October Inspiration

As a Landscape Designer in the Santa Clarita Valley, nature and inspiration are very important to me. I find my inspiration mostly outside because that is where I can really explore all my senses.

I am constantly seeing new plants, rocks, and design patterns wherever I go; scent is usually next – I walk past a fragrant flower, or brush a fragrant perennial or shrub and memories visit. I actually find that for me, the plants that I touch to release scents are usually the most evocative. Crushing the leaves of a pineapple sage, rubbing some scented geraniums, and trimming California sage are all things that I enjoy.

That brings me to touch, I’m very tactile with plants – as I brush past and must feel the leaves and flowers so texture is very important to me. I love the fleecy texture of lamb’s ears, the towering softness of an Agave flower stalk, and even the rough feel of sandpaper verbena (one of my new favorites).

 
My ears tune in to the friendly chirp of birds enjoying the berries on a Toyon, the hummingbirds zipping by on their quest for nectar add to the lovely wind chimes and the soft swish of grasses and plants with umbels.

Then there is taste – I’m an avid edible gardener and love to explore the addition of edibles in my garden and the gardens of others. My summer veggies, figs and grapes are gone for the year but my new crop of winter vegetables is just beginning and my kumquats and Oro Blanco Grapefruits are starting to mature. Winter is going to be a delicious season at home!

I think that every season has it proper time to take a pause to not only smell the roses but to decide if you want to make any changes to those roses you’ve planted in your garden. I am counting on the weather to start cooling down soon, so I can take some strolls in the afternoons but so far my inspirational walks have be relegated to the early morning and evenings. Getting out into nature is good for the soul, and if you have a garden (or want to have one) it is one of the greatest ways to find new ideas, revisit old garden loves and make plans.

Take time for yourself, your family, and your pets and get outside and enjoy yourself. After you’ve taken your stroll, sit down with your favorite beverage and jot some notes down about the things you saw and how they made you feel. Next step is to collect photographs (you can take them yourself or find them online) and keep them together with your notes. If you do this on a regular basis, you’ll be surprised how fast you have formulated your dream garden.

So, it’s time to get out into nature, find some inspiration and … call me if you have questions.

Inspiration

It's that time again!  I'm off on an adventure and I'm going to get all pumped up about some new ways to bring beauty into your garden and your life.

I am headed out with my bestest friend for a few days of fun to the Pacific Northwest.  As always I plan to enjoy the surroundings and to bring back beautiful photos and ideas for you and your gardens.  In the meantime, I'd like to encourage you to enjoy your surroundings find inspiration in the friends you have and the beautiful things that you do and... take a look at the blog post I'm linking to below.  This is a beautiful example of enjoying the joy and inspiration in every experience you have.  Chan Teas really has a love for tea and for nature, I think you'll enjoy reading about it. (And if you like tea please check out their online store!)

Sequoia Blog Post 

Please join me online on Thursday May 24, 2012 – 3:30 PDT. I will be appearing on, Artists, Designers, and Things O My! The show is all about, people who are passionate about what they do and who can share their experiences on where they are today. Artists, Designers, Architects, Painters, Actors, and others. Please join us live or listen to it in archive! Here is a link to the show.

Inspiration and Healing

Inspiration and healing never comes when you expect it. If you go looking, you won't find them but if you open yourself up to the world around you, there they are.



I am from the east coast, specifically the Greater New York area. I have lived in Manhattan, on Long Island, and in upstate New York and since my family is still there I go back to visit fairly often. A family event sent us back this past weekend and although it was too short (it always is) I enjoyed every moment. I walked the streets, and drove the back roads of my youth and found inspiration and healing by sharing a different perspective with my (now older) children. I really appreciate that they are at ages of discernment and that I can share much more with them.

photo by Marlon Molinare

I spent a day in Manhattan with my eldest son; I took him to the West Village, home of my first apartment, which I shared fresh out of college - just a shade younger than he is now. And later we spent an extraordinary 90 minutes at The Mandarin's Tea Room, I entered thinking that I would be learning more about the teas that my son Marlon, of Chan Teas, loves and walked out with a firmer connection on some of the principles I have been trying to foster in myself. I felt the tea brewing meditative (which I have been working on cultivating in my life) and the scents, tastes, textures, and sounds that Tim shared with us were extraordinary. It allowed me to participate more fully in the subsequent tea brewing sessions that Marlon shared with our family and created another great family memory.



How does this tie in to inspiration and healing you ask? I find beauty and inspiration all around. Have you ever designed a garden based on a beautiful curlicue or a antique pattern? I have.



Walking the city streets with the chill air in our faces, enjoying the branching structures of trees that I don’t normally see, drinking in the vibe, and coming upon surprise secret gardens tucked away among the big buildings gave me pause. I can see using all of these elements in my clients’ gardens, and how each and every piece of inspiration can lead to the creation of another garden that will connect families, heal hearts and minds, and foster enjoyment.

Stepping from the brisk streets into the warm tearoom provided another opportunity for me to understand that these are the kind of feelings (warm, comfortable, safe, healthy) I want to bring to people.



