Report From PIA – Feb 1
Every time I pull into the driveway I see the fence we constructed to hide some utility boxes. OK, OK… we didn’t build them, my husband did. This barrier does the job, but the shape of it bothers me. It kind of screams, “Structure to hide something even more ugly!”
So as I pass by, I imagine how we could improve the form. I’ve already planted my favorite trumpet vine, Campsis x tagliabuana ‘Madame Galen’, next to the fence, but even covered with greenery the shape isn’t the most pleasing.
This got me thinking about the creative process in general. We see a situation we’d like to improve, get an idea about something we’d like to make, or begin daydreaming and asking, “What if…”
For me, this process is exciting. Deciding what to do, and then figuring out how to accomplish it, and then taking it step by step until it’s finished is very satisfying. I loved this creative progression when I was an artist doing photo-generated collages, and I enjoy it now when I’m designing gardens instead of art on paper.
Basically, the creative process is having the interest, or the courage, to walk down that road of what if and see what results.
Here's the enclosure, and I'm sure that you can see what I mean... even when the shrub that's planted on the right side, and the trumpet vine that's planted on the corner get growing, it's still two harsh horizontal lines that aren't pleasing.
So I imagine what lines I would like to see, and this is what I've decided to do. We'll (my husband will) put an upright post on the corner and we'll run a heavy rope from that structure down to the ends on each side. Even without the trumpet vine it will look better, and once the vine goes up the corner, the new post, and then down the ropes it will be perfect!
