“LEA ROMANOWSKI, AIFD, CAFA, CAFD Designing on the Edge Calgary, Alta. Canada” 

A floral jack-of-all-trades, floral artist and educator Lea Romanowski, AIFD, CAFA, CAFD, owner of Designing on the Edge in Calgary, Alta. Canada, is a 36-year veteran of the floral industry. With her unique approach to design, her artistic expressions are always a surprise in creativity. Knowing no boundaries, Lea tells stories through her work and has a reason for each piece she creates. With her mind-set of “If you can conceive it, you can achieve it,” she continues to blur the lines and create compositions that are always unexpected and spectacular.

Where do you look for inspiration outside nature and the floral industry?

Everything inspires me. I’m a huge fan of hardware stores; my local store knows me by name. If I’m buying meters of copper pipe, the guys know that I’m not laying plumbing. I’m also inspired by architecture and structures, and I like to play around with “floral engineering”.

What do you do to “play” with creativity and strengthen your creative muscle?

In addition to being a floral artist, I am a singer, dancer and painter, so for me, everything is creative play. I am like Alice going down the rabbit hole.
I like to go into my shop, where I have a photo station set up, and let my mind wander. I rummage around and allow myself to just be me. I might see seven Hula Hoops and want to start cutting them up. I love taking something and recycling it not as a whole but as potential of its parts. I get lost in it all and don’t worry about the clock or the bottom line. My family and friends know not to interrupt me. I also love to interact with other artists in whatever field they are in. If an artist is passionate, people are drawn to him or her. All artists are the same: We all use the same processes and enjoy the same freedoms; we are kindred spirits, and this lets us know we are not alone.