Welcome to 2012 and welcome to my blog in 2012. The last few days of 2011 saw us looking into the books, counting stocks and looking at numbers. I need the stock to close the books. Although I work in the industry of dreams if you so wish, creating fragrances, little fragrant dreams, at the end of the day, I need to count Francs and Euro and Dollar and see whether I can pay the bills and whether I can afford to move on. Like every year, I need to look deeply into the numbers of 2011 trying to understand what happened and coming up with an idea of where we are right now and where we might go in the first months of 2012.

I look back to a reasonably successful year when it comes to numbers. Not fairy tale numbers, but sufficient in the moment. The outlook for 2012 is blur, however. I am convinced that we all have to get used to the idea that we are walking at the rim of a volcano that is bubbling down there and sends stinky gases up here. If we want we can actually smell them. The march along the rim brings a spectacular view, but we better be careful up there. We will see what 2012 brings in terms of economics and Euro values and trust in a banking system that seems more rotten every month. I am not very optimistic there.

I look back to a 2011 that was the most creative year I ever had in my entire life. 2012 will demand answers where to go with this creative venture of mine and how to add more  threads into the Tauer fabric. Not an easy task. The Tauer fabric is already very dense and complex. 2012 will start with a lot of meetings and writing up of  ideas, trying to imagine how my venture might look in a year or two from now. Where I can move on, where do I need to move back and where might I need to cut? I am very much looking forward into doing so.

And I am looking forward to sharing this process with you, my readers.

The newspapers tend to bring rosy, happy articles with a cheerful note when looking into the new year. Thus, I want to bring a rosy note into this post, too. The picture to the left shows you a little sketch of “roses and pine needles”, drawn on the ipad real quick. This afternoon, after having finished stocking up Miriam from Tableau de Parfums and Air du désert marocain, will see me playing with rose. Again.

I hope that 2012 will see more roses from Tauer coming, painted or in little bottles.