering labor of love. The latest task on our desk is the enrichments of the little boxes which hold our solid and liquid perfumes. We have decided to enhance the little boxes with a lining and little pillows. The task involves many detailed steps to get to the end product.

“The true secret of happiness
lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.”
~ William Morris

I am having considerable help by my uber talented mum, who makes the lovely crocheted bags for our perfumes. She has also been helping out with the inside details of the boxes.

“Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details,
worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour”
~ Henry David Thoreau

It's in all these fine details that I see how my history in the arts, specifically the book arts, begins to serve well. Having highly skilled, creative individuals adding their skill set is also an enormous asset.

Thus, I am off to yoga this morning in gratitude for all the little elves who are assisting in creating more beauty to the world.

“Every man's life ends the same way.
It is only the details of how he lived
and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”
~ Ernest Hemingway

Roxana Illuminated Perfume™

LYRA: new edition

"I found God within myself and I loved her, I loved her fiercely."
~ Ntozake Shange

To celebrate the latest edition of Lyra, our resident illuminator Greg Spalenka, has created a new image. Although the other image is stunning, one of my personal favorites, she is just not quite the right mood for the delightful dance of floral confection.

The inspiration for Lyra began with a custom perfume created for my daughter Eve (Evangeline). Since I do not replicate custom perfume formulas, I swapped out some essences in the top, middle and base and added new ones.

The tropical headiness of this perfume lies in the melding of Jasmine and Ylang Ylang at the heart. Both these essences are associated with femininity and sensuality. In fact, in aromatherapy circles these essences are considered relaxing, euphoric and strong aphrodisiacs. The word aphrodisiac comes from the name of the Greek Goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite.

The word stressed spelled backwards is desserts.
~ From Botanica Erotica

The sensuous, floral fragrance is reminiscent of Stargazer lilies. Built upon an amber accord, the exotic sweetness of the Jasmine Ylang Ylang heart is lifted with heady citrus notes. The perfume is euphoric and playful uniting us with the delectable sweetness of pure joy.

LYRA Botanical Perfume

Fragrance Family: Floral

There are twenty different essential oils, absolutes and C02 extractions in this perfume. Main notes are: Citrus, Jasmine, Ylang Ylang and Amber.

The liquid perfume is available in a quarter ounce stopper bottle from France, which arrives in it's own couture, hand crochet pouch.

Lyra Image ©Greg Spalenka, other images are old engravings which Roxana has modified and placed onto parchment, and a photo of our Lyra couture pouch ©Roxana Villa.


More information on Lyra

Read Reviews at these links:
Memory and Desire
Ideal Bite
Noteworthy Fragrances
Bath'n Body, Craft Gossip

Roxana Illuminated Perfume™

Natives & Flower Perfumes

The box with little sampler bottles arrived yesterday as I was formulating a new perfume. It was a super busy day. I poured Vespertina samples in the morning, pondered packaging with Martha while eating delicious croquettas, crossed hills and valleys for a few more native plants and finished up the second edition of both Aurora and Lyra.

Vespertina, Lyra and Aurora currently make up the triad of our floral perfumes. Many new ones are in the works and will be released as as Spirit guides me. Some of you have had little sampler previews enclosed with your packages.

Although Lyra was released first, Aurora is the initial floral perfume I created. Back in the nineties I had sat down to recreate the aroma of carnations shortly following a Natural Perfumery class I had organized at the Bodhi Tree. Originally titled Experiment #2, Aurora has a spicy floral quality reminiscent of carnations. I consider both these botanical perfumes much simpler than the ones which followed. In fact “Q”, Chaparral, Vera, Vespertina and Sierra have quite a number of chords which are specific to them. I suppose it would be easier to develop one wood chord that would be used in all of of my perfumes. Alas, that is not how my inner artist functions. By the way, I prefer to use the word chord, instead of the French accord. My first perfume teacher used that name and it stuck. In most perfume circles you will notice they use the French accord. To be honest, I never quite understood the concept of using a word in a different language than the one we speak in. Perhaps this is because my first language is not English.

This morning I will be putting the native Salvias I purchased at the Theodore Payne Foundation into the dirt. The dirt chord I have been working on smells too much of patchouli, so that one will need some tinkering. The Three Graces are beckoning me and the new perfume needs her final accessories.

Roxana Illuminated Perfume™
Greg Spalenka
Image at top and bottom ©Greg Spalenka, Carnation engraving placed on parchment by Roxana.