Long Island, the deserted beach at sunrise – cold and stark but beautiful and inviting. The birds circled above, the beach grasses rustled in the breeze, the water lapped against the shores. I felt completely at peace, completely aware, and completely inspired.

Nature can bring harmony, healing, and comfort to humanity, so why not bring it into your home by creating a healing garden? What I took away from this trip is that the world needs people to share their experiences with each other, to help others, and to realize that we are one. We are all in it together, so taking some time to center is really important. No matter how you do it, yoga, meditation, drinking tea, hiking, creating a garden. Get inspired and just take that step forward.

I think that the world needs more gardens and fewer yards.



If you are interested in learning more about adding permanent aspects to your healing garden, I’m offering another complimentary teleclass, This is second in the series.

I will be chatting with Special Guest, Alex Ventura of Ventura & Son Masonry.

Please join me for a complimentary teleclass I'm giving on what you need to know before making changes to your hardscape.

This call is good for any climate, any zone, anywhere! All you need is the desire to make your garden shine.

Monday February 13, 2012 at 6:30 pm PST

To learn more about it – take a look at this link

Do you need a little garden inspiration?

Imagine walking up to your front door and feeling like you are truly home. Imagine sitting in your backyard; a drink in your hand, friends and family all around feeling completely comfortable. That is how you should feel in your own private sanctuary. It is not always easy to create that sanctuary when you are unclear of your goals and the tools that you need. But that can be fixed!

Let me share with you the key ingredient for creating a sanctuary: Inspiration. Finding the places that make you feel the most calm and relaxed, the vignettes that speak to your heart, those are the keys to creating any kind of sanctuary. Summer is often the time that so many of us have a few extra days (or if we are lucky weeks) to take a break, visit beautiful locations, rest, and relax. Don't let that time disappear, savor every moment and bring it back as inspiration for your life and your surroundings.



This Swiss chard may not seem inspirational to your 10 year-old when served for dinner, however the play of back light on it's leaves is a thing of beauty. Did you know that you could mix edibles into your planting beds and have extraordinary results?



Taking time to stop and smell the roses, or better yet pause and watch a bee flitting on a beautiful hollyhock will help you find both relaxation and inspiration. You deserve it! Give yourself the gift of inspiration and knowledge take a trip, visit a botanical gardens, take a class, or visit a friend's beautiful yard. I am offering a series of classes - if you are so inclined take a look at my offering. Visit: Outdoorsanctuaryblueprint.net

Have a wonderful weekend, and stay inspired!

Julie

Antiques That Inspire

Inspiration is all around us, you just need to take a moment to look around, take a breath and take it all in. Whether you find inspiration in magazines or walking the neighborhoods you cherish there is much to be found that we can imitate or repurpose in our gardens.

One of my favorite sources of inspiration is taking trips outside my usual domain; it is a lovely way to find inspirations pieces for an entire motif, or just the right piece for a bare spot in your garden. I often shop at local antique stores and tag sales at home and when I visit my family, luckily I share that love with my friends.

My friend and colleague, Tami Smight of Tami Smight Interiors and fellow Harmonious Home Team member, has written a great blog post about Antiques For Your Garden that I would like to share with you.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did, and I hope that you join Tami & I at Green Thumb Nursery - 23724 Newhall Avenue in Newhall, Ca. on March 26, 2011 at 10 am as we offer a complimentary design seminar called, “Make Your Garden Sing”.

Please RSVP for the seminar by emailing: rsvp@thegrassisalwaysgreener.net with your name and the code GGB326

For more about my designs visit my website.

-Julie

Wordless Wednesday - Inspiration from Sheri

Fuschia


A beautiful vision of trees as far as the eye can see


Cannas at San Rafael Mission, San Rafael, Ca.

My friend Sheri and her husband Louie went on a great vacation. They just got in the car and drove. No reservations, no destination - I want to be Sheri when I grow up! Sheri has an Inspiration brand find her at: SheriBabyTshirts or AffirmationsWithAttitude

Artistic Values - Lenore Holland

My family seems always to have considered art a premium. Whether art took the form of drawing, playing a musical instrument, needlework or gardening both my immediate and extended family has been blessed with talent. As I have mentioned in the past both my grandmother and mother loved to garden and that rubbed off on my sister and on myself. Grandma and Mom both had an eye for a great combination, and my mother’s indoor and outdoor pots still reflect that. Evie sticks a piece of this and a clipping of that into a pot and… a new design is born.



As a young age I also enjoyed drawing and painting, I took art lessons from my neighbor and made sure that I always had room in my High School schedule for extra art classes. One of my High School art teachers even recommended a life drawing class at a local college and my friends and I carpooled to practice figure drawing. I don’t think that I would have felt comfortable learning more and more drawing techniques if it hadn’t been for the fact that I was surrounded by artistic people and especially artistic women. From the time I was a little girl I knew that it was great to be creative and that is because my aunt, Lenore Perskie Holland, created a set of workbooks using her fabulous drawing skills and based on our families. The characters in the book that taught children to count, discern shapes, and pick up differences were my cousins, my brother, my sister and me!



