Movie Monday: Epic

The 2013 animated film Epic, by Blue Sky Studios, is loosely based on the children's book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs by William Joyce. Why the marketing department at Fox choose to go with Epic as the title instead of The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs or just plain Leaf Men is difficult to understand. But alas, most marketing decisions are archiac to those of us who dwell in the land of imagination.

Writer/illustrator William Joyce has authored over fifty children's books, received an Academy Award for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore and three Emmys for Rolie Polie Olie.

Although the Epic film received mixed reviews from the critics, I thought it was absolutely wonderful, crafted with a rare beauty seen in American animation. This little gem, in my opinion does not contain the over stylization of humans and over the top songs, seen in so many animated features these days. The creators did add an annoying pop songsat the end—but at least one can turn the volume down when watching from the luxury of your home or device.

The critics main challenge with this viscerally rich film was that they'd already seen this story, citing Fern Gully and Avatar as examples. I read a few reviews which felt the characters appeared very "plastic-y and doll-like", where as for me they looked so much better than the plasticine-like characters that Disney churns out of their profit driven animation factories.

I was captivated with the depiction of the wee fairy folk in the forest, particularly the leaf men and their arch nemesis, a Boggan named Mandrake. The lighting of the scenes, character textures and costumes, and the fantastical depiction of nature in all her glory, including decay. Perhaps the critics are correct, this is a story that we've heard told over and over again, but humans are dense, slow moving creatures who need to hear things over and over again, particularly when the subtleties of nature are competing various forms of technology and an onslaught of loud, gore driven media.

Illuminated

I choose to use the term "illuminated" for my botanical perfume brand for a variety of reasons. Some of you may have already heard, this story in some form or other. This post is for those who may not have heard the tale as of it.

It all started way back in August 2003 while I was juggling working as an illustrator, practicing and teaching aromatherapy and learning how to create pure fumes with essential oils. At the time I was reading quite a lot about the history of fragrance, specifically in Egypt , inspired by attending a class in Malibu with John Steele.

The three week long workshop took place in a small Austrian village, high up in the Alps, called Reichenau. The workshop, taught by artist Phillip Rubinov Jacobson, was titled Old Masters, New Visions. It centered on learning the secret, ancient painting technique called Mishe that had been resurrected by the visionary painter Ernst Fuchs. You can read more in depth on the subject here at the journal.

During the first week of the intensive we learned the history of the technique stemming from 14th and 15th century when artisans within the guilds of painting and alchemy shared their wisdom with each other.  I became aware of the sacred triad that existed between art, perfumery and alchemy. The unifying component within this triad being the prima materia, plants! Thus, the term "illuminated" as in illuminated manuscripts and the aspect of bringing to light the beauty of plant matter in pure fume popped into my head like a lighting bolt. It also was made clear that Greg's imagery would be perfect for the brand since he has a very old world, romantic quality to his work...besides the convenience of him being my partner.

Here are a few of the "illuminations" that Greg created to accompany my pure fumes, 

some of these are details of the larger pieces. We collaborated on many of them while others were

existing pieces which he refined or adjusted. Find prints for sale here on his site.

All images are copyrighted, please respect the artist.

Q for the oak

Lyra

Sierra

Aurora

Mellifera

Figure 1; Noir

Figure 5: Bois

La Dame Blanche

Fleurish

and my favorite...Chiaroscuro

There are a few more which I'll include shortly.

Wednesday Muse: Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta

Todays muse is the absolutely stunning Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta, a glorious example of how exquisite type & image can dance together. Even more impressive is that the two parts were created approximately thirty years apart!

The gem of a book was begun in 1561 under rule of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I king of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia. Georg Bocksay, the secretary of the king, created the book in Vienna to demonstrate his inventiveness and technical superiority over other scribes.

Later, under the rule of Ferdinand's grandson, Emperor Rudolph II, Joris Hoefnagel was commissioned to illuminate Bocskay's book. "Hoefnagel added fruit, flowers, and insects to nearly every page, composing them so as to enhance the unity and balance of the page's design. It was one of the most unusual collaborations between scribe and painter in the history of manuscript illumination."1

The books mastery of composition between the beautifully scripted words and carefully placed painted imagery eloquently embodies the conjunction of two art forms uniting in a synergy that together form a whole so much more than the sum of its parts.

This treasure, along with a trip to Austria in August 2003, ultimately inspired me to pair the terms “illuminated” with “perfume” when forming the concepts for my botanical fragrance business. I still feel an inner swoon when I gaze upon the exquisiteness of these pages.

Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta
Joris Hoefnagel (Flemish / Hungarian, 1542 - 1600), and Georg Bocskay (Hungarian, died 1575)
Mira calligraphiae monumenta, fols. 1-129 written 1561 - 1562; illumination added about 1591 - 1596, Tempera colors, watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink on parchment and paper bound between pasteboard covered with red morocco
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles