Deconstruction

Websters describes Deconstruction as "a method of critical analysis of philosophical and literary language that emphasizes the internal workings of language and conceptual systems, the relational quality of meaning, and the assumptions implicit in forms of expression"
blah, blah, blah.... so on and so forth. and I pull out the tid bit about forms of expression, as this is where my own interpretation is relevant, or not....
It is very apparent, even with all of the indies, that perfumery is still one of those spit shined and polished industries where image is everything. I myself have fallen for the trappings at times. Got to have a better box, got to have a better bottle, got to have a better look, got to have a better....fill in the blank...........

It's exhausting, and at the same time, each time,  it happens I lose a piece of myself, a piece of my true intention. Not because I think there is anything wrong with having a nicer, newer image. It is that with the upgrading, the image seems to become less of what I want  on the inside, and more of what people tend to expect on the outside.
The artistry of scent has to be about what I want to express. Not what I think will sell, or what I think people will like. Amazingly, and for the most part people do have an appreciation for my work. And it isn't that I am anti-art. Or want to create things so difficult that they will be challenged and dismissed. I have never worked this way. Or been all that into the shock factor in art. Instead. If something is difficult, or a subject not one that people can readily embrace, I tend to look for ways to create unity. It is not as easy with scent, but could be. And it took me, going back to my visual art for inspiration. For many years I worked with metal and found objects in my paintings. These things resonate with me. I love handling old rusty metals. Old gears, wire mesh, mechanical parts. I guess it is my grandfather rubbing off on me. He was an inventor and machinist who worked and created things from metal.

So when my new boxes arrived yesterday, I pretty much knew what I was going to do. The boxes are handmade. and I wanted to put a handmade finish on them. Distress them. As I was rubbing metallic paint into the boxes by hand, it reminded me of a series of sculptures I created years ago, where each piece was leafed by hand with metallic leafing powders that I rubbed into the figures. Today my fingers are a kaleidoscope of metallic silver, red, copper. Like old times, and it feels great. Feels great because I am at my best when my hands and mind are working in sync. From the feel of coarse linen to be feel of incense resin, there must be something tactile in my work. As there must be something cerebral organizing and challenging me onward. At some level the juice in the bottle must have something in common with the package it comes in. To place a bottle of handcrafted liquid art into a box that has no connection makes no sense to me. I can feel the disconnect, and it gnaws at me. So much so that I just want to stop what I am doing all together.  I would truly rather dig holes in the ground than be disingenuous with my work.
I know this will not be for everyone. And some may not like or get what I am doing. Those preconceived ideas about what scent is, and how things should look, are deep-seated. Turning back the clock on a hundred years of consumer advertising and image making is not an easy thing to do. My aim is to not go backwards but forward to something new. Now that my head, heart and gut are all on the same page again, I feel absolutely amazing, and hope that my high spirits rub off on everyone else. Now I am going to go do a little happy dance, and batch out a kilo of Underworld.
The images (boxes) are art pieces for a visual project in my studio. Not the finished look of the new packaging.

P.S. For those with an interest. Thanks for asking. This change only covers select parfums in the naturals and moderne collections. Particularly the ones made with special tinctures, carrier's etc. The ones with an authentic artisan foundation. As well as adding things like the original parfum version of Honeysuckle Bird, instead of the reworked EDP. Adding an parfum version of Journeyman. Or Fan Dance, which is made from a combination of several floral tinctures from my gardens and a vintage style chypre base. Things like that....

