| 009 | Tactile Gardening: the exploration of color, texture, and light
I’ve always loved learning about design whether it’s interiors, architecture, or landscaping. There’s a common thread to all great designs; they notice, they highlight, they conceal, and they observe through intentionality. Some of my favorite designs are those which intentionally place juxtapositions within a space. New and old, sharp and curved, bright, and muted. Whatever it may be, they use tools or a design toolbox to ask questions, to explore and to visually appreciate and understand the world.
When we explore designs or save pins, our goal shouldn’t be to replicate exactly what we see. Instead we should identify patterns, not the things, but rather the compositions, the colors, the shapes and forms that catch your eye and make you pause. It's a way we can expand our design “toolboxes” and curate our personal taste. I used to create Pinterest boards galore, titled “kitchens”, “living rooms”, “dream farm”, etc. but over the past few years, I’ve realized that segmenting things so heavily by topic has prevented me from using Pinterest to its full potential. It prevented me from finding patterns and identifying what it really draws me to an image.
So I switched up.
In the last few years, I’ve started broader, all encompassing boards, such as “Authentically Curated”, “Agri-Hort Aesthetic”, “A Saturated World’. In them, I post anything that catches my eye or resonates with me, from interiors to items, to patterns, animals, nature, anything and everything. And my perspective has now changed.
I realized the biggest theme in my personal taste was how light interacts with the world. I realized that a chair I thought I loved was actually less about the chair and more about the orange velvet upholstery catching the light. I found less landscapes and more close-ups; detailed observations of shape, line, and pattern. I saw colors that reoccurred and noticed those which were scarce.
I found the tools I’ve been missing in the patterns I wasn’t observing.
This is how I’ve built a “personal design toolbox” and I’m still developing it. I’m now able to apply these tools (the observations I’ve made about my taste) in everything I’m designing. From my “treehouse”, to my garden, to my everyday spaces.
Garden design for me is just a further exploration of color, texture and patterns. It’s using the palette of nature and my toolbox of patterns to create a life intentionally and authentically designed.
Sincerely,
The Grower