From the beginning of our Viewpoint9 adventure,
I’ve been more aware of just where our/my inspirations come from. Being, perhaps, too much, reliant on my
visual world, this new awareness has taken me down several paths. But that was the whole idea to start
with, wasn’t it!?
Interesting to me is that one of the paths that keeps re-inserting
itself, when I’m at a crossroad, is the physical experience modality of
intelligence, and the sense of smell in particular.
I imagine that part of this fascination is due to the fact
that, because of allergies and various medical conditions, I have largely lost
my sense of smell. However, I
haven’t lost the memory of that sense.
Interesting, no?
I’ve read that the sense of smell is the last to leave a
person prior to death. I also read
that the imagery sparked by the sense of smell is the most vibrant. Wishful thinking on my part, perhaps.
Contemplate past memories of scents, like the smell of
burning leaves in the autumn, the scent of your newborn held to your breast,
the lilac eau de toilette in a hug from Great-aunt Edith, the rotting decay in
the muck and mud after a hurricane, the pungent wafts of incense burning in a
shrine.
I pose this to you:
Do you remember a scent that evokes vivid imagery? Share that memory with us.
The Details:
The orientation for this challenge is PORTRAIT.
The Virtual Gallery Opening will be on October 26th, 2012
The Details:
The orientation for this challenge is PORTRAIT.
The Virtual Gallery Opening will be on October 26th, 2012
What a great challenge Diane! My mind is racing already...
ReplyDeleteThe scent of roses always reminds me of my wedding day...when I carried a dozen long-stemmed red ones with baby's breath (back before roses were genetically engineered and lost their scent)...
ReplyDeleteDiane I sometimes curse my good sense of smell! I was recently on a plane flight, luckily only 1 hour duration, as the man beside me had dirty, smelly clothes and body ordour. I will instead think of something else!
ReplyDeleteWhat orientation for this challenge please?
ReplyDeleteOh, totally forgot. Thanks for asking...portrait/vertical.
DeleteThis is going to be a wonderful challenge! I really do think smells evoke strong memories. And there are so many to choose from for me:)
ReplyDeleteI love this challenge, Diane! Immediately I thought of the IV drug Heparin. Weird, I know! But I swear it has a distinct taste and smell for me.
ReplyDeleteYears ago during cancer treatment they would inject this blood thinner heparin by IV to kind of clear out the veins (sorry if that's gross) before starting the heavy hitter chemo drugs. Every time I would get an absolutely definite taste/smell right in the back of my nose & throat. The best way I can describe it: take a deep whiff of a Stargazer Lily while you hold a copper penny on your tongue.
Not exactly a pleasant memory, of course. To this day the smell of Stargazer lilies make me nauseous. But I think it would be really interesting to make something positive or beautiful (or at least visually appealing) from this negative association.