In 1994 Joshua Tree was designated a National Park, having only had Monument status since 1936.  One might wonder what the difference between the two is.  A monument usually protects a singular resource of physical, cultural or historical value.  That designation can be granted by a President.  To earn the designation of National Park it takes an act of Congress.  That later being awarded to protect land, ecosystems, habitats and vulnerable places.   In 1994, the National Park designation for Joshua Tree protects  nearly 800,000 acres and the plants and animals that make it a wondrous place.
The park's namesake, the Joshua Tree is something akin to a Dr. Seuss illustration and the perfect specimen for a "B" alien.  

Beyond book illustrators and movie directors, the Joshua tree has caught the attention of a new generation and their Instagram-able moments.  If you follow the hashtag #joshuatree you will see elopements, weddings, family outings and wilderness wanderings set against the backdrop of the mighty Joshua.  Who would have thought this giant relative of the asparagus would command such insta-fame.   Are they sought out for their spiny silhouette, their mysterious wavy arms or the you-can-overcome and thrive spirit they embody sprouting up from the harsh desert conditions?

The magic and mystery of JTNP drew 3 million visitors in 2021.  The eclectic village of Joshua Tree, which borders the west park entrance comes alive at dawn with locals and visitors hitting Joshua Tree Coffee Company for some caffeine.  Travelers join the caravan of vehicles winding the small road up to the park entrance.   After you greet the fee booth attendant, the road through Joshua Tree becomes seemingly smaller and smaller as the vistas of open land grow larger.  Waving their bristled arms up in the air, the Joshua Trees greet you like a socially distanced crowd.    While they do appear in groups,  most seem to like their personal space standing lone in the desert sands.  Their frequency and sprawl is hard to capture on camera.

 Cresting from the ground, corralling the Joshuas are huge rock and boulder formations.  They look as if giants stacked them.  Many of the outcroppings have been named due to their unusual form, indentations and shapes such as Skull Rock, Cyclops Eye and Heart Rock.

Joshua Tree at night is just as spectacular.  It is rated 10th in the list of National Parks designated as night sky parks.  Views of the milky way, asteroid showers and lunar events draw thousands.

So what does make Joshua Tree so magical?  In my personal opinion it's scale.  These amazing trees dot the landscape farther than the eye can see and boy can you see a long way.  The JTNP desert landscape while diverse on a micro ecosystem scale is rather featureless on a grand mile to mile scale.   The landscape rolls forever blurring into a shade of gray green and brown.  The trees and the earth blend into a tapestry of hard desert life.  As an individual, it reminds you how small we.  We are just a dot on the landscape dwarfed by the population of Joshuas.  It can be very peaceful and humbling.   Traveling through and seeing the dotted Joshua Trees come into view, turning from blurry shadowy forms into larger than life ornate structures of lancet leaves, blooms and curving branches is exciting.  Their distant friendly arms waving turn away from human-like form into an otherworldly coarse and rugged collections of pointed leaves and desert dried bark.  They are both threatening and delightfully whimsical.   Their beauty in whole outshines.  Heck, if you could hug one, they look as if they would hug right back.  The park entrance sign should read- "Joshua Tree, we welcome you with open arms.  Just don't take us up on it." 

My love for all things Joshua Tree, has had me inspired to create some new art and decor.  While most of my art has a travelers heart coming through, this is the first series with a single destination in mind.   And with that addition to my collections, I foresee heading towards more National Park art.  If you are a fan of my work please consider subscribing to my newsletter.  New subscribers get a 10% off coupon code.

I'm happy to announce that I'm a participant in Portland's Rebuilding Center's 2020 inaugural Salvage Showdown.  My furniture piece is available for purchase by chance of raffle, with funds helping support the non-profits Constructing Hope and the RBC.  Please consider voting for my piece by purchasing a raffle ticket.  The project piece receiving the most raffle ticket purchases will be presented with their SCRAPPY award and bragging rights.

IFirst, THE BUILD:
During the Salvage Showdown, up to 8 individuals or teams will compete to build the most interesting/beautiful/creative/weird piece of furniture using only reclaimed materials from the ReBuilding Center. Builders work in their own spaces over the course of one month. Anything (really, anything) is possible!

Then, THE JUDGING:
Finished items will be on display in all their glory from October 17-22 at the ReBuilding Center and posted across our social feeds, where customers and supporters will vote for the winning salvage creation and purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win one of the finished pieces.
Finally, THE WINNERS:
On October 22, the ReBuilding Center will host a live Zoom event where all pieces will be raffled off to eight lucky winners, and the winning creation will be revealed! The winning team will receive The Scrappy, a custom, trophy hand-built by ReBuilding Center staff and guaranteed to be unique.
In recognizing the value of community partnerships, ReBuilding Center will donate 50% of the raffle proceeds to our friends at Constructing Hope to support their mission and participants!

The RBC accepted 7 builders, DIYers, artists, designers, and dreamers as Builders in the Salvage Showdown!

We had until October 16th to create a beautiful/weird/unique/unlikely piece of furniture that is at least three feet long in any dimension (three feet tall, wide, or deep).

