Marilyn Neuhart 1930 - 2017

As I entered the Girard wing at the Museum of International Folk Art here in Santa Fe, I stopped abruptly and had to catch my breath, stunned at how much it "felt" and resembled the interior of the Neuhart house in Hermosa Beach, CA. It comes of no surprise of course, given that Alexander Girard and Marilyn Neuhart formed a creative partnership in 1961 when she created embroidered dolls for his Textiles & Objects shop in NYC.

Although I had visited the museum and Girard wing in the 80's with Ben, Marilyn's son, the shock of the shared kindred spirit of these two designers was much more palatable, perhaps because of her recent departure from this earthy realm.

Marilyn was born on March 3, 1930, in Long Beach, California. Her birth date 03-30-30 seems extremely auspicious with all those three's and zeros. Three is the number of Venus and the Empress, it is associated with imagination, creativity and the artist.

I always felt Marilyn knew she was an Empress, especially when I remember her sitting at the head of the Thanksgiving table with her feast spread out for everyone to not only savor but also take in the beauty of her orchestration.

She attended Long Beach public schools, Long Beach City College and UCLA. Marilyn began her long career as a freelance designer in the Los Angeles area since her graduation. She taught design, painting and color theory at UCLA, UCLA Extension and at East Los Angeles Junior College.

Marilyn and her husband John Neuhart, worked together professionally since their marriage, and collaborated on numerous design projects, including graphics, films and exhibitions. From 1980 to 1998 they were partners in the design firm Neuhart Donges Neuhart, whose clients included the IBM Corporation, Herman Miller, Inc., The Huntington Library and Art Gallery, the Doheny Library, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Government of Taiwan and local businesses and institutions.

John and Marilyn authored and designed of three books on the history of the Eames Office. The first was Eames Design (1989) followed by Eames House (1994) and the two book set The Story of Eames Furniture, a comprehensive history of furniture development in the Eames Office.

Together John and Marilyn were an inspirational team, working together to create beautiful invites to dinner parties at their home, labels and cards for the holidays or the magnificent doll house that took over six years to create for Eve. Below are a few details of the doll house, including a tiny basket with three of Marilyn's dolls as miniatures. The bright, colorful palette and since of whimsy that was part of their signature weaves throughout every part of their life.

The day Ben and I graduated from Otis College of Art and Design, back in the eighties, Marilyn made us glorious crowns for us to wear that were given to us in a special box made by John. Talk about feeling special! 

There is also a photo of her with Ray Eames and John sitting on the lawn of MacArther Park waiting the graduation ceremony to begin. I believe the photo was taken by her son Andrew Neuhart.

I'd love to share more pictures of their truly wonderful and very authentic style, but the CD's are in a box some where within the scary storage closet here in our temporary rental. I'm not sure if I can readily find it.  I'll take a look in a few weeks when my time should be a but more expansive. What's become quite obvious, as I sift through all the photos of John and Marilyn over the last thirty plus years, is that I'll be sharing more about them and their legacy as designers.

Here's a little quote from Marilyn...

"I started to quilt when I was a small child sitting with my mother and my aunts 

over a quilting frame. I continued to sew, albeit intermittently, as I went through 

high school and college. After I left teaching for a period and with two small children, 

I became a fulltime freelance graphic designer and once again took up my needle in earnest. 

After making small cloth dolls for my children and friends, I made a doll for designer 

Alexander Girard, who asked me to make a large number of them the new Textiles & Objects 

shop he was designing in New York City for the Herman Miller Furniture Company. 

Over the next few years  (in the early 1960's), I made nearly 2,000 dolls 

for the shop and for  Girard's exhibition projects." 

Read more about Marilyn by jumping to this little blog I created for her back in 2007 as Christmas gift, naively thinking she might want to contribute to it by sharing her wit, sense of design, inspiration, recipes and abundant stories. In hind site, it was most likely a projection on my part, I was so inspired, in awe actually, by her sense of style and her very Aires take charge and get things done attitude.

Once I asked her how she had managed to do so much as a mother of two children, wife, designer, cook and creator extraordinaire, etc., her response was..."Just keep going, without thinking about it." Hence her chosen name for the blog "Don't Be A Bump on a Blog." She had absolutely no patience for laziness. As I edit this post, adding more memories and photos, it occurs to me that perhaps I will add more on her blog, building it as a resource for those of you her are inspired by her as well as John.

Besides having a great sense of color, pattern, texture, design and flavor, she was also a bit of a sensualist. Marilyn liked to take baths and enjoyed beautiful scents. Her favorite fragrances were 4711 and roses, the photo below is a vintage bottle of the illustrious perfume that she had in the guest bathroom. I would gift her bottles of my Blossom cologne and bath salts for the holidays and her birthday.

