Practice Practice Practice

Practice is a word which strikes fear into budding musicians, discouraged students, intimidated would be yoga practitioners. What is everyone afraid of? BOREDOM? FAILURE? or perhaps the possibility that practice won't improve results.

As a musician and now as a floral designer, I've grown to LOVE practicing.

Why? because when I practice the piano, I really do see RESULTS! With slow, accurate practicing...I can play more complex pieces than I ever could before, and sometimes, even after years of ignoring a piece, my practice still results in a near perfect execution of the hard passages...sadly, the things I didn't practice as faithfully cause the piece to be a work in progress again! But alas, that just requires.......more practice.

Today was my day for practicing with flowers. 

Each summer around this time in August local flowers are available in "hampers" that are selected by the wholesaler from local farms. One never knows WHAT will come in those hampers....no color or flower requests allowed.

Here's what arrived on Thursday morning, along with two types of dahlias I knew would be in season.

My general color palette is darker, more muted, with an occasional bright spot. Notice, too, there are NO greens, another thing I love to use.

So I got to work experimenting. So many spiky shapes and those weird brain like flowers, cockscomb (celosia), in several unusual colors and sizes.

Also this milky stemmed tropical milkweed (asclepias curassavica)

My mind and my eyes were popping! 

This flower "practice" is freeing because I do not have a predictable result in mind and no one is asking for anything in particular from me or from the flowers.

Here are a few of the creations that developed out of my practice session.

What are YOU practicing these days? Hoping you are getting inspired to learn, grow, improve and most of all ENJOY!