Sonoran Desert to Alpine Forest

Greg was contacted by a friend who lives in Palm Springs to begin a dialogue about a collaborative project which resulted in a little mini vacation for us with a free stay at a spa for a few days. Palm Springs, like Las Vegas, is not at the top of our travel destinations, but who can resist a stay at a luxury spa which included a massage! 

Palm Springs is an enigma to me, no big surprise considering my devotion to the nature and authenticity. There's something irreverent to me about bringing huge amounts of water, electricity,  lawns, chlorine, gambling and non-native, invasive plants to the desert. I don't feel the violation as much in other desert locations like Sante Fe or Taos.

Besides the spa the other highlight was the San Jacinto National Park. Greg insisted that we take the Palm Springs Aerial Tram up to the top of the mountain where the vegetation and temperature due to the micro-climate was dramatically different. I was looking forward to being amongst some authentic greenery but I had no idea what a haven I was about to encounter.

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is a spectacular feat of engineering. The journey, on a normal day, is a quick breath taking 10 minute ride, covering 2.5 miles from the base Valley Station to the top Mountain Station located at 8,516 feet. As you ascend five different life zones beginning with the Sonoran Desert to an Arctic Alpine wilderness.

When we bought our tickets to take the tram we were told that there was heavy rain up at the top with no signs on what the rest of the day held in store. We choose to venture on up, rolling the dice that the clouds would eventually move on. As the tram begin to climb the to the 8500 foot elevation it would automatically stop occasionally due to lightning. Eventually we arrived at the top where light rain was falling. After a ten minute or so wait the rain began to turn into sprinkles and then disappear. The moment we witnessed the weather shift we immediately headed out of the stuffy lodge to the much anticipated wilderness.

Some of the plants of this Alpine wonderland area include; Artemisia douglasiana, commonly known as Mugwort; Coulter pine or big-cone pine, Pinus coulteri; Cottonwood, Populus fremontii, Juniperus californica, also called desert white cedar; Jeffrey pine, Pinus jeffreyi, also known as black pine; Lupine, Lupinus albifrons; Pinyon pine, Pinus monophylla; Scarlet penstemon; and White fir, Abies concolor.

Many trees had fallen naturally and or been struck by lightning, however, this forest is very healthy.

If you go, I highly recommend the Guided Nature Walk, which I will do upon our return visit to the area.

All photos ©RoxanaVilla.

Artisan Fragrance Salon Weekend, Part One

Last Friday, just around noon, we headed up to the Bay area in our rented Jeep. The intention was to rent a mid-size car that got good mileage, however, the ones that were offered to us reeked of synthetic aroma molecules and thus unacceptable. Greg went through several cars before the exhausted Enterprise salesperson finally offered him the Jeep at a reduced rate. Although there were some undesirable chemical notes in the car we remedied the situation by bringing along sage and artemisia from the garden.

Our destination was the home of fellow botanical perfumer and beekeeper Laurie Stern. Laurie and I met at a  Berkeley Scent Event put together by Lisa Camasi in March 2004. We felt very fortunate to have the opportunity to stay in Laurie's beautiful guest cottage that looks out over the bay.

Saturday morning we headed into the city to drop Greg off at the Academy of Art where he was presenting his Artist As Brand workshop while Laurie and I went to the Perfumers Breakfast. The morning event was sponsored by Fragrance West, the only fully operational fragrance house on the west coast who create fragrance blends for end-use products using ALL types of materials.

After greetings and hugs were exchanged amongst the perfumers we all grabbed a drink and food from the buffet and seated ourselves down to listen to Miriam of 40 Notes speak on behalf of Fragrance West.

We were educated that all perfumes in the main stream are created by an individual who works at a fragrance house. A company, celebrity or artist comes to a fragrance house with an idea where the staff perfumer begins the process of transforming the idea into a perfume.

Rather quickly many of us in the audience realized that this system would not work for those of us who prefer to construct and formulate are own perfumes. We were told that it was cost prohibitive to create a true natural perfume and that we should consider broadening our palette to achieve a wider reach. Yosh shared how she struggled with the idea of someone else manufacturing/producing her perfumes and letting go of specific ingredients like a beloved Vetiver from Haiti.

As I sat there I realized that although I would like to broaden the reach of my brand and have some help creating my perfumes I do not want to compromise the core of my company. The botanical palette I use and supporting small farms across the world is the heart and soul of my company. I realize that it could be very lucrative and expand my presence worldwide but I kept thinking about the Indian proverb "Man with cows, has care of cows."  I'm holding the intention that there is another path, not easier but more aligned with who I am and my mission.

