I’m always in awe of creative people. It doesn't matter if it's a book they're writing, a room they're decorating, a new recipe, an outfit or a piece of artwork they're doing; the process is fascinating to watch, as is the end product. Especially those who
see a concept and decide they can either do it better or they want to give it a
try to see what they can come up with. Creative projects can refresh us. Our creativity in one area can jump start it in another.
I've been watching, with interest, a close friend of mine’s
ongoing project over the past few months. Wendy’s renewing her vows next month
and wanted to make it special (she tells me she’s as excited with the
renewal ceremony as she was with her initial wedding).
The project, I’ve been watching with amazement, is her making
her bouquet as well as all the flowers arrangements for her ceremony. Now, I
have a brother-in-law who is an award winning designer—very creative and does
beautiful work. He also designs floral arrangements for weddings and I’m well
aware of the costs involved—even for simple arrangements. The bride’s bouquet
usually averages about $150, depending upon the design. Factor in bridesmaids,
boutineres, mothers’ corsages, table arrangements, and altar arrangements; you
can easily spend $500 to a $1200 on flowers alone (and we won't talk about celebrity weddings). Mind boggling, isn’t it? You
add some bling to the bouquets and you’re talking some major money.
Let me show you what Wendy has done.
Much like a story we create. The scene has the basic components and then we edit. And this is where the lesson, you can't edit what doesn't exist, really comes into play.
Wendy called this a hot mess. She's editing and shading.
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| Here's two of the boutineres You can click on the pictures and it will enlarge. |
She's taken the basic flowers and bling and she's added a bit more ribbons and bows along with more interesting bling. There are some unique pieces here.
Over time she worked on various pieces of the arrangements, the corsages, boutineres, and the center bouquet. I have a lot of pictures but I'll spare you and show you what she had at the end of her first full edit:
An artist has an inner vision. Taking that vision and tweaking it through various edits until it resembles what we're seeing inside takes time and a certain amount of patience.
So long as our goal is to make our artistic project the best we can make it, we're moving forward.
Sometimes we look at something and think, this is really nice but something's not working for me. Or something is missing. At this point we start moving or removing parts. As Wendy explained, she looked at it and thought, no, closed her eyes and started cutting. Ouch. That had to be painful.
When you compare the two you see the work that went into the next edit of the arrangements.
Looks like a treasure chest, doesn't it? I recognize various pieces and I can see where Wendy has moved them for better effect. She's added more color, variety, and texture. The end result is fuller and richer. Not so crowded and the overall edit brought more impact to the piece.
It's beautiful.
What a difference between what she started out with and where she ended up.
The creative process is fascinating and reminds me that the process is a matter of stages and steps. It's also a matter of focus and an awareness of our overall vision. We can't lose sight of that or we end up with a mess.
Like Wendy says, everything has edits.
Most creative people I know are creative in more than one discipline. I think the variety adds pleasure to life. Switching from one to another refreshes and revives. Wendy is also an author but what she's created here is awesome.
- What about you? What's in your creative bucket?
FYI: There are a couple of interesting blog hops going on with some lovely prizes:
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| FOR INFO CLICK HERE |
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| FOR INFO CLICK HERE |
