On Perfume and Art: Dame Perfumery Scottsdale's Dark Horse
05/06/15 18:19:12
by: Jodi Battershell
In recent weeks, we've announced some interesting art-and-scent themed projects and exhibits: Unsound; our editor Miguel Matos' Synesthesia exhibit; our writer Elena Vosnaki's work with The Garden of Wonders; Justyna Neyman's Duftart; The Art and Olfaction Awards and the upcoming FRAGments event.
At minimum, the release of a commercial perfume usually involves visual art or design of some kind for the bottle, label and box. This is a part of the process that is usually behind the scenes and often taken for granted, though many amongst us love and appreciate a beautifully-designed product. And of course, the question of whether the perfume itself is art is still debated, even within the perfume community.
With the release of Dame Perfumery Scottsdale's newest scent in the Artist Collection, Dark Horse, I wanted to take a little time to focus on the "Art" aspect of the fragrance and the collection. (I'll just do a quick mention that the Dark Horse fragrance is fabulous and may actually be my favorite in the entire collection so far!)
When I introduced the new Dame Perfumery Scottsdale last fall, we touched on the fact that it's a family affair: Jeffrey Dame is a perfume industry veteran and this is one of several perfume ventures he is involved in, but his son, Cullen Dame (below left) is actually a co-founder of the business, while his father, V. Dave Dame ("Dave," below right) is the perfumery's Artist-in-Residence.
Cullen is involved in both Dame Perfumery graphic design and in scent development, with a great nose and creative ideas for perfume and visuals. Cullen created the original logo designs for Dame Perfumery Scottsdale, edited the art studio video you'll see in this article and right now, he's composing an advertising image for DPS for Mother's Day. Dave is part Lakota Sioux and it is this heritage he most identifies with and embodies. It provides him with his spiritual strength and is infused throughout his art. Dave had a long career in the National Park Service but has never been happier than the past twenty years, since retiring from the National Park Service and pursuing art. Dave and Jeffrey's mother have been married for 56 years and live in Tucson, Arizona, not far from Jeffrey and Cullen nowadays.
Jeffrey is quick to point out that the artistic gene skips a generation. (What about perfume as art? More on that later!)
Dave's original stallion painting
The newest fragrance creation is focused around the horse—a recurring theme in Dave's artwork over the years. (Also an informal symbol of Scottsdale, famous for its Bronze Horse Fountain by artist Bob Parks, which inspired the DPS logo.) The horse painting above was originally completed by Dave years ago and has remained in his personal collection, though he has painted variations of it over the years. The original painting would have been too complex to use on the packaging, but Dave and Cullen talk about the horse painting and how it inspired the image for the Dark Horse perfume label in the video below.
I talked further with Jeffrey and Dave about the Artist Collection and the interconnection between Dave's art and DPS perfume.
Jeffrey Dame: When I first conceptualized the Artist series I started with the scent, but as we've gotten further into the project it has turned out to be a more balanced process with multiple entry points. Now an Artist series fragrances can start with any of the three elements, the name, image or scent.
Dave Dame: The Artist series projects are not linear, they are a circle. Native cultures are circular, things go round and come around again and you can enter at any point. We start with the name or image or scent and go from there, filling in the blanks. They are all triggers of the imagination and it doesn't matter which trigger you start with.
Dave Dame: The Artist series projects are not linear, they are a circle. Native cultures are circular, things go round and come around again and you can enter at any point. We start with the name or image or scent and go from there, filling in the blanks. They are all triggers of the imagination and it doesn't matter which trigger you start with.
Jeffrey Dame: There is a lot of back and forth and give and take between my father and I with the Artist series scents, and one of our biggest problems is pacing ourselves. I've a lifetime in perfume and a wealth of scent ideas, and Dad has a lifetime of artistry and the ability to create not only new art but build from his catalog. So we get over-excited and talk about doing this and this and that and that but need to slow down and make each Artist project perfect both inside for the scent and outside for the image. The creative process is fluid and dynamic but always starts with Dad and I talking it out over a beer in Tucson. For the first two scents, Black Flower Mexican Vanilla and Desert Rose, I had the scent concept already in place and was able to provide Dad with fairly specific image direction. With the new Dark Horse eau de parfum the scent direction was complete first, and the name Dark Horse I had settled on, but I did not have an image direction and Dad pulled out immediately his stallion painting and we knew it was right.
