Christmas is for Creativity with Family and Friends

Christmas is undoubtedly my favorite time of year.

The dark and quiet of Advent makes space for contemplating the glory all heaven anticipated that first Christmas Eve, with angels singing and shepherds worshiping the birth of Christ our Lord! The time of preparation allows us to greet Christmas morning singing with gusto, Joy to the WORLD, the Lord is come!

Though some complain about the busyness of the season, I enjoy seeing the preparation and beauty EVERYWHERE! Each year I find that decorating our home is one of my favorite things to do. The time and effort are totally worth it. There is so much scope for possibility!

A key part of this blitz of creativity is the annual wreath making party hosted by a very dear friend, and her husband, who kindly keep us fueled with incredible smoked meats, cheeses, scones and wine...what's not to love! 

Our first attempt over twenty years ago was a bit timid, but our kind and creative mentor gave us the tools and courage to experiment. We all went home with a wreath we were proud to say we made ourselves!

Over the years our personalities have come out in bold and subtle ways, with our styles and tendencies ranging from wild and crazy to symmetrical and well planned. We've all gotten more adventurous, busting out square shapes, balls, triangles and family heirloom vases (it doesn't have to be wreaths all day long!). The end result is an evening of delightful fellowship AND some pretty stellar projects.

Last night's wreathing extravaganza may have been the most epic yet, due to the synergy of fine minds creating in one place (or maybe it was the wine!). Here's what went down:

a. yours truly decides to make a wreath using a giant embroidery hoop. Having never tried this before, it was good to experiment with friends around to give appropriate encouragement.

b. yours truly feels that the wreath is still lacking something, even after piling it with a LARGE variety of greenery and add ons.

c. wild and crazy friend says, "I think it needs....... ANTLERS!" Said friend encourages yours truly to loudly proclaim her need for antlers to the room, including the two gentlemen brave enough to hang out with all these ladies!

d. seconds later, the man of the house disappears into the garage and returns with...wait for it....... ANTLERS!!!!!!!

e. yours truly places the ANTLERS on the wreath and they fit perfectly! BOOOOM!

I'm sure wonderful things are happening in your home as well.If not, maybe it's time to gather some friends and family, find a mentor, and get creating!

Wishing you will all have a chance to make your homes beautiful in some meaningful way. Enjoy this season full of the light and love of God, and don't be afraid to bring some of His good creation inside to fill your house with joy.

Merry Christmas!

Posies and Bouquets are not just for Weddings

Anderson Shore photography here

I had the privilege of listening to a wonderful lecture years ago by Roger Scruton. His topic, a book he wrote called Beauty. It's a philosophical read, better suited to the dark days of winter than the light and breezy days of summer, but a question I asked of him after the lecture has been rolling around in my mind of late.

And here it is, "How do we build a love for beauty in children?"

His answer was simple and so encouraging. 

Set the table.

Do you remember when you learned to set the table? I believe I was learning about it from my dear grandmother, long before I could put the forks and knives in the right place.

My grandparents both died before I turned eight, but those vivid memories of happy meals at their home, mostly Sunday mid-day after church dinners (at lunch time no less!) remain fresh and clear. We feasted on china, with real silver, cloth napkins, table cloth, candles and always a centerpiece...those aromatic roses my grandfather grew himself in the yard. 

My grandfather loved and cared for an orderly bed of roses, and the climbing red roses that grew on his fence. He always clipped them carefully, dusting and feeding them. He did his gardening in his dress pants and starched white shirt...I think he loved beauty and order for everyday, not just on Sundays.

When you set the table tonight, give yourself the pleasure of a little bowl of flowers. Life is too short not to fill it with as much beauty as you can!

When Garbage and Flowers Meet

Every job has its portion of tedium. Some work can even be unpleasant, but usually these duties are necessary in order to reach the enjoyable goal, the beautiful or delicious result. 