The finished pieces will be showcased in the RBC store for one week and ranked by community vote. The builder of the winning piece will receive The Scrappy, a custom trophy hand-built by ReBuilding Center staff. Each piece will be raffled off to a lucky winner and the ReBuilding Center will donate half of the proceeds to our friends at Constructing Hope. Final pieces will be displayed in store and online for ticket purchasing starting October 17th.

Raffle Ticket Pricing
1 @ $15
2 @ $30
3 @ $40 (save $5!)
4 @ $55
5 @ $65 (save $10!)
6 @ $80
7 @ $95
8 @ $100 (save $20!)

Please show my fellow builders some love for their kind donation of their time and skills.  It's amazing how all of us came up with such different concepts all from the RBC's selection of reclaimed materials.

WOODEN TOP KITCHEN CART - Builder: Adam Zeek | Instagram | Website
HANGING SHELF - Builder: Ashley Krollenbrock | Instagram
LEANING DESK AND SHELF - Builder: Dana Luukko | Instagram
PLANT STAND WITH LIGHT - Builder: Daniel Goers | Instagram | Website
TABLE WITH VASES - Builders: Team Mayest | Instagram | Website
KITCHEN CART WITH DRAWERS - Builders: Team True North | Instagram | Website

For more information about the RBC please visit their website: RBC or drop by their retail location at 3625 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97227

2017 marks the 20th anniversary for Willows boutique in Vancouver, Wa.  The independent  women's apparel, accessory and gift store has changed through the years, evolving to serve its clients and customers.  Embellishments studio has been there from the beginning bringing their brands style to life.

Hundreds of partygoers helped Willows celebrate its 20th anniversary, with florals by Stem Floral Design and treats by Rosycakes to coordinate with my summer display.  What may not be known to many in attendance is the origins of the boutique they love. 

It was 1997 when I first met the first time shop owners Sandy McCloud and her business partner and daughter Janna Moats.  Bright eyed and ambitious to realize their concept for a bedding, furniture and gift store we hit it off.  Our task was to transform a rather plain and unassuming space tucked into a refurbished car dealership into something alluring and vibrant.

It wasn't too long and their success lead to their expanding into an empty retail space next door.  The new area allowed them to expand their offerings to include some apparel, baby bedding and more gift merchandise.  It is with the addition of this space that glimpses of the Willows style appeared. 

Committed to having the, mostly service oriented, marketplace provide a shopping experience to the downtown Vancouver scene,  Sandy  and Janna, in addition, opened Fresh Willow, a garden and gift store.  I began my exploration of their interiors being modern with industrial and vintage accents.  This would include creating elements and faux finishing them for both the interior and facade.  Ingredients such as concrete, "rusted" metal and wood finishes will serve them well into their 20th year.

Despite their retailing success, the two Marketplace locations challenged the two owners with heavy schedules, separate merchandise buying trips and two vastly different goals within.   The decision was made to merge the two and define "Willows" with a new location, street side in the newly revitalized Ester Short Park area. Here the merchandise assortment began the flip from home dec and gift, with some light apparel to apparel with some gift.  Here's where the categories of garden, bedding and furniture were shed, a precursor to the boutique of today.  The response from downtown Vancouver's apparel store starved women was amazing. Willows became the guiding light and a stellar example of a revitalized Vancouver success story.   That forward momentum could not be sustained too long.  With the onset of the economic recession bringing about a reversal of downtown Vancouver's revitalization and growth, Sandy and Janna made the tough, but exciting, decision to close their Ester Shore Park location and relocate to their current one in the Grand Central Marketplace.  As a team, we decided to take the largest space yet further in expressing Willow's style and distill their offerings to be revolved around apparel, accessories and gifts.

It is their Grand Central location that would challenge me to create the Willows experience from scratch.  This will be the first time I was given the freedom to develop a completly empty retail space.  No more were there going to be stairs, low ceilings and a lack of storage.  My first decision was to design them an actual working back room.  This marks the first time in Willow's 15 years that they can process new merchandise off the sales floor.  And I, as their merchandiser, display builder was eager to have a storage  area for fixtures, tools and display goods.

To further build the brands reputation for eye catching eye candy and high end department store like treatment of visual display, I carved a niche out for a window display and purchased a ton of mannequins.  The tradition of rearranging the store, adding new fixtures and displays with each season was born. 

As if the planets aligned just for the ladies of Willows, the two spaces adjacent to the store became available.  So without hesitation, the designing of the current, expanded Willows began.  The additional space allowed us to accommodate more dressing rooms, increase the selling space, add a sale area and further indulge in the textures and elements that define Willows visually.  And of course I got my wish of another window, an expanded back room and a central wrap desk that could hold four checkout stations!

 I'm proud to play part in this 20 year love affair with the Willows brand.  The owners, Sandy and Janna are like family.  We've watched each others families grow.  We've watched our separate businesses grow.  And, we will continue watching Willows grow further with our collaborative ways and unrelenting love for the store.   I'm including some additional photos from my Willows displays below.  Enjoy!- Aaron

My younger self was a professional window and holiday display designer and visual merchandiser for high end department stores.    20 years ago when I left that world to start Embellishments Studio, I retained a few of my freelance clients.  Flash forward to 2016, I've created dozens of trims for several clients.   The trims that quickly comes to nostalgic memory are the ones I've created for my client in Vancouver, Washington called Willows.   It's a clothing and accessories boutique.