Later on in life Lenny who had taken up needlework began studying illuminated manuscripts and began designing Judaica pieces. My first real experience with her talent was when our Synagogue on Long Island commissioned her to design huge tapestries that could be worked on by the congregants and would later decorate the walls of our sanctuary. Lenny designed these huge pieces, with a little engineering help from my Uncle Artie to get the scale right. The congregation (and even my grandfather) spent the next years using a rug hooking technique to complete the pieces.



Since that time Lenny has created many beautiful pieces of art that adorn her home, my mother’s home, and my cousin Judy’s home. Visiting with Lenny on my trip back home last month was extraordinary because I could see so many of the pieces all together. Her talent is incredible and I know that having a vision that needs to be shared is one reason that she will never ever be bored. She blends Torah with things that are meaningful in her life and always includes birds. Her birds have been with our family forever, from the cartoon birds of her earliest workbooks and cards to the beautifully rendered birds of her current works. Her newest piece which is pictured below is my favorite (maybe I say that each time she makes a new one) because not only does it have beautiful soft greens that speak to me, it is also actually one complete art piece within another and her extraordinary talent for design shines through. The balance is elegant, all the elements are clear and visible, yet at the same time subtle and begging you to take a second look.



I hope you enjoy her artwork as much I do, and that you find someone or something this beautiful to inspire you.

For more about my designs: thegrassisalwaysgreener

Los Angeles Downtown Inspiration

I always enjoy spending time with my friends, and the ladies that I hang out with are not your ordinary book club! We’re a group of artistic, eclectic women that value art, design and inspiration because we need it and use it in our every day lives. Being around other women that value the same things that I do really helps me in my work. I am able to share my thoughts and ideas with them and can put that back into my landscape designs.



Last week we celebrated two of our friends’ birthdays, Candice Hirst and Sheri Varela so we decided to head downtown Los Angeles on the train. Harriette Knight, Tami Smight and I are very lucky to have these great May birthday girls in our lives! The Metrolink is an easy hour trip from Santa Clarita or Newhall right into Union Station. Of course we talked the whole way down, so the ride seemed a lot shorter than an hour. Union Station is a beautiful destination in itself and there are some wonderful tiles, lighting fixtures and artwork right in the station.



We started the day on Olvera Street, which is a hop, skip & jump from the train station. Much to my delight the walk over to Olvera yielded some beautiful plant combinations, which I had to photograph. I will be sure to use them in some of my landscapes.



We shopped, we ate great Mexican food and we walked and walked. After lunch we headed over to Chinatown, which is less than a 10-minute walk from Olvera Street, since I’ve usually driven I was completely turned around and never ended up in the area that I am used to. It didn’t matter at all… since there is so much to see and with good friends, it doesn’t really matter where you end up.






We found lots more inspiration, did more shopping, more walking and on the final leg back to the train station we found this wonderful plaque set into the ground. The plaque says, prosperity and we had to have a shot of us all on the plaque. We began as mastermind group, created to help one another with our businesses. The group has helped us prosper which is why we had to have that photograph, yet it has turned into so much more. I am sure that I would not be where I am today with out these great friends.



Inspiration is so important not to just "creative types", but to everyone. Please take some time for yourself, your family and your friends and go out and enjoy life! It’s too short to hide yourself away and work, work, work. Your added bonus is that the inspiration will come back to you in spades in your life and in your business.



For more information about my designs: thegrassisalwaysgreener.net

How To Find Inspiration

Finding inspiration for any type of art can be elusive, and continually finding inspiration for you and for others can be even more daunting. Being a Landscape Designer that likes to give each client an individually designed landscape is important to me, so I must continually search out inspiration.

Taking yourself out of your day-to-day surroundings is one way to add inspiration to your life and finding beautiful places with wonderful people makes it even more enjoyable.



My Mastermind group is an amazing network of women that I share my life with and each is more fabulous than the next. Our Interior Designer, Tami Smight celebrated her birthday last week and we decided to spend the day in Ventura with her. The ride out the 126 and up the 101 is a beautiful journey and we spent the ride chatting and laughing. We arrived in Ventura famished and had a wonderful lunch sharing stories, eating and enjoying ourselves.



The rest of the day was spent shopping in boutiques, décor shops, and thrift stores where we found a wealth of baubles, treasures and inspiration!



I found kitschy garden boots in ever-popular polka dots, wonderful outdoor rugs (modeled here by Master Healer Harriette Knight – who always buys her outdoor rugs right here at B on Main), and maybe my favorite, a sea glass chandelier. Now I need to find the client that wants to create an outdoor room I can build around that chandelier. Call me if that is YOU!






I loved window-shopping with everyone, because we shared our ideas about how to use the different pieces that we saw. A display of doorknob wine stoppers sent me off on a journey in my mind that would include matching patio furniture, plants and hardscape with antique doorknobs and switch plates. Sheri Varela and Candice Hirst pointed out many other beautiful items that gave us all inspiration for projects to come.






Your art and your life will broaden in many exciting ways if you open yourself to new places, people and ideas. Be open, be creative and most of all let the world in to inspire you!



For more information or inspiration www.thegrassisalwaysgreener.net