At the close of the event, as everyone mingled, I learned that perfumer Sarah Horowitz originally owned a perfume company with Dawn Spencer Hurwitz in Boston. I found this very intriguing and thus walked over to the next presentation at a nearby bookstore to chat with Sarah about this new found information and Game of Thrones. Sarah is the first niche perfumer I ever met,  this was back in 1994 (or so) organized by Kathi Arnos at the home of Gurmukh Khalsa in Hollywood.

In front of Alexandra's Books a small crowd of perfume enthusiasts had gathered for the SF Sniff, an event similar to Sniffapalooza in NYC. We were all there for the debut of Alyssa Harad's newly published book "Coming to Your Senses." For the reading Alyssa brought some vintage perfumes for us to experience and then offer as a giveaway. 1000 by Jean Patou was my favorite of all samples, the aldehydes and distinctive animalic notes were much more restrained than the others.

 While the "sniffers" moved onto to other locations along the scent trail, Laurie and I headed back to her home where we spent the afternoon in her garden chatting. We sat under a vine of roses which showered us with petals every few minutes with the hum of her bees just a few feet away. It was an enchanting afternoon.

Laurie gave me a tour of the "Purrfumery"which lives in two rooms of her home filled with precious aromatics and gorgeous vintage finds. Her brand is Velvet & Sweet Peas Purrfumery, named after two of her departed cats. I thought the fragrance fan she created for the event was extremely whimsical and clever. "I inhaled (deeply) at Velvet and Sweet Pea's Purrfumery."

Continue reading Part two of the Artisan Fragrance Salon weekend here.

Except for the opening photo by Eve and the image of Daenerys from Game of Thrones, all photos were taken by me at Laurie Sterns home in El Cerrito.

Frisco

I'm off to San Francisco today to assist Greg with his Artist as brand Workshop at the Academy of Art University. I'll be back shortly with stories and pictures. In the meantime I have left the E-shop open but will not be filling the orders until I return.

Image: Air Travel in Africa: 1936

May Flowers: In Sonoma

Twenty two is considered a master number. It is no coincidence that fellow niche perfume artist Laurie of Sonoma Scent Studio joins our bouquet on such an auspicious day.

May Flowers in Sonoma

Image: Antique postcard from my families collection dated circa 1900, Argentina.

Ending week festvities

The past two weeks have been spent in much artistic splendor while my daughter Eve has been on her Spring break. We did a variety of creative and fun tasks together including cooking, painting, shopping, looking through old family photos, contemplating items for the house design, watching films, listening to books on tape, taking photos and drooling over pretty things at such wonder filled places like Anthropology.

Sunday morning we decided to venture once again to the Rose Bow flea market. I think this will become a monthly excursion for us. I very much like walking around looking for treasures. It's also a darn good place to people watch. During our excursion a Style Blog approached Eve to do a spontaneous film interview. They asked her about what she was wearing and her personal style, including who are her style icons? What a great question! I've been pondering how I would answer this question and will share soon.

Last month at the Rose Bowl flea market I found a small "shabby chic" type shelving unit for my studio. This time I found a sweet wrought iron bird bath that I will use as a prop for photos and events as well as in the garden. As I mentioned back in September I am shifting the style of our home and the finds at the Rose Bowl are great additions to our "Bountiful" style.


That night we choose to make "Pan de Yuca" once again, we made these delicious little rolls back in August after returning from Eucador. Yuca is a popular staple in the diet of the subtropics. While we were in Ecuador last summer we were served the root regularly. Yuca root is derived from the woody shrub Manihot esculenta, also termed Cassava. To make the Pan de Yuca look for Yuca flour at Latin markets, it can also be found at specialty stores as Tapioca flour, which is the same thing.

Ecuador: Hacienda, Into the Amazon, Amazona, Cotopaxi, Indigenous #1 and #2, Orcidarium
Bountiful in Venice
Anthrolpology
Rose Bowl Flea Market (be warned the link has a loud obnoxious ad, turn volume off or low)

Images: Photos taken at Bountiful in Venice, Anthropology in Pasadena and a clothing store in Glendale ©RVilla

Bountiful Style

Eve and I decided to make a journey to Venice Beach yesterday. One of our all time favorite places to visit is there on Abbot Kinney Boulevard. It is a store named Bountiful, owned by interior designer Sue Balmforth.


Before heading to Bountiful we met Ben at the new Tlapazola Grill for a fun lunch, the legendary icon artist of Los Angeles, Ed Ruscha, was also there having lunch.


When we arrived at Bountiful they were away at lunch, thus, we decided to walk Abbot Kinney and hit some of our other destinations like the Vintage stores.


Most of the photos in this post were taken by Eve, she was on a role. I am particularly found of this self portrait she did of herself in a few mirrors on the street.


And of course what is a day to Venice without Jin Patisse!


