Foliage, flora, fine unbroken lines, delicate washes of watercolour, loss, courage, love and hope. These were the 8 ingredients needed to complete the Terra Flora drawing that was to accompany the perfume of Kelly Ghali.
I started at Wild Olive Artisans at the beginning of 2018, only knowing what I had read of Kelly in the WildObout Magazine. I found her story incredibly fascinating and out of the ordinary. Little did I know, a few months later I’d be working alongside Marioara and Kelly, to create something wonderful.
When we commenced this project, I found myself under difficult circumstances, being beside my grandmother on her last. While this was a challenging time for me, working on Terra Flora allowed me to connect to Kelly’s feeling of loss, when she speaks of losing her parents.
I found that the round shape was the most suited for our story, as Terra is the name of our planet and in a sense, a symbol of motherhood. I then boldly decided to have it all covered in foliage, to better resemble Flora in its totality.
I used fine lines’ as Kelly has a delicate story to tell, but at the same time, the lines are unbroken to represent her strength through it all.
I used washes of watercolour to illustrate her experiences up to now.
The red symbolizing the time she lived in a Neo Native American Tribe as Red Bear, and the rest of the colours to represent the ingredients of Terra Flora.
The white space serves as a reminder that her journey is not over, and there is still an abundance of colour yet to fill.
Read more about it on iamredbear.com
Terra Flora Perfume can be purchased at https://www.wildolive.eu/ or at the Wild Olive Shop - 29 Pepper Street Cape Town.
