The Olfactory Art Studio

A lovely preview of the upcoming MA Fine Art Exhibition at the University of Reading. Some very interesting work and thanks to Dr Annabelle for the tour of the Reading School of Art facilities.

When is too much email officially TOO MUCH? 📧😂 My old computer broke, and the new one is already struggling…

Downloading message 62,280 of 781,191. Send help. Or anything except another email.” 💻🫠

The gods of rain have finally listened to the prayers… 🌧️😂

Must be time to get back to the lab and play with all the smells in the air.

Sorry to everyone at Reading Festival… ☔️🙃

Finally managed to make it to V&A East Storehouse, I’ve been meaning to visit since it opened.

Such an interesting way to display art and design: part museum, part open archive

And, of course, I found a few chairs and tables I wouldn’t mind taking home… 🪑🙃

2027 exhibition work begins…

Olfactory art is not just about smell. There is a history, an idea and a concept behind every scent.

One of the most fascinating parts of developing a new work is the research: going back into the past, finding fragments, stories and ideas, and asking what they might mean today.

Tonight, part of that research means watching an old film.

Where this will lead… I’m not telling you yet. 👃🎬

Catching the eclipse from the lab… 🌘🧪

I may not know how to play the piano, but I know how to compose with smell.😊

Last Tuesday, I presented a small version of *A time for peace, a time for waltz · Performance Version* at Reading Humanists’ group .humanists special evening, *Appreciating Humanism through the Arts*.

Afterwards, there were many questions, but one stayed with me: how do we explain smell?

Smell is not only chemistry or biology, and it is not simply about what we find pleasant or unpleasant. Its meaning is also shaped by culture, age, memory and personal experience.

This is something I see every day through my fragrance commissions, workshops and olfactory art practice. The same material can be loved by one person and disliked by another, often because of what it represents to them.

This inspired my new article, **Perfume Is Never Just a Smell: Culture, Memory and the Art of Scent**.

You can now read it in the Journal on our website via the link in our bio

Photo by Paula Virse

I think my July reading is sorted… 📚😂

Not a bad way to spend Father’s Day… sitting in the shed with a good magazine and my little boy by my side 🐈