Inspiration no. 1

Monday 9 June 2008

PERFUME BOTTLES


I received a comment from a French reader of my blog, asking me what my inspirations are, and I thought it would be nice to do some blogs on a lot of things that inspire me and that I love.
So my first blog on this is on scent bottles. I love scent bottles, the mystique and art of the perfume world, and these images crop up in my paintings repeatedly (above is the anzu perfume card).

image courtesy of flickr

I love Lalique crystal, classically simple Chanel, innovative Schiaperelli, and elegant Guerlain bottles. Guerlain have always produced decorative, indulgent and distinctive bottles and I was delighted when they and Aqua di Parma asked me to do this illustration for them, which they later used for their invitations (see below).


I also like going to Les Senteurs in Elizabeth Street, London, which has a great selection of scent and reading books on perfume. Reading I would especially recommend are 'Alchemy' by Mandy Aftel, recommended to me by a perfumier, 'Perfume bottles' by Judith Miller, the scent chapter in Diane Ackermann's excellent 'A natural history of the senses', and the blog boisdejasmin.typepad.com




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