Flash forward four and half years, they called me back to help them with their backyard eyesore, a cinder block garage wall.  Their fresh landscape and beautiful hot tub gazebo and deck built by a friend of mine, Dave Izer were fantastic.  The backside of the neighbors wall not so much.  It was decided to cover the wall with a landscape that extended their yard visually.  

There of course was a special request by their daughter (who's nursery I painted).  She wanted a unicorn.  With Mom and Dad's nod, I tucked a sleeping one into the painting.   It's a magical surprise when you approach the mural but its not really visible from the house or deck.    That way the illusion wasn't affected by the appearance of a large mythical creature.

Time Lapse Video

Here's one reason I love my job.  When I completed the mural, it happened to be one day before my birthday.   Well, my lil' client brought me a card she drew and a mandala she colored in.   My heart melted.    Good thing it was the last day because nothing could top that moment.  Thank you McClures for your faith in my work and of course treating me like family.  You're amazing!

Hell bent and intent on finishing my Saturday to-do list I let the day slip by.  Around 8:00pm I finally allowed myself to relax .  I thought I'd treat myself to an adult beverage and sit on the deck.  Having that in mind, I actually opened my eyes to the world around me.  I was awestruck, I put my ale down and had to grab my phone for some spontaneous photos.  The evening golden light had appeared for its brief visit.  My garden lit up like a paradise.  I'm a bit of a plant geek so seeing my man-made tropical oasis light up made me proud so I wanted to share it with you.   Know that its too cold for most sub-tropical plants here in the wet and cold wintered Northwest.  So I worked hard to recreate that look using plants that would survive here.  Some marginally, so I baby them through the winter frosts

Shhhh, just between you and me... I live in a neighborhood that has quite a feral gardeners who grow nothing but native plants and I think the term native is a rebrand of the term weeds and crab grass.  In this high heat summer- a freakishly long stretch of temperatures in the 90's, their yards are burned to a crisp and mine is a lush paradise ,except my lawn. Good thing I planned ahead and planted my yard prepped for global warming.   Now if only I could grow pineapples and coconuts...

These are not the best photos as I really do not know how to use my SLR mimicking cell phone camera.   And the light was dwindling so some are grainy and I apologize.  Thanks for indulging me in my moment of pride as my garden comes into full "tropical" splendor.  As a plant geek, who likes to share, I'd be happy to answer questions. 

This is a high school team with members that are freshman up to senior in year.  The dancers are expected to maintain good grades, be good citizens are practice together from late summer until now.   This sport requires huge dedication on behalf of the students and their coaches, whom I adore.

The video is the first of two performances.  Here are some close up photos by Patrick Smith Photography (used with permission), copyright 2015.

Last night at midnight, standing outside their store I realized I've designed three stores for Willows over a span of 18 years.  Holy Toledo...18 years!   Over on my Instagram, my friend Stacey said it eloquently "Aaron Christensen and Willows, a match made in retail heaven".  I like to think so Stacey...

I've had the pleasure of working with the owners Sandy and Janna through the many styles of Willows as well.  There was the furniture vending Shabby Chic period, the overstuffed bedding and bath phase, the modern steel and glass era and now our rustic deconstructed glam clothing and accessories boutique. 

This latest trim is constructed of recycled glass objects, plastic utensil handles and a bit of Embellishments distressification.  What was once a black wrought iron, atypical 90's chandelier was stripped of it's functioning parts and turned into a living sculpture.  Its vintage blue mason jars contain plant cuttings that will grow with the season.

I'll have to stop in and check on the cuttings, as sadly despite all their style and grace neither Sandy or Janna have a green thumb.  They've quickly killed every poinsettia over our 17 holidays together...ha!  

For my style loving female friends out there, know that Willows will soon be opening up a web-shop.  I'll share the link when it's ready to go. 

If you're a customer of Willows you can look forward to a pre-summer give-a-way featuring the spring decor pieces...ooooh!  

It's a beautiful picture huh?  That's my peanut and her boyfriend.  What you don't see in the picture is the mud covered prop dad.  I had to lay down and wrestle plywood so the Promsters wouldn't get mud on their prom wear.  The bike was sinking into the mud and the wind gusts made photographing balloons really difficult.

Between Prom and Mother's Day brunch I had a last minute calling to help my son with a DIY for his media class. With zero notice, let's make a camp stool!  My children take for granted that the studio is loaded, part craft store and lumber yard.   Pulling a camp stool out of my (ahem) is all in a days work.  I wouldn't have it any other way....they need me.  At least for now, ha!

My son's DIY video doesn't mention one should plan ahead for these kind of things. 

The Prom dinner was spared rain showers.  It couldn't have been a prettier evening.

I neglected to capture any pictures of the Mom's Day brunch that was squeezed in.  This guy was busy eating......