Pencils & Perfumes 鉛筆と祈りと香水―香りの世界と出会う場所

Silent light in the theatre’s sky

Memory in a silent seat
Melody on a long retreat
Like an angel on a balcony

-Angels on The balcony , Blondie

I made this drawing two days ago while wearing a gorgeous perfume called Reglisse Noire. I love anise and licorice in fragrance. they somehow comfort me and take me back to sweet times, to when I was a child. Wearing this makes me want to cuddle myself and close my eyes and drift into an endless licorice starry sky. So this drawing is a meditation. It’s the embrace of memories , sad and beautiful ones- all evoked by wearing a gorgeous scent.

About a year ago I bought Jessica Buchanan’s Reglisse Noire as a gift for a friend for her birthday. I have bought some orange blossom based perfumes for her on previous occasions-but when I smelled this and saw the packaging and lovely artwork I decided to get this beautiful perfume. I also got a sample of it for myself together with Pink pepper Wood. 1000 Flowers is Jessica’s  brand and I simply love her collection of fragrances. Born in Canada, she moved to France in 2006 and studied perfumery in Grasse in 2007. In Grasse she refined her understanding of the art of  technical fragrance creation . I sure hope to check out more of her perfumes and perhaps they’ll inspire me to make more fragrant artworks!

Afterglow, pencil,ink and gouache on paper, 25×25 cm copyright Chester Gibs.2017 Amsterdam.

You can find out more about Jessica and 1000 Flowers by clicking here

Kind thanks to The Annindriya Perfume Lounge in Amsterdam for introducing me to 1000 Flowers!