Dave Dame: The horse symbolizes for me freedom and power, and is unquestionably a source of beauty through the ages. And the horse along with the buffalo have a spiritual aspect as the basis for a people's culture, providing mobility, food and clothing. You will see the horse and buffalo often in my work, they are often the spiritual aspect of the painting.
A sketch of the Dark Horse image
A visit to Dave's online portfolio reveals he's a talented artist across multiple media. The images used for the Artist Collection so far have been ink drawings on vellum with gouache used for color. Dave explains his chosen media and describes his method for us.
Dave Dame: Indian ink dries instantly on vellum allows you to work very fast. I draw the same image over and over again by laying one piece of blank vellum over the other with the previous drawing and re-working it, saving the parts I like, enhancing others and not having to start over again from scratch to make minor changes. This allows me to work quickly, new ideas flow and mature and I am able to spontaneously capture with the feelings. When the final image is captured with the indian ink in black and white, only then do I begin the gouache color wash.
Original Dark Horse artwork, ink and gouache on vellum
I was curious as to whether Dave was a fragrance lover ("No," was his response), but was very surprised by his response, as well as Jeffrey's, when it comes to the question of whether fragrance is art.
Dave Dame: Yes! The creative process of manufacturing something which does not exist, a perfume, is creative art, every bit as important as the visual image or name. Art is not only painting or dance or music, everything which is creative is an art form.
Jeffrey Dame: I'm contrary here to both my father and the global perfume community as a whole. I'm probably over-thinking it, perfumery is whatever a person wants it to be. You want it to be art? Works for me. But for myself I do not see perfumery as an art; especially as it relates to the scent formula composition. I look at perfumery as one of technique and craftsmanship; a guild of creative process, of apprenticeship, knowledge and long practice. Perfume creative development requires a vision, putting the pieces together takes skill and the formula development requires a master; and in the end you need pure instinct to know when it's perfect. But perfumery for me is artisan, not art, with more in common with a cobbler than a retrospective show.
Dave presents the Dark Horse artwork
Families working together in the perfume industry is not uncommon (the houses of Molinard, Creed and Guerlain are some examples that come to mind). It provides an opportunity to share a lifetime of experience and knowledge, pass down family lore and trade secrets to the next generation and remain close to loved ones. Jeffrey and Dave share what they have learned working together on the Artist fragrances.
Jeffrey Dame: It's been wonderful working with my father on the Artist series perfume project. It has re-awakened our relationship, and there is not only the simple pleasure of spending time together but also the joy of discovery as I get inside my father's thoughts and appreciate his talents, something I might have taken for granted in the past.
Dave Dame: The Artist series perfume project is a lot of fun. Very challenging, it makes you think. Think through how do you visually state a concept through image. It makes your mind work. I'm enjoying working together and having an equal friend and partner and not just a young son.
Jeffrey Dame: I am still the young son.

Dave Dame: The Artist series perfume project is a lot of fun. Very challenging, it makes you think. Think through how do you visually state a concept through image. It makes your mind work. I'm enjoying working together and having an equal friend and partner and not just a young son.
Jeffrey Dame: I am still the young son.
Jeffrey, Cullen and Dave
Dark Horse was launched in April and is available from the official website of Dame Perfumery Scottsdale.
Jodi Battershell(NebraskaLovesScent) is a lifelong Nebraskan who transplanted herself to Philadelphia after 42 years on the Great Plains. An appreciator of fine fragrances since childhood, she tried her hand at natural perfumery and fragrance-mixing for a number of years, ultimately concluding she was better suited to appreciating the fragrance creations of others. She is pleased to finally be putting her English degree to use as a writer and editor for Fragrantica.com.
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