Visions : Trees With a Twist : Southern California Artists, Designers and Photographers Reveal Their Unique Holiday

SOME PEOPLE PREFER to take their Christmas traditions straight. Others improvise. When floral designers Christie Mellor and Gail Simmons were commissioned by art dealer Ron Winokur to create a tree (at right), they opted for a cross between old-fashioned and wacky. “We wanted it to be visually festive,” says Mellor, who owns the shop Heap O Fleurs with Simmons. Whether for profit or for pleasure, other creative Angelenos also tend to stray from a conventional approach to tree trimming. Photographer John Reed Forsman captured this series of originals.