additional ‘é’ implies a pictorial expression of this world and refers more specifically to Japanese engravings. Here, the expression is olfactory. These engravings attract our attention and awaken our curiosity because they depict subjects drawn from daily life as the seasons go by: flowers, landscapes and journeys – such as Hiroshige’s
Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido
(the route connecting Kyoto, the imperial capital, to Tokyo, the shogun capital). The same subjects, points of view, blocks of solid color and successive layers to suggest perspective, and the same rhythm in the composition itself, were used by painters in the late nineteenth century. I am very interested in painted screens, particularly those representing
The Tale of Genji
. A number of them narrate the lives of noblemen. They have a geometric composition, gilded enclosures and clouds separating and organizing men and women’s daily leisure pursuits. The absence of roofs enables viewers to see right inside their homes and to have access to the intimate details of a culture with an acute sense of propriety, much influenced by the arts.
Corso di italiano per stranieri
Over the last few months, I have started studying Italian again, not with a view to using it professionally, but for the pleasure. The pleasure of putting myself in a position of ignorance and learning; learning a language, or any other thing, means opening yourself up to the world once more; it is also a return to humility.
I really like my young Italian teacher. He teaches in a private school in Nice, and speaks several languages including French, English and Spanish. Every Tuesday afternoon, he takes the bus to Grasse from the bus station in Nice, changes at Cabris and walks two kilometers to my workshop. It takes him nearly three hours – the same distance usually takes less than an hour by car. It is not so much the distance that matters as the journey itself. He does not complain about the wasted time. He takes pleasure in looking at the scenery, at sitting back and being driven. He reads and sometimes marks his pupils’ work. This trick of calmly and contentedly apprehending time strikes me as altogether delightful and enviable.
The two hours we spend together are intensive and require an effort of concentration on my part. ‘Luckily,’ the teacher says, ‘you have a musical ear.’ I remember sounds, find it quite easy to understand what he says to me and to reproduce words correctly. The most difficult thing for me is listening to recorded conversations. Because it is impossible to interrupt them; I have to listen to these dialogues through to the end before trying to repeat the snatches I have understood.
In the early weeks, unable to practice because of my busy schedule, I was overwhelmed by a feeling of dissatisfaction and guilt. Until the day when I realized there was no need to feel guilty and that I should give in to the thrill of rediscovery. No school marks, no exams looming, just the pure pleasure of wandering through this language I so love, in the same way that I stroll along the path of various perfumes I am planning.
Late April, the month belongs to lily of the valley. It looks as if I am going to settle on the premise for a project, one I have been working on for several years, called
Fleur de porcelaine
.
Cabris, Thursday 29 April 2010
Evaluation
‘You don’t smell things the way we do!’ How often have I heard that during perfume evaluations! Taken at face value, these words could mean that I am unique, that my nasal appendage is out of the ordinary; and I could find myself hauled up to the summit, alone. But I could also view this pronouncement as a humiliation, a rejection: ‘You’re different, you don’t belong in our world; how could you judge things the way we do?’
No, I don’t smell things the way you do. With the passing years, for the sake of perfumes and for them alone, I have developed an analytical, methodical and distant
Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido
(the route connecting Kyoto, the imperial capital, to Tokyo, the shogun capital). The same subjects, points of view, blocks of solid color and successive layers to suggest perspective, and the same rhythm in the composition itself, were used by painters in the late nineteenth century. I am very interested in painted screens, particularly those representing
The Tale of Genji
. A number of them narrate the lives of noblemen. They have a geometric composition, gilded enclosures and clouds separating and organizing men and women’s daily leisure pursuits. The absence of roofs enables viewers to see right inside their homes and to have access to the intimate details of a culture with an acute sense of propriety, much influenced by the arts.
Corso di italiano per stranieri
Over the last few months, I have started studying Italian again, not with a view to using it professionally, but for the pleasure. The pleasure of putting myself in a position of ignorance and learning; learning a language, or any other thing, means opening yourself up to the world once more; it is also a return to humility.
I really like my young Italian teacher. He teaches in a private school in Nice, and speaks several languages including French, English and Spanish. Every Tuesday afternoon, he takes the bus to Grasse from the bus station in Nice, changes at Cabris and walks two kilometers to my workshop. It takes him nearly three hours – the same distance usually takes less than an hour by car. It is not so much the distance that matters as the journey itself. He does not complain about the wasted time. He takes pleasure in looking at the scenery, at sitting back and being driven. He reads and sometimes marks his pupils’ work. This trick of calmly and contentedly apprehending time strikes me as altogether delightful and enviable.
The two hours we spend together are intensive and require an effort of concentration on my part. ‘Luckily,’ the teacher says, ‘you have a musical ear.’ I remember sounds, find it quite easy to understand what he says to me and to reproduce words correctly. The most difficult thing for me is listening to recorded conversations. Because it is impossible to interrupt them; I have to listen to these dialogues through to the end before trying to repeat the snatches I have understood.
In the early weeks, unable to practice because of my busy schedule, I was overwhelmed by a feeling of dissatisfaction and guilt. Until the day when I realized there was no need to feel guilty and that I should give in to the thrill of rediscovery. No school marks, no exams looming, just the pure pleasure of wandering through this language I so love, in the same way that I stroll along the path of various perfumes I am planning.
Late April, the month belongs to lily of the valley. It looks as if I am going to settle on the premise for a project, one I have been working on for several years, called
Fleur de porcelaine
.
Cabris, Thursday 29 April 2010
Evaluation
‘You don’t smell things the way we do!’ How often have I heard that during perfume evaluations! Taken at face value, these words could mean that I am unique, that my nasal appendage is out of the ordinary; and I could find myself hauled up to the summit, alone. But I could also view this pronouncement as a humiliation, a rejection: ‘You’re different, you don’t belong in our world; how could you judge things the way we do?’
No, I don’t smell things the way you do. With the passing years, for the sake of perfumes and for them alone, I have developed an analytical, methodical and distant
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