My Eight Wonders in Goms, Switzerland：The Alpine Air #1 / 瑞士Goms的八大驚奇: 阿爾卑斯山的氣息 #1

The Alpine Air

When I took a deep breath of the dry, invigorating Alpine air, I had a feeling of Utopia–––

Almost

too

much

Utopia.

My Alpine Summer in Goms, Switzerland 我在瑞士阿爾卑斯山Goms的夏日

If you, like me, have a thirst for creativity and an appetite for hiking, the Alps in summer are an ideal playground.

Summer in the Alps is even more alluring than winter. Yes, the visual drama is almost equally striking, but on tope of that you've got the attractions of the wildlife, the colors, and––for me, the clincher––the intoxicating smell of the glaciers and forests.

Just one walk through the woods, accompanied by the sound of a gushing mountain stream or the melody of the ubiquitous cow, goat and sheep bell, is enough to convince me that I should share my sensory Alpine stories with you.

Please stay tuned for the coming episodes of my Alpine summer in Goms, Switzerland...

Fireworks–the Paintings in the Night Sky

My fascination with fireworks goes back to my childhood on the Chinese Lunar New Year and Moon Festival. As a kid, I was triggered by the sound, light, and smell of the magic of gunpowder. I remember lighting my first firecracker, half excited and half scared, with my eyes wide open. 

Today I feed my passion by watching fireworks. There is art to create a good fireworks display–colors, shapes, and sounds complement one another.  A stunning fireworks design requires a wizard who masters and wields the fleeting art overhead. Mixing science, art and technology, the wizard paints on the big, open nighttime sky with his palettes–chemicals, compounds, and fire.

As much fun as they are to watch, fireworks are equally as challenging to photograph. Here are my shots when I watched Switzerland's Independence Day fireworks in Basel yesterday.

Hi from Helsinki

Just wanted to drop a note and hi, I'm doing fine.

Listen to this.

The Fragrance Time with Pierre Negrin 香水相對論

Pierre Negrin, the perfumer at Firmenich said, 

Della, have you heard of any artist saying that they mixed Red-orange with Blue-violet, Green, Yellow-green, et cetera, et cetera, in order to deliver a sensual expression in their painting? No, not to my knowledge, Okay, my point is that, what makes the audience appreciate and understand an artwork is based on the artist's creative stories not the colors they use, you know, the same scenario applies to perfumery, Do you mean that a list of the fragrance ingredients does not necessarily correspond in how they communicate with the consumer? That's right, take Patchouli as an example, how many consumers can actually distinguish its smell from fragrance? Sheepishly I admit: It ain't easy for me, Voila, I don't blame you, a perfume story that focuses mainly on the ingredients makes the consumer draw a blank, Yes, I agree with you, it should be the creative thoughts of perfumers, not the inert materials that entice the audience to experience fragrances, but why does the industry still keep telling the same old ingredient story to connect with us?  

Pierre Negrin, 紐約Firmenich的調香師說，

Della, 妳曾聽過任何畫家解釋他們是如何使用橘紅，藍紫， 綠色，黃綠等等的顏色來完成一幅感性的畫作嗎？依本人拙見， 還未曾聽說過，那麽我的重點是，其實點燃普羅大眾對創作熱情的重點在于畫家的創意故事而不是顏色的名字，你是說一份香水成分的名單不能全面反映出消費者對香水的了解，是嗎？是的，就以廣藿香為例，請問有多少人可以從香水中辨別出它的味道來？心虛得很，連我這個香水包裝設計師來說也不是一件容易的差事。嗯，情有可原，以“成分”故事來牽引香水消費者的心只能讓他們丈二金剛摸不著頭，是， 同意你的看法，調香師的創意思維比那些毫無生命力的材料有意思多了， 可是我就是不了解為什麽業界還是一意孤行，老調重談那些“香水成分”的故事呢？

Forget-Me-Not 勿忘我

Instead of doing what I was supposed to do, I took a long walk in the lovely garden on Bowery Street.  Birds were singing; flowers were blooming; bees were humming. In the midst of such happiness, it was so easy not to think about all the sadness until I saw these fragile forget-me-not flowers under the shadow of plum trees.

In front of the blue sea of flowers, I found myself whispering: Forget me not, forget me not, forget me not.

According to some scientists say, the sense of smell is one of the first to fail as Alzheimer’s disease progresses. This Mother’s Day, I sincerely pray that my mom, who begins to show some early signs of memory problem, being able to smell the scent of her own daughter forever…

Please forget me not, mom.

