Tapping Into Creativity

Going through a box of books looking for one thing I came across another. My original copy of Julia Camerons The Artists Way. I was not one of those folks who jumped head first into the pool, as many began to offer creativity workshops and the  like based on principals found in the book. I read it, found it inspirational and then went about my business. I have never had a problem tapping into my creative side. It seems more often than not all I have is a creative side.
But it did get me to thinking. I can't say how often I have been approached to teach classes in perfumery, but the number is high. It isn't my thing, just as it was never my thing to teach art classes. What I am finding IS my thing is the desire to introduce folks to their sense of smell. Not in regards to perfumery, but in general. This is the main reason I have been creating the Olfactory Installations at my studio in the city.  At first I was shocked at how little people were actually wired into their sense of smell. That a simple universal smell like vanilla could be so hard for them to identify. I realized after a few rounds of this, it wasn't that they didn't recognize the smell, it was that they were not allowing themselves to feel what they were smelling. It was all superficial like a game. And in many ways this is how we approach smell. We have been bombarded, almost whacked over the head with it. From room sprays, household products, personal care products. Everything has a smell. The same thing has happened with food. We eat drive through food, that at some level all tastes the same. We do not invest in it. We just eat it and go on our way. We spray, shampoo, do the laundry and go  on our way. We are investing nothing. And when we invest nothing, nothing is what we get in return.
How do we change this, how do we connect to our senses in order to have a more brilliant life experience. I am thinking that for my part in this I am going to begin offering Olfactory workshops. Not perfumery, no way perfumery. But rather create an environment, like my installations where people can get up close and personal with smells.
The most important aspect of my work is my personal relationship to the smells that I encounter. My ability to allow them to move me and teach me. I feel there is great value in this, so am going to work out a way to make it a reality for others. LZ

Honeysuckle Bird

Today I am batching from the original formula of Honeysuckle Bird. A scent that was first created as a brides scent, and one that has always been close to my heart.
It is feminine with an ethereal quality, even in the concentrated original. Last year I was contacted by three different women who were planning to wear it on their own wedding day. Sometimes these stories are so heartfelt, they bring me to tears. Happy tears of course. The kind of thing that keeps me moving forward.
As I evaluate our new line up for Soivohle, going through stacks of notebooks, I am revisiting the parfum versions of several scents. These are my favorites, and my favorite form to work with.  Some of the original sheets of paper are yellowed from age, and even more, the parfums have only been worn by me, or given by me as a personal gift. When we do the update in a few weeks, we will keep most of the naturals in parfum, and will be adding a few mixed blends in the concentrate, including Honeysuckle Bird, Bottleneck Blues, the new NightJar, Anniebelles Rose (which is an oil) and a few others.
We will also be keeping things like Green Oakmoss, Vanillaville, Moroccan Orange, Violets & Rainwater, Lilacs & Heliotrope, etc... in the lesser concentration spray.
It feels good to be heading into cooler weather with a clear head. LZ

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.

Nightjar

I woke up this morning, early as Mr. Z had to go to Kentucky and had me set the alarm on my phone last night. Both ringing, his and mine. a fail safe, and we were up.
I can smell the remnants of musk on my arm. I have been wearing my strange brew that I call NightJar. A tale of sorts, a vignette, an etude' ode to the whippoorwill, or something along those lines. How does one capture  that fleeting feel of a haunting tug at the soul. The feeling of being completely isolated and one with the universe all in the blink of an eye.
I think about these kinds of things all the time, as I go about my business of making intangible things tangible. Scent is the perfect vehicle for transporting contradictory madness, and in that I feel right at home.
NightJar began with a bird, an unlikely bird passing through my neck of the woods. The Whippoorwill has such a distinctive call that it cannot be mistaken for anything else. To hear it (for me) brings up all sorts of musical references. The hauntingly famous Hank Williams, I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry, or even the homage: Midnight In Montgomery by Alan Jackson. For as long as I can remember I have been able to play the Hank Williams song on my guitar, yet can barely get through it without crying myself. Some songs are like that. Some songs I can never sing, because they are too raw or tender for my soul to bear.
So I am in my lab working out the details for this new perfume NightJar. I go back and forth with the intention. I decide on one thing and then another. It is a dirty business of emotion and I am stuck. So I put it down,  and walk away, I need perspective. This is not one of those perfumes that falls fully formed into my head. This one I really have to work for. And what does that mean. Will it be better, will it have something the others do not. I have had to work for it before. I just don't know the answer. Lucky for me I discovered long ago that not knowing is ok. I can move on. I do not hold attachment to things I cannot change.
NightJar is not easy. It opens with a bundle of contradiction and confliction. An almost ugliness, that slowly evolves into a fine and delicate balance of floral notes, balsams and musk. It is like looking at a challenging painting, the immediacy evokes feelings of disgust and discomfort, yet on further examination it becomes like a beacon of truth.
Can scent do that. I believe it to be most capable.

