Making Scents

TiCorn - Shoyeido's Haitian-German Musical Marvel

Shoyeido is well-known for its deep historical roots in Japan as well as a modern, global outreach. Our offices here in Boulder cover North America, while our Hamburg, Germany affiliate, led by the lovely and talented Ms. Cornelia Schutt, covers much of Europe.

Cornelia happens to be a very popular, beloved folk musician. She is especially adored by the peoples of Haiti, for it is there that TiCorn ("Ti" is a Haitian colloquialism of the French word "petite," or "little" - thus 'Little Cornelia") grew up, fell in love with, and charted several renderings of traditional Haitian folk songs, as well as some original tunes.

In some instances, Cornelia's re-interpretations of classic Haitian songs have been so lovingly embraced that they are now considered the iconic versions. Her longtime fans continue to express awe and reverence for her contributions to traditional Haitian music. 

Here is a representative video from the 1980s:

TiCorn performed in Miami earlier this summer at the Julius Littman Performing Arts Theater. A recap and pictures, as well as video of her uplifting performance, can be found here.

Shoyeido's Best Sellers - July 2009

Casey Kasem, Jr. here, with my monthly Shoyeido Top 10 bestselling products. I'm still working out how to incorporate a "long-distance dedication" into this process ... maybe I'll randomly pick one of our Facebook fans and "dedicate" a burning stick of Translucent Path to her or him.

With Moss Garden, Kyoto Autumn Leaves and Eternal Treasure, it appears we have a very persistent Top Three as nothing changed from June with this trio of Daily incenses. The no. 4 and no. 5 positions have shifted, however: Amethyst moves up two spots from the June, and Golden Pavilion up three spots.

Amethyst's many-faceted friend Diamond has popped into the Top 10 this time, as has our 10-Stick Daily Incense Assortment:

1. Moss Garden (Nokiba)
2. Kyoto Autumn Leaves (Kyo-Nishiki)

3. Eternal Treasure (Hoyei-Koh)

4. Amethyst

5. Golden Pavilion (Kin-Kaku)

6. Diamond

7. Kyoto Cherry Blossoms (Kyo-Zakura)

8. Great Origin (Daigen-Koh) 

9. 10-Stick Daily incense Assortment

10. Ruby 

How To Make a Glowing Incense Box

For do-it-yourself types with a taste for unique bric-a-brac, there's an interesting tutorial on the Instructables.com website showing how to combine a carved incense longbox and several LEDs. The finished project appears to interact with incense smoke in a very science-fictional manner. I've added the tutorial here to save you a few clicks:

How To: LED Incense Burner - More DIY How To Projects

One of Our Potters is in U.S.'s Largest Juried Art Show

Chris Conklin, one of our talented local potters residing here in Boulder, will have sculptural artwork included in the 26th Annual Sculpture in the Park art show in Loveland, Colorado. This is a most prestigious and well-known event, and well worth you time should you be able to attend.

Dates and location for the show are as follow on the official show postcard:

Click on the above image to be taken to the event's official website for more details.

Chris makes several beautiful lines of ceramic incense holders for Shoyeido USA, all of which you can see (as well as place an order for) by clicking here, selecting any of the Wheel-shaped or Leaf-Shaped pottery icons, and then scanning for items labeled "Hazel," "Ivory," "Nova," or "Plum" on the resulting product pages.

To see a few pictures of Chris working at her pottery wheel, expertly shaping one of our "wheel-shaped" holders out of raw clay, as well as read a bit more about her creative roots, please click here.

Bugged? Try Burning Incense Outside

Some people light citronella candles in their battle against summertime mosquitos. Others slather on the DEET or other industrial mixtures in the hopes of repelling the biting hordes. Have you ever experimented with burning incense on your patio as a means of reducing the pest problem? Some of our customers swear by this approach, although we are not aware of any studies to confirm or deny it as a valid solution to the pest problem.

If you're game to try burning incense outdoors as a pleasant, natural alternative to all the mystery lotions and weird-smelling candles, we recommend you go with any of Shoyeido's Zen Series incenses - Sitting, Morning and Evening Zen. At 13 inches, each of these sandalwood-based incense blends are longer and denser than any of our other stick incenses, and are thus more likely to stay lit in a gentle breeze. 

 

Evening Zen is my personal pick of this group. With its high-quality sandalwood base and noticeable clove notes, it's a cooling, soothing fragrance that's perfect for end-of-day unwinding.

Click on the image above to be taken to Shoyeido's website for ordering info. In addition to selling each of the three Zens individually, we have samplers and groupings available as well, depending on your purchasing preferences.