The Flavor of Laziness on Sunday 星期天的慵懶味道

It's good to make a change, if we were not careful, life can quickly become monotonous, predictable, a drag. So when the sunshine shone through the windows in this morning, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to vary things a bit, to break with routines.

Therefore, I decided to enjoy my coffee, fruit salad, and reading Sunday New York Times in my bed. The sweet taste of mangos and strawberries in my mouth, the sound of flipping through the newspaper, and the fresh smell of lemon, a sort of detergent odors, lingering on my bed sheet, exuded a lovely flavor of springtime laziness.

As the sunlight gradually sprinkled into my bed, the warm atmosphere in my room made me think: maybe the word "deadline" shouldn't appear in my dictionary for a while, especially on Sundays...

改變總是好的，因為只要一不小心，我們的日子可能一剎那就變得單調平凡，可預期，煩煩瑣瑣。因此當早上的陽光透過窗戶投射入屋，我不禁想著其實打破常規也不算是壞事一樁。

所以，就這樣決定賴在床上大喇喇地享受咖啡，水果沙拉，讀讀星期天的紐約時報。芒果和草苺的甜美滋味溶入口中，翻閱報紙的聲音聲聲入耳，再加上床單隱隱散發出那種帶有清潔劑味道的檸檬清香，空氣中自然地流露著一絲絲春天的慵懶味道。

當陽光悄悄地撒滿我的床單，一室的溫暖讓我開了竅：“截止日期”不需要時時刻刻出現在我的字典上，尤其在禮拜天…

The Art of Waiting 等待的藝術

Design is a PROCESS and so is waiting. Both of them take time and require strength, believe, and perseverance. Although I’m an untiring advocate of PROCESS, I admit that I rather spending time to get the exact color, appropriate shape, and perfect composition for my design work than twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the feedbacks from the design clients, the publishers, and the gallerists.

A silly thought: won’t it be nice to just “click” a button and get an immediate result?

These days, as my world goes faster and faster it becomes harder and harder to slow myself down and allow patience for processes that just take time.  Alas, “The Art of Waiting” has been gradually lost on me.

Waiting can be a torture, but I must know, some things just take good “old-fashioned” time...

設計和等待是過程的一體兩面， 同時需要時間，精力，信仰，以及堅持的考驗。雖然我是個過程的擁護著，但是我倒寧願花功夫在設計作品上以找出精準的顏色，適切的形狀， 以及完美的構圖，而不是扭轉我的大姆指癡癡地等待設計客戶，出版社，或是畫廊業主的關注。

有個天真的想法：如果能夠敲個鍵盤就能立刻得到答案，那不知該有多美好啊。

這些日子以來，我的世界就像顆陀螺般越轉越快，同時卻也越來越沒有耐心去接受一些需要時間來蘊釀的世事。嗚呼哀哉，等待的藝術就這樣從我身上一點一滴地緩緩流失。

等待可以和折磨相同並論，但是我必須提醒自己，有些事情是真的需要紮實的時間來完成的…

Be Happy for Me Too 也替我高興一下

I'm just happy to be interviewed by The Fragrance Foundation.
Please read it and be happy for me too.


很榮幸地接受美國香水協會的採訪。
敬請閱讀， 也替我高興一下。

Shepard Fairey and His Wall 塗鴉藝術家Shepard Fairey和他的牆壁

The afternoon storm was stopped, and NoLiTa was filled with the fragrance of the plum blossoms and the cheer of springtime again.

I saw Shepard Fairey, with a bucket of glue and a long-handled brush, working tranquilly to the wall with the eye of a graffiti artist.

As I nibbled an apple ––– paid no attention to the emergency sirens and horn beeps from the heavy traffic on East Houston street, I thought of Tom Sawyer, the naughty protagonist in The Adventures of Tom Swayer, written by the American author and humorist Mark Twain.

See my favorite cartoon.

午後雷陣雨停了，紐約下城NoLiTa再次瀰漫著梅樹的芬芳和春天的喜樂。

看見提了一桶漿糊及長柄刷子的Shepard Fairey，心神恬定地以一種塗鴉藝術家的眼光在牆壁上創作。

不在乎East Houston街口傳來繁忙的警鈴及喇吧聲，我小口小口地咬著一粒蘋果，腦海中浮現的竟是湯姆莎耶–––美國文壇幽默大師馬克吐溫的著作<湯姆歷險記>中的那個淘氣小男孩。

看我喜愛的卡通。

Awesome Things That Are Beyond Words 難以用筆墨來形容的美好事物

There are awesome things that are beyond words:

True love;

The taste of fine dark chocolate;

The texture of velvet;

The smell of Sakaura blossoms lingering in the spring breeze.