Ezra's Poem

I do not believe in coincidence, luck,... and find superstition to be life's lazy way out. Life is a complete web of tangled thoughts, emotions, energies, connected at a core of possibility.  To be fully engaged is the key to living. Being aware of things as they unfold.
Having a little reserve space set aside in the mind, so that time and ego don't bunch it all together and crowd out the important aspects of minute to minute reality. It's easy to get lost and run ahead of the game, thinking about tomorrow instead of today. I do it more than I would like to admit, and my perpetual beginners mind is forever resetting the pace to now.
The last thing I did last night was to open my notebook to the page containing the formula for Ezra's Poem. The little parfum I created for the Memory & Desire, Perfume in a Poem project. So what do I have when I get up this a.m. but an email inquiring about it. Whatever forces are at work to bring this to a bubble are of endless fascination to me. More so than connecting the dots, I am blown away by how constant and accurate the Universe is with it's intention. No stone goes unturned.
So to whatever little blip got this ball rolling again, I say Thank You!
As you readers know I am making some changes in our Soivohle Brand. Big changes. One of which includes Ezra's Poem. From time to time I get a request for it, and have in the past offered it in small supply. Now I will be adding it to the permanent collection. I have gone over the formula, which is uber heavy in base notes, and switched out some of the materials to include my very best things. It will not change in structure, but should be nicer to the touch, as better quality materials have a way of shining through.
When I was first approached to participate in the project I felt an immediate connection. It was as if I had passed through this same time space portal before. Everything felt very familiar to me, and in a way it was. Ezra's Poem was a perfume that I was very familiar with. Many of my early perfumes were earthy and nostalgic.
And again here, I am feeling an uncomfortable scratchy rub with the word perfume. It seems so inadequate a word for the depth of emotion and soulful connection brought about by the smelling of fragrant oils. This Art Liquide. That borders on the magical, but is not. Is firmly real and tangible here , in this very moment.

The Future of Soivohle

I guess it is inevitable that at some point evaluation is needed. Perhaps a  set of new eyes looking at things. I recently called upon a few folks who I have a lot of respect for, in their opinions as well as business savvy. I was feeling out of sorts about Soivohle, and felt it was moving too far off target. My initial zest had turned to ugh, and I was not happy with our direction. I knew that I had some things in the works. The new packaging (if it ever gets here) and a decision to trim down the offerings in our online shop. I had done this before. Trimmed back, but this time I knew it needed to be with greater precision, and in an effort to get back to my crystal ideal, I needed to focus less on perfume-ism and more on art. After all art is what I do. I was a painter full time for thirty years, as well as a graphic/composition artist. Creating scented things was always an extension of that. Always in the background, and always something I intended to do more of when I got the time. Now that things are switched around and scent art is my main focus, I feel that it is only fair that I give it the same respect and attention I put into any other art project. So change is gonna come. While I was seeking all this sage advise on the business end, I also contacted a few of my best customers and people who know our line well. People who have been there from the beginning. Most were very gracious to help me, and for this I am most thankful. The overwhelming consensus rests in the area of parfums. It made sense, because the parfums have always been my most personal projects. Even when it was about a tie (sales wise) between the parfums and sprays. There was always a consistency there.
Recent projects like Meerschaum and NightJar were very revelatory. They brought it all home. The personal nature of these scents made it worth something to me. More than filling a gap in our scent wardrobe. More than profitability.
As much as I want to make things people will like. My gut will not let me toss all of my emotions and personal feelings into something, just to make a buck. I know it's the American way and that the fragrance industry works on that model. People unfortunately, and in larger numbers, are used to that model and see scent as nothing more than a consumer good. The only thing they invest is the few dollars they pay the cashier. So how does someone like me fit in. The truth is, I don't. More than one person expressed that to me during our conversations. Advising me to go back to my original plan and stick to it. The plan that used phrases like, "Art in a bottle" Liquid Art" Scentual Artistry" ....
Even more than not fitting the model, I don't want to fit the model. And I guess that is what has me smashing at the side of the box I have painted myself into. It's funny how that thing (box) creeps up and slams down on a person. Some folks live in a box their entire life and never know it. But there is a sure fire test for finding out. Try to flex your wings, do you have enough room to maneuver. Can you fly unhindered.
I am spending the next few days reorganizing my work space, and making my final decisions on what will stay and what will go. This time there will not be a special order for discontinued things. There will only be the things that are truly loved. If anyone reading has a special Soivohle scent they would like to see in the line up, please leave a comment about why you would like to see it stick around. I am most interested in feedback on scents in the Natural and Moderne Collections LZ

