Smelly Me

What a fantastic challenge Diane!
The first thing I thought of was a show called Synesthesia that was at our art museum a couple of years ago.  Synesthesia

It was mind boggling to learn about perceiving things through different senses- here's a piece by Arthur Garfield Dove called Fog Horns-

Doesn't it LOOK exactly the way they SOUND?

One of the reasons the show was interesting to me is that I don't have synesthesia at all- things look the way they look, sound the way they sound, and smell like themselves, and my mind just doesn't volunteer to translate them different ways.

Smells, though, do have a Proustian effect on me.  Since I've been working in art studios since I was a little kid, taking summer and Saturday classes, the smell of turpentine and linseed oil takes me right back.  I flash on to the steel and glass exterior of the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.  It brings up a complex set of feelings, the terror of having to take a train alone into the city mixed with the excitement of learning new ways to express myself.

If I wasn't in class, I was with horses.  I grew up riding in the hunt country of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and as soon as I could drive began working at the racetrack with the Thoroughbreds.  Here's a little sketch from back in the day-

To me, they smell great,  but my artwork reflects conflicting emotions- a great love for them, mixed with a sense of loss.  It's not something I have been able to do in my adult life, but I do have some wonderful memories.

Thanks for the challenge Diane, it will be very interesting to see what everyone comes up with.