Creative??

 The world is my source, my inspiration and enables my creative thoughts

Here comes our monthly, "By Invitation Only". Our topic is about staying creative... and how one accomplishes that.

This is a personal quest. For me, it is very simple: I do not have a choice. I am am Interior Designer, furniture and lighting designer. If I am not creative, constantly in the moment while thinking ahead, I no longer have a purpose and would be condemned to a fate of boredom.

At this point, I think everyone around me would jump ship, my sons, my friends, colleagues, staff, my dogs and even my dear Mr Whiskers. I would be unbearable... (I do hope that my present self is indeed bearable).

How do I do it? Above all I am curious...so curious that it got me into some deep trouble, such as searching for the perfect graffiti in the worst neighborhood of Buenos Aires or looking into junkyards and chased after by some rather nasty dogs in Santorini. While in foreign lands, I love to explore, often getting lost, so lost that I need to be rescued by various passersby. I have become incredibly talented at hand language which, actually, in some countries can make a situation worse.

Getting back to how to stay creative: beyond being curious, one must live with open eyes and an open heart, embracing our surroundings, finding beauty even in the ugly and the discarded. I absorb colors, textures, scents and read. I am an avid reader and some of my furniture collections have been inspired by pages of a book.

Now the hard part.... staying young.... Being in an ever changing and challenging youth and beauty oriented industry is not for the weak at heart. We, as creative people, should really get a break in that department, but genetics have no respect for our creative minds. So, I stay young in spirit, in the now, embrace my kids' culture, their music, love to discover young artists, watch the latest independent movies, do not dress according to my age but according to how I feel , and am constantly on a learning quest.

Formula to stay creative: be daring, be curious, look around you, explore foreign surroundings, read novels and foreign magazines, stay alert, visit museums and galleries, walk into fabulous hotels and observe, watch nature. Embrace it all and experiment, Enjoy!

 A Bientot,

 

Francine