To Be Real

Those of you like me who grew up in the 80’s might remember the famous disco song with the same title. My friend Sue and I danced many a night away in our high heels and bright blue eye shadow to just such music. This blog is not about disco, however. Although I am now humming under my breath.

The title of this blog refers to the way social media encourages us to be “unreal.” Pictures and videos of perfection and success clutter the internet. Thanks to editing and filters things always look good. Of course we are careful what we share. Only the highlights. Never the “behind-the-scenes.” I wonder if the implied perfection of those we “like” or “follow” does not cause us to become even more insecure. We compare ourselves and are found lacking. How sad.

To be real means showing the failures as well as the successes. It means sharing the story of the client who didn’t like your work. It means posting a picture of what your office really looks like. It means being honest when you are feeling overwhelmed. Admitting that you completely forgot the container for your container gardening presentation (true story, actually happened to me).

If we are real we may find that others will join us. And rather than a competition for who can be the most perfect we can encourage each other in our imperfections.

One pot. Three ways.

This winter I created many different containers for various Garden Clubs. During one particularly busy week I challenged myself to use similar materials without creating the same container. In this instance I had a beautiful bright red pot, birch poles and greens. By using different design aesthetics I was able to put together three pots that, while they had similar elements, could not have been more different.

First Pot

The first pot was exuberant. Birch poles took center stage and were surrounded by lush greens in many textures. Cryptomeria and pine provided nice contrast. Artificial red berries echoed the reddish tint of the leucothoe, as well as the stems of the pieris.

Second Pot

The second pot had a more contemporary feel due to the nature of its linear, segmented parts. Like the first pot, the birch poles were in the center. Next was a very tight circle of red huck. The red huck was slightly shorter than the birch. Extra-large pine cones held upright provided the next level. Working my way down I used deep green Nordmann fir, and stood it upright. I knew that the green would provide great contrast at the edge of my pot since green and red are opposite each other on the color wheel. I needed to somehow tie the color of the pot into the arrangement so I added some artificial red berries.

Third Pot

The third pot combined the linear feel of the second pot with the lushness of the first. Red huck and silver fir stood tall and straight encircling the birch. Then the softness took over with cryptomeria and cedar draping over the edge of the pot. To make things even more dramatic I added some pretty frosted ornaments. The silvery white ones picked up the colors of the silver fir while the reddish complemented the container.

It is so fun to see how a container’s look can be changed just by using its components in different ways. If you haven’t tried mixing things up a bit, I highly recommend it!

Closing doors. Opening windows.

It has been an honor and privilege to work with Tracy at PineStraw for the last nine years. Tracy is incredibly talented and understands the creative process like no one else; which is why it was always so fun to create windowboxes for the Wellesley shop and later the Waban location. I knew I could enjoy the freedom to think outside the box. It was equally amazing to work with Anne Tochka’s beautiful window designs. I will truly miss our creative collaborations but as Dr. Seuss once said, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

I am looking forward to working with Tracy in the future as she develops her new business, which will focus on home decorating and interior design. Keep your eyes out for Pine Straw Home and Living.

The following pictures are a brief look at some work done over the last nine years. Enjoy!