Roxana Illuminated Perfume: REVIEW #2

Want eco-living tips delivered to your in-box everyday? The tips tend to be short, witty and sassy. All tinged in green with super great ideas and insights into living harmoniously with the earth. If you are a reader of this blog and love all things green, then there may be a match in heaven waiting for you.

The green team over at the Ideal Bite have written a nice little eco-tip featuring our eco-luxe perfumes. There favorite perfume is Lyra. I'd say Lyra and Vespertina are neck and neck now in the race for the favorite position, with Q coming up close.

Thank you to the green team over there for their lovely review and the great service they provide for our green enlightenment.

"The Ideal Bite offers bite-sized ideas for green living."

The Ideal Bite: Roxana Illuminated Perfume
The Ideal Bite

The image above was created for our business card and features our mascot, the orchid bee. ©Roxana Villa

Storytelling

Story telling is at the heart of brilliant works of art. One of my favorite storytellers is Phillip Pullman. In Pullmans trilogy, His Dark Materials, he weaves an extremely complex story set in alternative worlds. Varied fantastical elements and characters are combined with threads of history and science. I began reading the first book of the trilogy many years ago to my daughter and it still remains one of my all time favorites.

Today a large group of us went to the Hollywood Arclight Theater to see the film adaptation of the first book, The Golden Compass. I am in a bit of a quandary as to whether I liked the film or not. Can I look at it objectively? Not upon first viewing, maybe later. Right now I am in shock as to how the story was chopped up for the sake of film making. The visuals were breathtaking and fit well with the imagery in my minds eye. The story telling aspect is very choppy and lacks flow. I understand that when a book is translated to a new medium it will shift, change and morph into something new. A successful example of a great book adapted to film is The Hours. In the case of The Hours you have an original book inspiring another book which was made into a film. All three are different and brilliant on their own.
Many of the scenes Greg worked on in creating visual development for the film were not evident due to the elimination of the last chapter in the book from the movie.

Is the film version of The Golden Compass good storytelling? Hmmm, this question needs to be asked of folk who have not read the book(s).

The image above is a painting by Leonardo DaVinci titled "Lady with an Ermine". It was the inspiration for Pullman when he devised the idea of daemons for his characters in The Golden Compass.

Read a recent interview with Phillip Pullman here:
http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/node/697

The Golden Compass: Trailer

Years back, on the recommendation of our English friend Jeremy, I picked up the book "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman. It was one of a trilogy entitled "His Dark Materials". I have been reading books to my daughter Eve ever since she was a toddler. Thus, every night before bedtime, we would snuggle in my bed I would read aloud. We absolutely adored the first book and quickly ravished the second and third...as well as "Lyras Oxford". During this time, my beloved partner was in Texas working on a film. I mentioned to him how extra ordinary the books were and that he would be a perfect visual fit if the book was ever made into a film. Divine forces conspired and he found himself working on visual development for the Golden Compass right here in Los Angeles. We have been counting down the days for the release of the film. It looks like Philip Pullmans masterful story has been honored and interpreted well. What a relief! Fox really blew it with Eragon and The Dark is Rising. Kudos to Weitz and New Line for their great skill in translating a great novel to film media.
The perfume I created entitled Lyra was named after the heroine. Aurora and Amber also allude to the epic trilogy.
The Golden Compass Website

Comic Con 2007: Overview

"All pictorial art is the transformation of dead material into something spiritual."~ Anonymous

We are just back from another inspirational five day adventure at Comic Con. It has become clear that our favorite reason for attending is meeting new friends and spending time with all our artist buddies.

Comic Con is a magnet for artists working in the genre of fantastical art, whether they are there as attendees, showcasing their latest visions at a booth or promoting a project upstairs at one of the programs. This year, for the first time in the history of the Comic Con, it sold out. The spirit of the archetypal super hero remains at Comic Con, despite the Hollywood take over. It has become crystal clear that the public adores good stories. Philip Pullman alludes to the power of story in "The Amber Spyglass", the third book of "His Dark Materials Trilogy."

Day One: Wednesday, July 26th

Our booth was located in the "illustrators" section, across from Greg's artist rep, Allen Spiegel Fine Arts. This year we had the usual bounty of limited edition artist giclees, postcards, posters and Vespertina CD's. Greg introduced a first look at the illustrations created for the children's book "The Eyes of the Unicorn" by offering large, limited edition giclee prints and a beautifully printed set of greeting cards featuring six of the images from the book. The Adorning the Muse handmade jewelry by Heartworks by Lori and my perfumes were the new additions to the collection, creating a sensorium of visual, aromatic and musical delights. I introduced my new perfume Vespertina, inspired by the music CD "The Visions of Vespertina" created by Greg and his friend Michelle Barnes. What a thrill it was to share a new perfume at such a large venue. The immediate praise and feedback garnered is priceless. More on how this perfume was orchestrated in the next blog entry.

