DISCOVERING OUR CREATIVITY<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our brains were built for being creative. Creativity is one\nof the most fundamental of human qualities. It is truly part of our basic human\nnature. Creativity is sometimes looked at as being rare and reserved just for a\ncertain gifted few. Although it is often stereotyped as being the work of\nartists, painters, sculptors, writers, etc \u2026 , we need remember that some of\nthe worlds most illustrious \u201ccreatives\u201d never picked up a paint brush or\nsculpted clay. They wore lab coats and created their art through numbers and\nformulas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n University of Notre Dame anthropologist Agust\u00edn Fuentes,\nauthor of The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional <\/em>describes\nthe process in the following way; \u201cThe essence of creativity is to look at the\nworld around us, see how it is and imagine other possibilities that are not\nimmediately present or based on our immediate personal experience. Creativity\nis seeing the possibilities and then trying to make those imaginings into\nmaterial reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n People evolve by discovering unanticipated facts and\ntheories. Discovering new faces and the excitement of new worlds inspires and\ndrives the human mind to want more. It teaches us how to see multiple pathways\nto solving\nchallenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As with many creative industries, the world of flowers\nconstantly evolves, repeatedly reminding us not to do the same old things in\nthe same old way, but to push them to the limit and see what happens.\nExperimentation, risk, originality. This is how new design styles and\ntechniques are born. This is how new flower varieties are created. This is how\nwe interpret what a consumer desires and design for them something they could\nnot have made themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TECHNOLOGY<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We can hardly talk about creative trends in today\u2019s world\nwithout discussing how technology effects our creativity. How do we stay\ncreative with our minds and hands when so much of the world around us\ncelebrates speed, ease and automation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n People are increasingly expecting new technology to\nautomate the boring elements of life, and the process is supposed<\/em> to\nallow us to spend more time on interesting things. We literally have an entire\nworld of creative information and inspiration at our fingertips. Art,\nliterature, music, nature \u2026 all right there; waiting to inspire us. The\nabundance is overwhelming, yet sometimes too much of a good thing is just that.\nToo much. The easy and constant access we have to visual stimulus is both\nwonderful and complicated for the creative mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For today\u2019s creatives, our devices can spur imagination,\nbut it is also a concern that all of the visual input our screen time gives us\nalso may slow our ability to create our own individual visual imagery. Screens\ncan get in the way of creative activities like daydreaming. When we are bored\nwe now turn to our screens, leaving behind the down-time our minds would\notherwise use for imagination and creativity. When we daydream, we tend to\nthink nothing is happening, however research shows that during those moments\nour brains actually light up with creative connections. So, screen time helps\nto open up possibilities for our imaginations, but we need to remember to not\nbecome completely dependent on technology to be our sole source of inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Floral designers are pushed to be creative through their\nnatural materials, constructions, mechanics, buying, customer service,\nmarketing and everything else that goes along with business of floristry. We\nneed to remember to take the time to play. Take time to enjoy the tactile\nquality of what we do. Grouping colors, gathering textures, adding unique\nelements together is all part of our creative process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n COLLABORATION<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s no longer just creatives that are shaping our visual\nworld. According to Adobe Stock\u2019s visual trends forecast for 2019: 95 million\nphotos are uploaded to Instagram and people watch 100 million hours of content\non Facebook every single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Humans are collaborative creatures by their sheer nature.\nThe fact that we, as floral designers, can share our creativity through social\nmedia has opened a new world of possibilities for growth and continued\nlearning. Beyond the beauty of inspiring botanical installation work, we are\nable to communicate, ask questions, learn mechanics and construction principals.\nThe ultimate goal <\/p>\n\n\n\n is to absorb inspiration from people that create with the\nsame medium as we do, and let that motivation help us to continue our own\ncreative journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All creatives, even the most celebrated ones, draw on the\nwork of others, influenced consciously \nor unconsciously by that which has come before them. We reconfigure\nexisting ideas and forms and then manipulate those into something new of our\nown expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Share and engage fellow designers. Sharing creativity can be hard. Our creativity is very personal. We tend to covet it and hold it close. Creatives do naturally fear judgement and their point of view not being understood and accepted. It feels vulnerable to share what makes your creative side tick. One of the best gifts that techno-media brings us is the ease of collaboration. We can share with others that think like us and work within the same medium. We can inspire each other and learn and continue to grow creatively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Originally published in the October 2017 Issue of Florists Review <\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bill Schaffer AIFD, AAF, PFCI and Kristine Kratt AIFD, PFCI DISCOVERING OUR CREATIVITY Our brains were built for being creative. Creativity is one of the most fundamental of human qualities. It is truly part of our basic human nature. Creativity is sometimes looked at as being rare and reserved just for a certain gifted few. 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