For me that means vases are cleaned, unnecessary leaves and thorns are removed, garbage is taken out and floors are swept. Being an orderly, as well as a creative soul, I have to do a bit of this along the way to maintain a happy workplace.

And music, there is always music or a podcast to keep my mind OFF the tedium and on the enjoyable goal ahead.

Last week, after creating 23 different arrangements of various sizes for a corporate banquet, it was time to transport my little works of art. It's a bit nerve-racking. Avoid dropping them, check. Don't break flowers as you load them in, check. Drive to the venue through city traffic without an accident, check. Find said venue, check. Figure out how to get them safely inside to the appointed location for the banquet....hmmmm.....not so fast......checking this off was NOT going as I had hoped.

I planned ahead, had a contact number to call, etc, but finding the loading dock ended up being a bit of an adventure. Getting cooperation from the banquet staff person assigned to bring me a cart (they brought a luggage cart, took away the first batch and left me at the loading dock NEXT TO THE GIANT OVERFLOWING GARBAGE DUMPSTER the size of a train car! waiting for them to return for over 15 minutes) WHERE WERE THEY??? and where on earth was this banquet location??? and was that a rat????

Those gorgeous peonies, ranunculus and tulips were not coming out of my car into that stench until I could be sure they would be heading out of there immediately! 

So I did what any intrepid florist would do. After calling my contact for now the fourth time and getting the excuse that the person was stuck in the elevator because it was housekeeping time, I searched around the loading dock for someone someone who looked willing to be helpful. A young man at his computer in an enclosed room (to keep out that wretched SMELL) kindly got up to see what I needed, and in seconds offered to help me load the flowers on the dolly he provided. I told him I was good to go, but thanked him for his helpful, kind spirit (what a contrast to little miss luggage cart!) 

When my contact finally showed up in the highest heels I've ever seen, she proceeded to lead me down the narrow cement hallway as I dragged the dolly along through the bowels of the hotel, past a few more garbage bins and storage areas, past a kitchen prep area that would not have won any cleanliness awards, through more doorways and slippery hallways that sloped so steeply I imagined us both on the floor, knocked down by a runaway flower cart, glass vases careening and smashing on every side like fast and furious! 

At last, after navigating through the stored patio furniture, we arrived safely, she of the high heels, having never lost her footing, and me, with every single vase and flower still intact and looking fairly unscathed.

and I thought about this:

Just like the actors who come from backstage to amaze the audience, flowers aren't meant to be seen until the guests arrive. The work done in any big establishment behind the scenes may have its tedium and perhaps even its unpleasant smells, but for those who come to enjoy the event, it's only the beauty they see. 

I'm grateful to be able to see both sides of that story, and grateful to those who work in the service industry for working so hard to create the calm and beautiful surroundings others enjoy. May God bless them with beauty in their lives, as well. 

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!

Work and Inspiration go hand in hand

May and June are always full of wedding work, and this year I enjoyed collaborating with a fellow designer. We worked HARD, and enjoyed the results and the happy families we served. 

It is satisfying, but nerve racking at times....will the flowers arrive in good shape, will those peonies EVER open up, will they open up too soon, or will they actually wilt just moments after I drop them off at the venue????

Once again, the joy of seeing those flowers and arrangements in full glory, with photos taken by talented artists, who see the details through their camera lense, reminds me that the work is WELL worth the effort. I get re-inspired every time I see the results of all that planning, cutting and conditioning! 

The photos are all compliments of Anderson Shore Photography. Thanks for the wonderful work! And to the sweet couple who's day we helped celebrate, we wish you every happiness!

Care and Feeding

Here on the east coast the Spring weather is still eluding us. Spring came in with a Northeaster, dropping snowflakes the size of cornflakes on the Virginia mountains, and giving the Boston school children another day off to play.

Spring snows are the Hipsters of weather...ironic, n'est pas? At some level they are delightfully surprising. Don't mind my grumbling as I don, once again, coat, hat and wooly scarf to head over for morning coffee...it's March in the mid Atlantic; the now and not yet for meteorologists. Never fear weary one, SPRING will come with no turning back.