Save

As much as you like to think so, you cannot save every stray animal, wandering soul, sick person, the planet and the Universe, so you may as well take a little time and save yourself. Words of wisdom from a dear friend. Truth ringing in my ears, but not quite convincing me to stop and smell the flowers; and yes I get the irony.
I should probably post this as well to Beacons blog, because it is he who has me thinking this early a.m. He could not sleep. Up and down all night. Nudging me to rub his head, cuddle with him, only to have him dart off the edge of the bed and to the door.  Finally I gave in and let him go. Out the door and down the steps, like a dash, on his two front legs. This is only happening because I too am up. Otherwise he would realize that he was alone in the dark, and it would begin, an unending cry of epic proportions. Unending until I walk down the stairs, grab him in my arms and take him back to bed. This could go on many times throughout a night. When he is restless I am restless. So here we are.
Beacon is two years old this month, and looking back over our journey so far, I can say that I have become an expert at reading him. He goes through cycles which are primarily based on his body's digestive tract, and his ability to utilize food and process waste.
Later today he will be out like a light. Most days he is like this. The stress of getting around, the energy expended is much more noticeable now that he is fully grown. Yet that doesn't stop him when he is on a roll. He, can out maneuver all of the other cats, out run them and out fox them. The only thing he can't do is jump. So he has learned to pull himself up on furniture, maneuver onto table tops and on some occasions, get stuck, scaring the crap out of me. Which prompts me to make the rounds throughout the day, looking for him, making sure he is safe.
In all honesty, I do not believe that I can save the world, or myself. At least not in a way that would be efficient. I do feel however that I am saved. Not in a religious way, but in a way that allows me to be at ease in the world. For as much as I may seem restless, I am very much at peace with life. Adhering to the Tao Pooh philosophy I focus my attention to the present moment. Always observant, always taking it all in. It is amazing how much we are able to understand through calm and silence. Amazing how easy it is to let go. Knowing that the extraneous things that define me today, I can walk away from at any moment and be complete. Knowing that blood is thicker than water, and that beating hearts trump everything else.

Finishing Touches

How is it that no matter how many things get checked off, the to do list keeps getting longer. We are getting down to the wire, and are on for a sneak peek of the Acousticjus stellar oil parfums next Friday at the Open House. I have been boxing for the past few evenings and have quite a few of them finished. I also realize with the busy fall and holiday season coming on  I will not get another day off for at least six months. Thanks to my special spinach tonic and a ton of green drinks I should breeze right through it. As you can see from the images the boxes are not your typical fare. I decided early on that I wanted to flex my artistic muscle bit with this line, and do something more whimsical and original with the packaging so I ordered plain cores that could be wrapped in handmade paper. Purple was the color of
choice from day one, a throw back to the days when I had a line of bath and body products under our Peace Angel Farm label. My husband still uses the purple boxes for his gourmet garlic gift packaging, which should be available soon (I think) for the fall/winter gifting season. As it is now we are each so focused on our own things that if we are lucky we say hey in passing every day or so. But anyway that's how it is sometimes. I will also be boxing the stellar lips (gloss and lipstick/stains) over the next few days. They will  be in this same style box. The stellar body mist will be in a white spray bottle with purple label. I had a sample of a purple spray bottle, but it was too much. The contrast of the white bottle is just right. I have not decided yet on the packaging for the soaps. They are round, so maybe a  larger round core that could hold for our five bars. They are mini soaps with a dragonfly motif. The soaps will be the last thing we add so I am not so concerned about it just yet. I have been doing a little foot work, via phone as well, trying to line up a few folks as reps. for the new line. So far so good, and I still have some more to do on that. If anyone reading wants to contact me about being a rep. in your area please do so by email: liz1 at lizzornperfumes dot com. I will have more info. on this soon with press kits and introductory packets. I am off to clear my work table and start boxing lip gloss. totally love blending the colors for these. I have ordered samples of quite a few more pigments, and plan to get very creative with the lip colors as we go along. Art is the most funnest thing...