my sense of place

I found this picture in my camera roll a few days ago. To be honest, I didn’t even know I had this picture, nor do I really remember exactly when I did this sketch. Either freshman or sophomore year of college in my first design studio class. I do remember the studio vividly … such a beautiful creative space - sails suspended over the drafting tables, brick walls, terra cotta floors, small iron windows exposed metal beams and art everywhere. I remember the students in the classes above me burning the midnight oil, drafting away using fancy computer programs, wondering if I would ever get there. Nonetheless, I sharpened my new drafting pencil, lined up my Micron pens and I rendered my first perspective for my first parklette! How exciting.

Looking at this now I have grown so much. Funny little things catch my eye … peace lilies planted around a tree…. in Rhode Island… ? … that would never happen. My tree trunks are stumpy…. my lines are heavy …. the people in the distance look like little marshmallows, but none of that stuff really matters. I have come so far. This is a beautiful memory, and it brings me back to the space I was in when I was a budding Landscape Architect. I was so inspired by this field, the scope of work, the fact that the future is in the hands of these engineers, these designers, these scientists. Ranging anywhere from defining site fixtures or site plantings to planning a new shopping complex or planning a revitalized coastline, this work is incredible and intentional. Over and above everything I learned and studied, my heart fell in love with the planet. My path was loopy and will continue to be, but I found my place. My place is bringing plants to people.