Perhaps my fig "tree", the tiny stick of a thing from last year, presents a good metaphor for this time. You see, though it looks lean, it is ALIVE though there's not much but hope to it right now. It's a reminder that a great flurry of activity and growth is coming...it's just around the corner.

But how to manage the emotions of now and not yet, of weariness over the cold, of distant hope still unfulfilled? That famous line of Elisabeth Elliot's comes to mind....DO the next thing! 

Get busy doing some care and feeding, some prepping, some clearing out and some lining up, for assessing and figuring out how to do the next thing well. 

Perhaps that's why Spring cleaning once was a thing everyone did... (it probably still should be, at least at my house). It's time to stop hoping and start DOING.

Taking care to create good personal spaces is part of my work, my doing for this week. With an entirely new area on my rooftop deck to turn into a haven of quiet rest, my mind is clicking with ideas. I spent some time daydreaming about textures, colors and the moods they evoke. 

What a luxury to actually have a space to work in, to create in. People seem determined to do this no matter how small the space. I look forward to sharing it as a place where others feel cared for, listened to, encouraged. A place for quiet reading, or for a pleasant glass of wine on a balmy evening. It's a tiny oasis above the busy streets and train tracks below. Though now it is a jumble of stacked seats, pushed back to the wall to keep things from blowing away, soon it will be my favorite spot.

But so much for dreaming!! The other MUST DO part of my "doing" today is to finally start the plans for the Spring Workshop season, a chance to give eager creators some new "toys" to play with, and some new friends to enjoy. This winter couch potato is finally getting back to work! I hope you'll be part of the fun!

So enjoy the chill before the frenzy of spring and get some care and feeding done at your house!

See you soon in the warm sunshine!

A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven

I don't know what other floral designers are doing in January, but I seem to have a rhythm at this time of year....brides getting in touch to book their weddings, quiet evenings spent hunkered down with a book or some knitting (thank you brilliant BLIZZARD).

But inevitably, I start to long for FRESHNESS in the idea category, and the commanding desire to clean "house" overtakes me! Not the actual one of course, though I am sure someone really does like doing that! but rather the house of my mind. 

First, the old year must be put to rest, and the bookkeeping wrapped up. Though it can be a bit of a puzzle, it still gives me a great sense of accomplishment when it is all tidied up. Now 2015 can be put firmly behind me and I can take a deep dive into the world of flowers, and FAST!! 

Creating designs for weddings and events has begun, exploring new options for color and form, planning of workshops for the Spring season has started (stay tuned and be in touch if you are interested in attending or hosting one), and just a little bit of business development. 

It's all quite challenging, stretching, AND enjoyable!

Here's a for instance:

Next week, I'll be attending (and supplying the flowers for) an event in DC with a Wedding website called Borrowed & Blue--photos to come. borrowedandblue

I'm a little apprehensive to create for a jury of my peers, but hope to meet and learn from new friends. Every event is a chance to say yes, that's it! as well as a clear, NO!!! don't EVER do that again!

But, as can't be avoided in this life, some of our work as floral designers is done for the grief stricken, and sadly, I will be preparing flowers for a memorial service for a 22 year old young man who has, as they used to say in the olden days, "fallen asleep" after a long bout with cancer. Dona Nobis Pacem, et Lux perpetua luceat eis!

His mother shared that he was a sensitive young man, and together she and her son planned and planted a home perennial garden. I hope to arrange flowers that will remind her of that time. 

It is a solemn honor to participate in this passage, sharing beauty, to aide in remembering and consoling. Though pain filled, death reminds us to live life with a full and loving heart while we may!

Here's hoping your 2016 has begun with a sense of clear and hopeful passages ahead. Well wishes to all who will wed this year, as well as those who will weep. 

 

The wise King Solomon said it best: 

I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.