Day Two: Thursday, July 27th

The Con opened its doors to a swarming mass of sprinters Thursday morning, as well as every morning there after. What were these fans running towards? Booths offering free booty and Comic Con exclusives most likely. At 4:45pm I treked upstairs to hear "Lost, Season 4" presented by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. Little did I know that there had been Losties waiting to get into the presentation since early that day, with a line that wrapped around the entire ballroom!!! Obviously Damon and Carlton are masters of the fine art of story telling. A special "Dharma Initiative" short was showcased with interesting clues into the work of the mysterious foundation. The Season 3 DVD will be released in early December, can't wait!! Day Three: Friday We met my daughter Eve and her dad Ben early for breakfast Friday morning. Eve was keen to know ALL the details from the LOST presentation. At the Con Greg took Eve on a tour to see all her favorite artists including Kinuko Craft, Dan Dos Santos, Charles Vess and Jon Foster. Lori, the jewelry artisan, came to join us at the booth, much to the fans delight. By that time we had completely sold out of all versions of the jewelry with my bee logo. What a joy to discover that the bee image utilized as the emblem for my perfume company strikes a chord with the public. In the afternoon New Line previewed a special extended trailer for The Golden Compass. See the trailer at the link provided below. We are particularly excited because we are huge fans of the book and because Greg did visual development on the film. After Con that evening we went to dinner with a large group of friends followed by late night conversations at the bar of one of the hotels. These late night evenings with fellow artists are one of the highlights every year at Comic Con. This year we had the pleasure of meeting an up and coming illustrator named Eric Fortune and Stephane Martinaire's daughter Madeline. http://www.movieweb.com/news/94/21494.php

Day Four: Saturday

Traditionally Saturday is the largest attendee day of the Con and proved to be our most prosperous. We were graced by the appearance of several authors Greg has illustrated covers for at our booth, including Orson Scott Card and Holly Black. Due to the celebration of costuming to popular art culture, Saturday night features the "Masquerade", an annual on-stage costume competition. The exhibit hall is always filled with interesting clothed, or sometimes barely clothed attendees. Quercus seemed to resonate most with all those who sampled the perfumes and was the biggest seller. Although all the perfumes were appreciated, this botanical oak inspired scent seems to resonate with the largest cross section of the population.

Day Five: Sunday

The last day of Comic Con began with breakfast with the artist David Seeley and his lovely family followed by Greg and I visiting all our friends at their booths and accumulating fabulous books, prints, posters and original art. (As if we need more of these items!) I took a gander at the props and costumes for the upcoming Golden Compass film. WOW! What an amazing treat for the eyes. I am a huge fan of both Philip Pullman and the trilogy "His Dark Materials." From what I have observed, the film makers seem to have done justice to the story. My perfume Lyra is named after the protagonist in the first book of the series titled "The Golden Compass." Sunday evening, after having packed and loaded all our items , we joined our fellow creatives for dinner and the usual late night gathering. During dinner we noticed that four out of five of the women present were wearing our new jewelry! Monday morning before departing back up to LA we had the pleasure of meeting Baron Storey and his lovely wife Petra for an early lunch. What an inspiration to be in the presence of Baron, chat with him and Petra and peruse his sketchbook (#144).

As always following Comic Con I am inspired to draw, draw, draw. The image which I am creating as the visual for Quercus has morphed. The final drawing will be posted soon with a blog entry showing the development of the idea. The painting will follow later in the year. The artist's I tend to gravitate toward , as well as those in our inner circle of friends are quite accomplished drafts people, Greg being one of the group. Listed below are the websites of friends and other artists from Comic Con that I adore. Unfortunately Baron Storey and the upcoming Eric Fortune have no websites. Dave McKean also does not have his own site, but, between his rep and a fan is well represented on the world wide web.

Cheers to the art spirit and the story tellers! 

Greg Spalenka Kinuko Craft Lostpedia Jon Foster Stephane Martiniere Donato Giancola Holly Black James Jean Dave Seeley Ciruelo Charles Vess Philip Pullman Golden Compass Dan Dos Santos World of Froud Allen Spiegel Fine Arts Allen Spiegel Fine Arts.com/Dave McKean The jewelry can be ordered directly from Lori Perfume in quarter ounce and 1ml sample sizes will be available soon at Illuminated Perfume.