the muse has come again and off I go

morning meditating
Originally uploaded by rhembein

I can feel the muse pulling me to another part of the trinity.

This last year has found me knee deep in books, blogs blending, tincturing, experimenting, sourcing and thinking ...... I feel the shift in my thought patterns now turning to the project.. I have decided to start in earnest in the new year.

After much thought and working out the processes in my head I know the time is right for me to settle down to some serious work on this...... the perfume and machine embroidery for the piece and wanting to and getting excited. I am pretty sure about where I am going at last with this visual but the final answers will come when I set to.... I'm excited thinking about it. Anything else I dismiss... which for me is a sure sign...that I must follow ....

Focusing and developing what's ahead , mastering all that befalls my fingertips, nose and eyes. humbly asking for divine inspiration.

music chords, perfume accords and memory

image Neil Wharton
http://www.artyimages.co.uk/

Music and Perfume.....so different and at the same time in union with one another.

Musical notes ie notes in a chord. C, E G , first, third or 5th notes for example...or in Piesse associated odour could be from the lowest base note of the musical scale and corresponding resinous note of Patchouli, moving to lowest of the treble notes and corresponding floral notes of Acacia and orange flower.

Moving up the treble scale on the staves of a musical manuscript we look to Piesse too associate botanicals of Camphor, Portugal and Syringa, ... Jasmin, Cedrat and Magnolia, Pineapple and Verbena.... on the bass clef including patchouli again, then Wallflower and Frangipani, Santal, Calamus and Pergaloria, Geranium, Orris and Sweetpea. Rose which is higher on the base scale... relates to other perfume terminology of middle middle to base middle to top etc.... all examples here are associated with the simple 3 note chord and associated aromatic 3 notes surrounding C, E & G according to Piesse. These will change according to the notes used and corresponding floral notes.... in any chord/accord.

These notes also can be interchanged to create different intensities.... higher and lower resonences of the same chord with music or accords with botanicals by changing positions of the notes/botanicals on the stave.

Sometimes in music the lyric gives the listener an opportunity to relate to the music on a deeper sub-conscious level.... ie personally relate to it by an experience for which the music and lyric brings up memory and emotion.....

While perfume when inhaling the aroma ... if memory recognises the odour, will transport recognition of time, space and personal emotion.

House Martin

The room is redolent with beautiful floral bouquets. The perfume welcomes you as you enter. Julias room is 'house martin' and looks out onto freshly furrowed fields and hills beyond. There is a little balcony with a wooden seat, again full of flowers in vases and a bird feeder where the birds of sparrow and blue tit come to feed and all can be seen from Julias bed. In late afternoon the sunlight pours in filling the room with light. It is serene and calm.

From the outset Julia wanted no fuss, but just to get on with it accepting it as bad luck and part of life. No tears but to carry on (if that was possible) In front of her we maintain normality talking and joking and shed our tears in private. Just 45 and within 6 weeks, cancer of the liver, pulmonary artery, spine, bones, and now the brain is taking our beautiful, intelligent , witty, funny lovely Julia away from us. She is my daughters much loved Aunt , Headmistress of a prestigious Elementary School in Eastnor Herefordshire and loved by all who know her.

She is slowly slipping away . At St Michaels Hospice in Hereford she is so tenderly taken care of. The bouquets of flowers have poured in from the schools she has worked with, Governors, old school friends and people who hardly knew her. It is very touching. Every day brings fresh bouquets. Five one day and on and on the flowers and cards come

I sat with her yesterday. On the CD player I put on piano music, English Suites by Bach played by Murray Perahia and Grieg Lyric pieces which is calming and beautiful. A foot and hand massage with some rose lotion and drinks of milk, juice and water whenever she needs it. ....tenderly applied with a straw to her lips. The pain relief administered is effective .........the professional staff there are very very special. The environment is caring, considerate and nothing is too much trouble. Many are volunteers.

Julia said to me yesterday ' I am going to have to go.... this is all I am going to say' Today she spoke to her sister and said 'it won't be long'..... Helen says she is calm and serene and drifts in and out of consciousness.

This will be my only post.

Julia Frances Morris November 5 1962 - October 22 2007

up close and intimate with clary sage

I am making a deeper acquaintance with botanicals that I have been a little shy of.... liked them and have applied them but held off knowing them.....