Lucky for us, House Industries worked with Marilyn and John to recreate some of their wonderful designs such as a poster of the hand print, which I've always been a huge fan of.

Marilyn passed on September 1st, 2017 just as Greg and I were driving through the desert on our way to Santa Fe. In a way, one of the many reasons I am living in Santa Fe today is because of Marilyn. She and her fabulous style which will live on for years to come, especially if books about her creative life and dolls are published. Marilyn was an integral thread in the Mid Century modern design revolution whose craft-womanship is an inspiration, particularly to all the makers who are part of the current DIY culture.

See more of the Neuhart house and Marilyn's fantastic style in a few of these posts here at the journal.

Photos: Museum of International Folk Art,  John and Marilyn's home in Hermosa Beach, a variety of shots at the Neuhart house of Marilyn's embroidery, quilt, handprint, 4711 perfume bottle and Mexican statues display.

Edited April 13, 2018

New Year, New Moon, New Opportunities

Santa Fe often feels like a place that exists out of time with a very vibrant conscious community. As mentioned previously, I pay attention to patterns, one of the names that keeps being shared with me is Sandra Ingerman. This evening I took a moment to explore her world and came across the Transmutation News of January 2018. In it she shares insights from Katharine stating "We start the
18th year of the 21st century with a Super Full Moon on the 1st day of January, the 2nd in a set of 3 Super Moons.  And we end the month with a Super Blue Moon and lunar eclipse on January 31.”

She also shares that this lunar cycle presents us with a test supervised by the "guardians of deeper mysteries”, hence the opening painting The Valkyrie's Vigil by Edward Robert Hughes.

For all of you interested in greater clarity and aligning with higher frequencies I highly recommend reading her newsletter, other writings, following her wisdom and meditations.

I'll share about the the inner journey I've been on here in Santa Fe with some of the insights into some of the archetypes that have been presenting themselves. It's been quite an adventure that just keeps getting more and more interesting! Have any of you read any of Carlos Castaneda's books or Medicine Woman by Lynn V. Andrews, well then get yourself Sandra's book Soul Retrieval.

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

Make Good Art

Last night I watched the Grant Morrison documentary, today I saw two commencement speeches given by Neil Gaiman and JK Rowling. These wizards offer timeless wisdom and tell us...that if we don't know how to do something then pretend you are someone who does or to use the power of your imagination.

Gotta love these inspirators of the cosmic fantasy realm. Enjoy!




Meanwhile in the studio Gracing the Dawn natural perfume in a solid format is about to hit this planetary sphere, prepare thy nostrils.

I heart you

Happy Valentines Day everyone! Intending you are all practicing random acts of love today, most especially on your self. Self love, in my opinion is the key to happiness and attracting more love into your sphere.

"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I've written quite a bit over the years regarding essences related to love, love potions, love stories etc. Here are a few links some good reads:

2010 Arcadia
2010 Perfume Illuminated: Chocolate, Wine and Roses
2009 A Rose will Bloom
2009 Love Notes
2008: A Red, Red Rose

Red Star illustration by Greg Spalenka

Quercus Press

I'm a geek, if you haven't noticed. Ben just sent me over this video on Vimeo of a dude out east who reproduced a Websters dictionary from 1898. As a letterpress printer, bookbinder and lover of dingbats I just think this is one of the coolest things in the world....and the name of his press is Quercus! Does it get any better?!

Pictorial Webster's: Inspiration to Completion from John Carrera on Vimeo.

Quercus Press

The Zen of Bee Keeping

Zen bee keeping in Hong Kong, this little video is instantly calming and uplifting.

Nokia - HK Honey from The Silentlights on Vimeo.

InSpire

Greg made hair appointments for the both of us on Saturday, thus reluctantly I left the studio with no clue how much fun the day would hold.

Our adventure began with breakfast at a little French cafe in Venice with Greg's art buddy Jeremy who brought along David, another English artist. As we sat sipping our teas and talking art I began to realize why I love LA, particularly the west side so much.

From there we strolled down Abbot Kinney, under the brilliant sunshine and cerulean sky, to my favorite source of inspiration Bountiful. As always the store is deliciously arranged to produce mouth dropping splendor.

Self portrait, before the hair cut.

After our hair appointments we have some extra time before heading back over the hill to pick Eve up. Thus we took advantage of the invitation by David to come see his art. David and his wife live in a refurbished 1940's California bungalow which they refurbished. It's the epitome of Venice Beach, California with a fabulous studio in the back.

David and Greg discussing one of the large scale paintings.

One of my favorite paintings, among many, is this one above. It is a portrait of one of the bridges the city wants to tear down. I wish Los Angeles politicians would work on preserving historical sites as much as they work to empowering builders and lining their pockets.

David also has an interest in plants. We spent quite a bit of time in his backyard learning about Cycadeodia, a plant that lived along side the dinosaurs. Among his large collection of Cycads he had New Orleans oak tree moss artfully arranged in several locations. When we realized with great regret we needed to get on the road he gave us two plants to bring home. They are so going like my natives and fit in perfectly with the silvery greens of the artemisia and sage.

It was a really fabulous day and much needed getaway from making and packaging natural perfume, which I need to get back to right now.

Images:
Photos ©Roxana Villa
Cycadeodia engraving from caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de

Gathering Blue

Sometimes when I sit to write a post for the blog I find myself in a chaos of inspired imagery leading me from one thing to another in a frenzied state. I usually can tell from the energy of it that there will be an interesting intersection transpiring at some point. All I need to do is faithfully follow it, even if the end does not reveal itself immediately.

Such was the case yesterday morning, just after returning from taking Eve over to the Theatricum Botanicum for her first performance of Much Ado About Nothing. I checked in at Etsy to see what was happening with sales at my shop and was mesmerized by a beautiful photo. The image, by artisan Lisa Jordan, was of a cluster of felted acorns on wood with an autumn leaf (pictured above). I hearted the photo and began to build an Etsy treasury inspired by the image titled A Rich Patina for Autumn.


As is the case when I make treasuries I contact the featured individuals to alert them that they are in the treasury. I then went about the very busy day with the intention to photograph Q solid perfume in a way that captured some of the feel of Lisa Jordan's felted acorn image. I went outside in the late afternoon looking for a piece of wood to bring into the house for the shoot. Instead I found a log that I was using in the garden as a design element amongst the native plants. Since the bottom of the log was covered with dirt, spiders and leaves I choose to do the photo shoot outside. Here are the results...



Today, while editing the above photos, I received back a thank you message from Lisa. I clicked on her shop buttom within the convo and decided to send her the new photo of Q solid natural perfume that she inspired. We got into a little message exchange which led me to her lil fish blog and opened the duirway to Ms. Jordan's vibrant artistic life. Upon seeing her post on a natural dye bath with mushroom and lobster I immediately knew I had met a kindred spirit, in fact her dye baths look like my tinctures and infusion! Reading about her process made me think of one of my favorite novels Gathering Blue, which spiraled down another worm hole.

This bridge led me to discover that Lois Lowry, the author of Gathering Blue, has a blog and that she was inspired by my compatriot Jorge Luis Borges when she wrote The Giver.

So much beauty and interweaving creative paths...like the richly colored robe that Kira finds herself restoring in Gathering Blue.

Images: Verdigris copper and wool felted acorns by Lisa Jordan, Etsy treasury titled "A Rich Patina for Autumn" and Q Natural Solid Perfume photos by Roxana Villa.

Comic Con 2010

Once again we journeyed south to participate in the wonder and spectacle known as The San Diego Comic Con. This year our booth was in a slightly different location which presented a few challenges as well as blessings.

I have many stories and photos to share from the five day extravaganza. Check in here as each of the following headings will have it's own post.

Costumes
Super Heroes
Around the Booths
Perfume
Steampunk

A Bugs Life

Just before entering into new millennium I met my husband Greg Spalenka. At the time I didn't know he would be my future life partner. It was when I walked into his "happy house" that I got the first whisper of the potential.

He took me on a little tour, including his vast collection of insects. I never quite considered myself a "bug" person, until witnessing the beauty of these little pinned creatures. Each one was so beautiful! Some looked like miniature African masks, while others looked like a helmet for an army man. The most spectacular, in my opinion are the gem stone colored ones. I totally get why the Volkswagon company named there 1960 classic with the word BUG.



I became fascinated with Tribal arts while in art school as well as Folk art and Primitivism. These insect certainly have a bit of that tribal aspect, yet also feel somewhat modern and SciFi-esque.




In May 2000 Greg took me to my first ever Bug Fair at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. If you haven't attended an event like this I highly recommend it, especially with children.


Recently I was pondering if there was anything along my path thus far that hinted I would one day be tending bees. A little voice, or was it the hum of a bee, reminded me of our vast bug collection. Aren't they great! I know there is a sort of beautiful horror aspect to them, I highly recommend seeing them in person, the luminosity is so much better in person. This is only a small sampling, I'll share more when I next get access to my daughters really nice camera.


I remember the film Angels and Insects was really rich with insects, although the story is a bit disturbing. Curious if it holds up over the years, must re-watch it and see.



and Naked Lunch, one of the best Art films ever!

Bill Lee: What do you mean, "it's a literary high"?
Joan Lee: It's a Kafka high. You feel like a bug.

Bill Lee: I thought you were finished with doing weird stuff
Joan Lee: I thought I was too, but, I guess not.

Photos ©RoxanaVilla