Listen to this music…

有些美好的事物是難以用筆墨來形容的， 像是：

真愛；

精緻細膩的黑巧克力；

絲絨的觸感；

日本櫻花徘徊在春天裡的氣息。

聽聽這段音樂…

The Tea Tastes Like a Volcanic Eruption 嚐起來像火山爆發味道的茶

In this morning, while drinking a cup of Lapsang Souchong tea, a black tea from Wu-Yi region in China, its smoky, tobacco ash-like aroma and flavor reminded me of the the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull on Tuesday, April 13.

Volcanic gases and silicate ash has spread across much of Europe, bring air travel across the continent to a near standstill. My Finnish friends who've got stuck in Geneva for a few days, are considering taking a bus back to Helsinki. But how long is the journey going to take? Three whole days!

Being a frequent traveler, I have plenty of stories to tell about being stuck at the airport. The experiences are not pleasant but I use the time to catch up on my reading. Even so, I still prefer reading calmly in my cozy apartment while sipping on my hot volcano-flavored tea.

今天早上隨意喝著一杯來自中國武夷山區的拉普山小種紅茶，它那帶著一股濃熏雪茄煙灰的味道不禁讓我聯想起四月十三號在冰島發生的Eyjafjallajokull火山爆發。

火山的瓦斯味及灰墟已籠罩了大部分的歐洲，導致洲際航線幾乎癱瘓。我滯留在日內瓦多日歸心似箭的芬蘭朋友們， 局然想要搭巴士返回赫然爾辛基。那可得足足花上三天的時間耶。

經常旅行的我，滯留機場對我來說已是家常變飯。雖然這樣的經驗不足以為道，可是我隨遇而安，恰好可以利用這段空檔來讀讀那些該讀但還沒時間閱讀的書。不過話雖如此，我還是寧可待在自己的小屋，一邊靜靜閱讀一邊細細品嚐那股帶勁的火山味的紅茶。

Lilacs With No Scent 沒有香氛的丁香

I'm kind of blue today.

My tooth, after ten days of treatment, is still hurting me slightly.

I just found out that, from the outdated New York Times, I missed the concert of Atoms for Peace, a side project that is led by Radiohead's main singer Thom Yorke.

Moreover, the French lilacs that I bought two days ago are still too shy to release their fragrance.

Oh well, according to popular wisdom, you can't have everything, and there's a good deal of truth in that, the balance of human lives is constantly swinging back and forth between what's gained and what's lost. 

Without the scent of lilacs, it's still nice to play Atoms for Peace's music and let Thom Yorke's beautiful voice fill my room.

今天有點憂鬱。

牙痛在將近十天療程之後還是隱隱作痛；

從過期的紐約時報中得知我竟然錯失了電台總司令的主唱Thom Yorke所領導的Atoms for Peace樂團的音樂會;

更可悲的事，兩天前買的法國丁香到現在還害羞的遲遲不肯綻放芬芳。

嗯， 就這樣囉。“你不能擁有一切”的致理名言在某些程度上來說還是有它的道理：平衡的人生經常是在得失之間搖擺的。

Reading a Book by Smelling Its Ink 聞墨閱讀

Part of my happiness and imagine depends on books, so when I couldn't find The Double by the Portuguese novelist and journalist José Saramago from the piles of books scattered everywhere in my apartment, I came to realize that it was about time to do spring cleaning.

However, the magnitude of the task before me was quite simply overwhelming: about fifty books were piled up on a Chinese antique cabinet; thirty books were lying on a long fragile bamboo bench; six books I ordered from Amazon.com were still in the boxes; more stacks of books occupied in every corner of my apartment.

After my bookshelf is, more or less, tidy and exudes ink odour, a sort of intelligent smell, which one has to breath in for one's body to be purified and one's soul to be exalted, suddenly I feel so compulsed to read them all to assure that I'm illumined and not deluded.

Call me crazy, but for the sack of saving time and saving energy, won't it be nice if we can read a book by putting down our noses and smelling the ink between pages?