Bountiful was inspiring, as we suspected. Soon our little wooded house will begin looking like this. That is our intention, a cross between Anthropology and Bountiful. I found this article to get us started. We will also be creating an inspiration board in the kitchen to keep our idea fresh in our minds eye.





The beeswax candles smelled amazing. These were the only botanical aromas in the store. All the perfumes and scented candles were created with synthetic aroma chemicals. Botanical perfume has not yet arrived at Bountiful.






There is a quality to Bountiful that reminds Eve and I of the Estella's home in the film Great Expectations.







Between the fluffy pillows and the crystal chandeliers I am reminded of my grandmother's apartment on Avenida Libertador in Buenos Aires. Wonder what happened to those chandeliers? I sure do miss that apartment and my grandmother.



Next time you need to go on an Artist's Date I recommend Abbot Kinney in Venice, lots of inspiration to be found.

Middle Earth

Our journey to Middle Earth began early Friday morning by heading East across the US to Miami where we transferred to another plane heading South. We arrived to Quito in the evening, where the aromas were very similar to those of my homeland Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The host and guide of this magical mystery tour is, Eduardo Villacis, who was awaiting our arrival at the airport with his wife Maria. Eduardo invited Greg, referred on this blog as Maestro Gregorio, to give a week-long workshop at the University of San Francisco in Quito. The week-long workshop is Greg’s premiere of his class titled Artist as Brand.

Artist as Brand is a concept Greg has been developing for years facilitated by his own transformation as an artist and yearly visits to the Comic Convention (Comic Con) in San Diego, California. The workshop begins Monday evening with Greg showcasing his evolution as a creative spirit. The journey begins as an eldest brother of a family of six, much like the Brady Bunch, to where he has arrived now as an award winning illustrator and film production artist.

Quito, the capital city of Ecuador straddles the equator, placing it right at the middle of this planet earth we inhabit. The day and evening is equal in length and the weather remains constant year round. A small country, rich in history, along the Pacific coast which shares a border with Colombia and Peru. Although the primary residents are the exquisite faced Incas and indigenous tribes, a variety of people from all parts of the world now make this rich, fertile land their home.

The light of the Sun gently stirred me awake this morning as I arose to a glorious view of the verdant green, tropical mountains. I gasped at the site, for when we arrived at the hotel from the airport it was dark out and I had no idea of the spectacular scene that patiently awaited my gaze.

The central square of Quito is at 9,350 feet above sea level. The city is located at zero latitude. The word Ecuador translates to equator in Spanish. The name for the city comes from the pre-Columbian tribe, Quitu.

Our first day was spent organizing ourselves in the morning with a splendid tour of downtown in the afternoon with our extra ordinary guide, Eduardo. I must say that experiencing a country with someone like our host, who is very well educated in the history of Ecuador, is quite a treat.

Here are a few visuals of the afternoon excursion with some commentary.

In downtown Quito there is a church at just about every corner, each with beautiful architecture and masterful hand worked wood doors and statues in the interior.

This photo is a shot of the exterior of The Church of the Society of Jesus, aka The Company referring to the Jesuits. There were so many splendid aspects of this church both on exterior facade and within the interior. Upon first seeing the baroque church I immediately thought of Antoni Gaudi structures in Barcelona. I was particularly taken by how the use of the shell and leaf images adorning the Saint. The interior features glorious golf leaf covered engraved motifs, finely painted portraits of and intricate Moorish designs. This church is really glorious. it's breath taking to think of all the beauty that artists have created over time because of the Catholic church. The energetic blueprint of all the craftsman that imbued this church with their creative spirit is apparent to the naked eye as well as those who can "feel" energy.

Eduardo explained how there was a Guild for each of the hand crafts and each one is looked over by a specific saint. According to Catholic.org, Nicholas of Myra is the Patron Saint of Perfume. Since botanical perfume is tied into sustainability than Francis of Assisi, as the Patron Saint of ecology and merchants, is probably a better fit.

Eduardo and his wife Maria both worked on the restoration of a historic Hospital in the city center that is connected to a church via an arch. The hospital has been renovated into a Museum. We had the pleasure of a very in depth tour of the ancient structure.

The Hospital was constructed in Mediterranean style with two interior courtyards.

The first featured a fountain.

The second courtyard featured a a variety of plants.

Hospital tower view from one of the Courtyards.

As we exited the Museum to get some tea, we were greeted by another
glorious display of Quito’s sheltering sky above some of the colonial architecture.

More pictures and adventures are in store.
In the meantime, we are preparing our presentation
for Monday evenings opening of the workshop.

Images: The opening image was found via Google images thanks to Eve. The image of the Church of San Francisco was taken by Eve and all the other photos were taken by me.