Everyone has a specific way of looking at creative reality, translating his or her viewpoint and communicating it to the world. For Jorge Uribe,AIFD, EMC, owner and creative floral artist of Urban Floral LLC in Wolcott, Conn., he shares his floral creativity through the lens of his camera and his passion for photography. With his ability to capture unique moments in pictures, Jorge allows us to step into time now frozen forever and
experience his creative world. His insatiable curiosity, willingness to always be a student of floristry, and experimentation with combining and manipulating different elements has been the key to his creative art for the past 15 years.
Who have been your mentors, and do you mentor others now?
Anyone who teaches you something in life is your mentor. My “indirect” mentors are designers that I followed in magazines and books when I started as a designer. In recent years, I have pushed myself to surpass my limits. That’s one reason I chose to study with Hitomi Gilliam, AIFD, Tomas De Bruyne and other designers whose workshops I’ve taken. Also, by being part of the mentoring team for the European Master Certification (EMC) program for the past year, I have been able to help and guide floral design friends. This has allowed me to challenge myself, search for the correct answers and open myself to learning more.
Where do you look for inspiration outside of nature and the floral industry? What sources inspire you?
Photography is one of my favorite sources of inspiration. By being able to appreciate color, forms, and light through a lens, I can discover the next things that are hard to perceive with a single blink of an eye. I am inspired by others such as floral artists, painters, sculptors or watching television or a movie. The point of view of others always seems to refresh my creativity. Also, traveling plays a large part in inspiring me. I can experience different cultures, architecture or even culinary aspects that, in turn, can contribute to the discovery of great ideas. But the most significant source of my inspiration is imagination.
What do you do to “play” with creativity and strengthen your creative muscles?
Experimenting with organic and non-organic elements or utilizing different tools are a significant part of keeping my creative mind active. When I think of a concept or something simply comes to mind, I try to translate that idea onto paper. I then search for the appropriate elements to bring that idea to life in a unique and creative way.
