Petals of Friendship

  The work of a floral designer can be perceived as dreamy and romantic. The truth is, it’s really not like that at all.  It’s a satisfying form of creativity and just like any other art form, a great deal happens before the “beautiful” emerges. What isn’t seen is the messy process that precedes the beautiful outcome. If you’ve ever worked in a floral shop, you know what I mean. Flowers arrive to a shop packed in boxes. They are strategically and protectively arranged to protect and preserve them from damage while in transit. If mishandled, flowers can be bruised. The job of the floral designer begins here. The goal? To carefully unpack the flowers and transfer them to another safe place, a cylinder container filled with fresh water. Before the stems are submerged in water though, essential things need to happen. As the flowers are unpacked, the stems are cleaned, then given a generous new cut. This is done so that when they’re put in a bucket of water, they can “drink up”...

A bold white line on the right side of my lane and a bright yellow line on the other side.  Orange cones warning me about fresh paint.  I was driving down a freshly striped road. Great.  Now I have to really focus and make sure I don’t veer out of my lane.  I felt a little nervous. If I veered just a little bit, well…I’d be creating a disaster. If you have ever driven over fresh road striping paint, or seen a car that has, you know it really ruins a car’s paint job.   Please let me stay within the lines .  That was my prayer.  Isn’t that how we sometimes try to live our lives?  Staying within the lines so we can have proof that we are doing it right?  I go outside the lines so many times.  It is easy to do and I don’t even recognize it at times because I just go about my merry way.  Yet, I veer off in seemingly simple ways.  By comparing myself to others, by puttin...

The painting was really sad. It was supposed to depict a cluster of grapes, but it looked like a diseased raspberry instead. I’m talking about an experience at one of those painting parties, where you follow the instructions of a talented teacher and your great hope is that yours will look as good as hers. Oh, and did I mention they served wine at this party?  I think it was supposed to help?  Hmmm, not so much. I am not being hard on myself. I am being a realistic critic, and my completed painting really was a mess.  I took it home and tucked it in a corner where I would not see it.  Face down, out of sight, out of mind.   Not too long ago, when I was cleaning my space, I came across it and I cringed.  Instead of putting it away again, I did the next best thing.  I painted right over it.  Yep, covered up the evidence, covered up the mess. I felt relief. Not a single grape existed anywhere on that canvas.  With a few quick brush str...