A Little Past Dawn

That time of year again when my sleeping patterns begin to change, and my mind becomes more forgiving of time constraints, things begin to fall seamlessly into place.
The first wave of our Acousticjus launch is all but waiting for me to make the next move. I do need to make up a few more samplers, and proof the final press release, but we are ready to go with the stellar oil parfums.  Over the weeks that follow and up until the end of the year we will release the stellar lips, stellar body mist and stellar soaps. So look for the news to drop by the middle of September.
Boxes are on my mind. I am still sitting with fingers cross (symbolically of course) that the news of their arrival last week is true and hold out that I will get an email tomorrow or Tuesday letting me know that they are ready to ship. As I had mentioned before this will ring in a season of change at soivohle online. I will be taking all new photos of our Soivohle line, and updating the website before the holiday season. I had been putting it off for so long. We will be making a few changes, for the better I think. Making the site easier to navigate as well as trimming the offerings to one collection. The rest will be available in our shop and through other online retailers. this also means that we will not be adding additional products. I want to focus attention to the liquid art, the parfums, and return to that original sub heading  which celebrates our art in the bottle. How quickly it all gets away from me. good thing Autumn is on the drop, bringing me back to my senses once again. Off to work now, I have a long list for today and am determined to have everything checked off by the end of the day.

Crazy Life

It's been a wild couple of weeks. Getting ready for the launch of our new brand Acousticjus, and finally deciding what to do for the Opening at Scentual Artistry this month. The opening last night was great. A little less foot traffic. Probably due to the recent heat and all the activities in the city. At one point I was sitting talking to Mr. Z and mentioned that I should have brought my guitar. He replied with you should bring your CD's down here and sell them. I then looked around the room. My art was on the walls, my perfumes on the counter, teas.... The only thing missing was the music and  two books of poetry. All of my life I have been making things. When I stop and look around it is overwhelming. I attribute it to an early time in my life when I was dubbed a Golden Child, with a high IQ, and put on the fast track to success. I was eleven or twelve. By fifteen I was a stick a fork in me I'm done, outta here, fed up mixed up forty year old in a teen's body. Anything they could throw at me they did, and for that short period, I had no control over anything. My parents were not equipped or prepared for any of it, so they tuned out and I was on my own. I have been on my own ever since. I never wanted for myself the things that others wanted for me. My brain is wired  in a way that allows me to create entirely in my head. Perfumes formulated down to the last drop. Recipes, poems, songs. By the time I get around to writing anything down, I have lived with it in my head for weeks, sometimes months and years. I do the same thing with science and math. Formulating theories and then trying to solidify them with the math. It's a lot of fun, and hopefully the kind of thing that stimulates my brain enough to ward of senility at some later date.
But anyway: Back to present day reality.  I was happy that so many people who came in last night had an interest in tea, and my tea display. I was able to debut my latest Soivohle Perfumed teas as well. They will be available on the website soon.
Now that I have lived with the space (Scentual Artistry) for awhile I am ready to make a few changes. Including expanding my blending station, and making it more of a focal point. For the next two or three months, instead of installations and displays I will focus specifically on the perfumes in the collections, and getting back to custom perfume work.
I am still waiting for the two Lizzy clones that I ordered. Hopefully they will arrive soon, and I can put them to work.
Today I  continue to work on Acousticjus, batching out Flamenco.  It's coming along nicely. We will launch with the Stellar Oil Parfum, Stellar Lips and Stellar Soaps. Everything heavily laden with music speak. Moving on.....

Soivohle Studio

We are updating our Studio Collection with a new look and the addition of a few new things.  We have been listening, and are adding a new larger (2 ounce) spray. We are also adding a light spray lotion in some of the scents. And........ Are adding three new scents due to launch on the 18th of this month. Included will be Vanille OTR, Peche et Vert and Fig Amarette.