Airport Inspiration

Sitting in the airport with nothing to do?  I suggest sitting in a seat where you can people watch.  It's fun and can be quite inspirational.

Oh, look!  There goes 1983.  (Phone ringing in your head, you answer it, 1980's calling; and they would like you to send back those shoes and that hand bag.)

Oh, look!  That man's toupee is not the same color as his hair, and no, it does not make you look 20 years younger.

Okay, so sometimes it's not so inspirational, or is it?  Even bad fashion or bad hair color can be inspirational.  Just maybe grey hair is coming back. Ask the lady with the bad hair color to give you the name of her hair color so you can match it later.

I'm just bored, or am I?

It's time to find the inspiration.

Bad hair color.  Remember to pick up a can of Design Master Raspberry spray paint.  See that, she inspired me.  We need to paint the back drop.  Now I know the color.

1983 Hand bag and shoes.  Now I have my 80's party theme.  "Come on Eileen", it's time to give up those shoes.

Toupee.  Get a hair cut!  Send it to Locks of Love.

I challenge you to just look.  Inspiration is there.  Sometimes it hits you in the face and sometimes it is very subtle.

Take a walk in your neighborhood, and look around.  Look up into the trees.  Find that bird singing.  You have heard it many times but never looked for it.  Look down, and tell me what you see.  No, it's not just a crack in the sidewalk.  It's the Grand Canyon and the ants are on a tour of the deepest part.   Like the mule skinners winding their way to the bottom and up the other side.  See how this works.  Inspiration leads us to imagination and so on.

Gotta go now, they are boarding my plane.

Nature's Spring Trends

As I sit here I look at what is next.  Spring?

I have been asked by many, "What is the hot topic for spring?"

Scratching my head I think about that question...
1- Who will the republicans get to run against Obama...no.
2- Pantone's color for the year "Tangerine Tango"....  Oh, by the way, is that not just another name for orange?  I'm just saying.

Do you really want my thoughts on what to look for in spring?

I see...
1- Cascaded bouquets for brides.
2- A natural trend developing (twigs, moss, blooming branches) set in a very natural setting.
I think we are moving into a natural way of thinking of design.  Don't get me wrong, the vase and ceramic container is not out, but merely a vessel to support an artfully placed branch.

Texture is very important in 2012.  The exposed wood grain, aged manzanita, petals of a flower, and seed pods to name a few examples.  The ideas are endless, and a natural hand is what we are craving.  Our eyes, minds, and hands are reaching out for the natural.

Simply put, texture and flowers go hand in hand.  It is like chocolate for our minds.  I challenge all of my friends to use a natural element this spring in all of your designs and sit back and watch all the attention it will get.

Nature is back for the spring.

"Just Imagine..." - My trip to the Rose Parade 2012

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were.  But without it we go nowhere." -Carl Sagan

This is a quote to live by.  Think about it.  Without imagination we would not get to the moon, and beyond.

This year's theme for the Rose Parade was "Just Imagine..."

For the third year now, California Natural has been gathering, picking, and grinding products for Fiesta Parade Floats.  This year we covered many places on floats, like Indonesia, Natural Balance, Dole, and Kaiser Permanente.  Check out their facebook page for more pictures at www.facebook.com/FiestaFloats.

Thank you Fiesta Parade Floats for another good year.  Mom, Carol & I had a great time!

The Big Winter Grind

As the winter sets in and the snow may fall, I am grinding the last of the manzanita leaves for Fiesta Parade Floats, thinking of the year to come.  February is busy with a trip to New Orleans and the Mardi Gras festivities.  Then, it's off to Philadelphia for the Philadelphia Flower Show.  There I get to work with Bill Shaffer and Kris Kratt.

OK, now on to March.  Getting home from Philly on March 4th, my anniversary follows close on the 8th.  Baltimore, here I come, for the AIFD National Board Meeting, where I get to find out what it is to be a regional chapter president.  Home for a few days, then I am off to Amsterdam for rest, research, and recreation in a few tulip fields.  (Tip toe through the tulips.)  I am going to come back fro Holland rested and full of inspiration for "California Natural: Spring on the Mountain," April 27-29, 2012.

As you can see, my calendar is filling up fast.  And all I can see from my chair is up through April.  I wonder what May has me doing?

Back to the big Grind and finishing this year's work.  Look here on my blog for up to date and on location at the Fiesta Float Barns; I will be showing how the manzanita leaves get from the mountain to Colorado Boulevard.

THE ROAD TRIP STARTS DECEMBER 25.

California Natural is now blogging

California Natural has entered the blog-o-sphere.  We shall make strides in design using natural products hand-selected from the mountains of the Sierra Nevada range.  "Come with me and you'll see a world of pure imagination" as we will be taking a nature walk through the mind and soul.  We will find inspiration in some new places....

As a child, I would often spend time at my family's cabin where the beauty of nature provided ample wildflowers, moss, and manzanita to create arrangements with my wild imagination.  Together, we will remember our childhoods, when we picked up a stick, and suddenly, it became a laser gun or a light saber....

'Stick' around for more on California Natural.