我的幸福和創意部分取掘於書本。因此當我再也無法在從散落四處的書籍中找出我想閱讀的葡萄牙作家José Saramago 的The Double，我不得不承認該是春季大掃除的時刻了。
說來容易，但是面眼前排山倒海的書本確是得花上好些時間及精力來整理：五十本晾在中式古董木箱上；三十本躺在搖搖欲晃的長竹凳；剛從訂購的六本書還乖乖的待在紙箱中；成批成批的文件脫序地散佈在我住處的個個角落。
當大功告成，書架漸漸的流露出印墨的味道–––那種帶有智慧氣息足以讓人清淨身體，提升靈性的香味， 讓我突然有股想要及刻飽覽羣書的衝動來擔保我不傻，我還聰明。
算我是瘋人一個吧。如果能把鼻子湊在書頁中來聞墨閱讀，那到不失為一帖時間及能源節流的妙方， 不是嗎？

A Reader from Australia

From time to time, I receive e-mails from the readers who share their thoughts about my writing and design with me. They are from the continents in the Northern Hemisphere, such as Asia, Europe and North America. But a few days ago, I got a lovely e-mail from an Australian reader, who said he enjoyed reading my latest book KyotEau: Bottled Memories. I know this reader could be doing any number of other things, but he chose to spend his time with me. Just to think about this makes me feel so rewarding and honored. 

After responding to his e-mail, I organized some time for myself to enjoy a soothing, beautiful Sunday afternoon in Liz Christy community garden on Bowery street. As I entered the garden, scents and colors welcomed me from every corner–––tulips, hyacinths, plums, cherries, crocus, snowdrops and Iris–––greens, purples, pinks, yellows, whites and reds. Suddenly a feeling of euphoria spread through me.

Indeed, gardening and writing has something in common. Either to enjoy the scents of flowers or catch the attention of a reader, it requires love, hard work and commitment. 

Thank you for your lovely letter again, my dear Australian reader. KyotEau fragrance is on its way, I promise.

Obsession with Patterns

While browsing through the photos that I took in Dublin, Ireland, my eyes fixed on a picture that shows a red scooter decorated with white polka dots. Again, it reminds me of Yayoi Kusama (草間彌生).

Kusama said about her painting Flower in 1945, "...a polka-dot has the form of the sun, which is a symbol of the energy of the whole world and our living life, and also the form of the moon, which is calm.  Round, soft, colorful, senseless and unknowing. Polka-dots become movement...Polka dots are a way to infinity."

Kusama's obsession for polka-dot patterns is a force in the story of one of 20th-century art's most compelling and enigmatic protagonists. Her fascination with what she described as "infinite repetition" drove her to cover paintings and installations with polka dots. She orchestrated happenings such as painting naked models with polka dots on Brooklyn Bridge. Donald Judd and Frank Stella both bought her work; Claes Oldenberg, Andy Warhol, Rei Kawabuko (川久保 玲, the founder of Comme des Garçons) were influenced by her. 

I'm interested in the "process" of making patterns. I'm curious about what was in the scooter owner's thoughts when he applied the dots one by one to the body of his Vespa. It is impossible to tell if he is a fan of Kusama, but at least from the lovely white polka dots and the whimsical black types "Bottoms up!!" he created, he surely knows how to temper passion with color, polka dots, and Irish life.

Red Polka Dot

Alexander Calder's sculpture at King Storm Art Center, photo by Della Chuang

Scent triggers memory, so does color. 

Red color reminds me of polka dot.  So naturally, when I was looking through the cut-out circle of the American sculptor Alexander Calder's red sculpture in King Storm Art Center, I thought of the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama((草間彌生), who uses polka dots throughout much of her works.

Anti-Self-Portrait

On a shinny early afternoon, I used light and exposure to acquire my almost anti-self-portrait, relating to my Nordic story more through "sketch style" than through my own physical identity.

This photo is not digitally altered in any way, and at certain degree, it reminds me of the work of the Chinese artist Liang Kai (梁楷, late 12th-early 13th centry), who was known as a mastery in evoking the subject or atmosphere with minimal use of detail.

Photo by Della, Finland

In the Mood for Indigo

On the market in Sa Pa, Vietnam, I strolled down the narrow alleys among a crowd of indigenous women in different shades of blue.

Suddenly there were these Black H'mong girls in front of me. They seemed enchanted by the sky, gazing upon it solemnly, as if there was a god smiling at them.

When the rice-scented breeze rustled through their tribal garb to lap against their sun-kissed skin, I quietly took a picture of them and immersed myself in indigo melancholy.

photo by della, vietnam

In the Mood for White

When it's snow all around, 

you've just got to stay still 

until you get used to the white.

Gradually,

You'd smell the scent of white 

in your hair, 

in your collar, 

in your heart.

photo by della