So, Clary Sage....distillation from the plant Salvia Sclarea. As per lavender the flowers distilled alone give an oil richer in ethers than a whole plant distilled on the same day...

It is a middle to top note in perfumery with a high odor intensity and good fixative and can give 'green' nuances to blends. The aroma is warm and relaxing, but can also be heady and uplifting. A fine odour which some say reminiscent of a mixture of ambergris, musk, neroli and lavender. which certainly is detected in the body of the notes just before the drydown.

To help with a relaxing effect add cedarwood. It has incredible tenacity and the odour intensity still imparts warmth well over 24 hours... the aroma by then assimilates itself with lavender.. The initial impression when you first smell this sweetheart is fruity and dry, complex ,cognac like with notes of hay. After 15minutes tobaccoey notes emerge with a clean top end. Within 45 minutes one perceives a sweetness and a floral tea and still cognaccy with tobaccoey undertone....After an hour there is a warm cohesiveness to the notes that lingers on well into the next day..

The plant is robust and comely with downy leaves and tall flowered spikes. The crinkly and downy heart shaped leaves when touched has the sensation of crushed velvet. The flowers give off their bitter, musky and balsamic fragrance. In Germany, flowering tops and elderflowers were infused together with the liquid and added to Rhine wine to create the muscatel wine.

It is indispensable in the creation of ambers, chypres and in eau de colognes where it imparts its mellow sweetness and persistence which cannot be duplicated even with ambergris.

Incense

Its funny how I turn to autumn and winter and where during the summer months my spirit wants to enjoy intimacy with flowers , now darker days are approaching, I am wanting to encompass the rituals and resins of incense... purifying soul searching, spirit travelling incense......

I will be embracing these deep dark. sweet , resins and listen closely to their secrets....listening to help me bring their whisp-ers together in 'fume and joy..... in peaceful creativity....

Last winter I enjoyed whisp-ering with them and it shall be like reuniting with good friends and going on another journey together. Can't wait..

These fabulously sticky for the most part ancient resins have a story to themself and with masterful blending can be applied to create a haven of inspiration, insight and beauty to its surroundings... What I love about these sometimes rare materials is the wealth of study and reading that can accompany their aroma. This I find the most exciting and rewarding.. The smelling of them and getting to know them in diffierent moods takes me on new levels of discovery.

More work to create freedom

Tony Burfield from Cropwatch has again outlined the ridiculous penpushing looking out for their own backs policies being generated over the use of certain essential oils... Please take time to read this and if you can help in any way please contact Tony to gather facts, figures and statistics to keep our rights of choice...

To read please go to: http://www.cropwatch.org/

thank you for your time

Janita

Riverside and Anya's Garden ... Ode

Jemina on smelling Riverside this morning

"It's like a secret garden!"

This photo is from Fin Garden in Iran and represents Persia's Garden of Eden.... Riverside will no longer be available. This is an honouring of Anya McCoy's roots.

From Anya's Garden Blog early post there is another Anyas Garden, an entrancing story. Click onto url below and then Anya's Garden link in fuschia there to read. http://www.suhsd.k12.ca.us/mvm/netlinks/1anya/1anya7-8.html

This story beginning in India and ending in Saudi Arabia and this perfume Riverside , are linked together and form the corner stones and paths for which Anya has nurtered and gently strolled .
The perfume conjures all that is comforting happy and joyful...From the moment I poured the sample into my hand and applied to pulse points I immediately sensed a feeling of deep happiness , fulfillment and contentment.

Citrus and pink peppercorn romp to meet you in a welcoming hug. It is like being taken on a walk through your favourite garden with a dear and beloved friend. Bees and Roses encircle and surround the air as you stroll through this most magic of gardens... The sense of purpose and idealogies are represented in this building forming the canopy of wonderful intricate patterns.....symbolically expressing Anya's work at Riverside and the Citrus garden she enjoyed and the knowledge and fun that was accumulated there at the University and beyond...the river path into the Garden represents clear vision...

The dry down lasts ages and goes on and on of soft creamy vanilla as does the euphoric and relaxed feeling of wellbeing.

Pan and Fairchild both have a freshness and sharpness where.... Riverside is warm, friendly and unashamedly beautiful... It is a best companion that you could reach for time and time again..... A classic.

Au revoir till we meet again..... would be its motto: