Breakthroughs!

I think if you're not experimenting, not willing to waste a little, not able to expand knowledge, not putting forth a ton of effort, or are coloring inside the lines and forgetting that art and life are about passion, you're wasting your time here.

I am getting ready to put together more compounded resins *slash* solid perfumes. Last weekend, the son and I went wild crafting for pine resin and found a nice little stash tucked away off the road between Atascadero and Morro Bay. Because of the drought, the trees seem to be putting forth more resin. When we harvest, we are careful not to pick too much, usually scraping the softer white resin from the bottom of the tree's wounds. In no time, and with the help of about five trees, we can fill a bag with gooey fresh resin. I bring it home, lay the pieces out, or more likely, scrape them onto waxed paper, and let the mess dry for a week or so before putting them in jars. Pine resin is a crucial ingredient in the creation of Kyphi and I'm storing up for the start of a new collection -- 2013 Ponderosa Pine from Huntington Lake, CA, Sierra Nevada Mountains, 2014 Ponderosa Pine from Atascadero, CA ~ hoping to acquire more from different areas, all hand harvested. I used to wild harvest every seasons -- elderberry flowers in the spring, elderberries in the fall, gooseberries, oakmoss, mountain misery, tree resins, manzanita buds, but I haven't done much of that lately. Not in the last four years or so, actually. It's fun getting back into the swing of it.

Seeing a future, and it smells good!

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