Floral. Arrangements made in April.

Sometimes, I like to work on my arrangements just with elements I can find in the surroundings of my home. It is like playing a game to find treasures. It's quiet convenient for me because I have to spend no money. I live in the middle of a big city, and despite my neighborhood is quiet green, the plants you can find here are a mix between rests of a forgotten garden design and wild strong plants that invade the soil. At first, I always think there won't be many interesting elements. There are no planted Tulips, Narcissus or Chrysanthemums. This isn't Paris or... Heidelberg. But it's always surprising how much variety I manage to get. A day before I go to harvest I look carefully every bush and select exactly what I want. I mean, I must be careful to not be greedy. After all, I am kind of stealing from the public space. During the last weeks almost every bush and tree were in full blooming process so I couldn't let go the chance. Soon the strong winds would blow away every petal from every flower.

In fact, it wasn't easy to work with them because they are so fragile that every time I touched the stems, petals fell down like a rain. The white flowers with five petals, from the family of the Rosaceae, like the ones in almond and cherry trees are just ephemeral. The Lilacs and the Dandelions are stronger but whiter quiet fast, even if you run to put them in vases with water. I experienced then that the wild roses, which are also from the family of the Rosaceae, were fragile but also durable inside the arrangement. So, while the bloomed flowers in the stem would fall apart rapidly, the next ones would open on the next day. Fresh and new. 

I had to work fast and maybe the final appearance is not so impressive because I didn't have "protagonist" flowers. But I enjoy that. I like tiny and subtle flowers. I like the bush kind of appearance. Like the third arrangement: is seems to be just a mass of green but when you are next to it and look at it closer you see all the details. But I may confess that my favorite result is the second one. It has a balance between subtle and ornamented.

I show you the arrangements in the order I realized them.

  N°1

  N°2

  N°3

Atmosphere. Christmas Restrospective

Floral. Arrangements made in November

While in October I didn't spend money on flowers, in November I did. Perhaps I was way too indulgent to myself. However, during last month, I bought two huge bouquets which costed around twenty euros each. For the second I also added some gorgeous branches (red/orange/yellow leaves) that I took from the street, after I went to the flower shop.
I made this bouquets in hand and then fixed them with floral tape. It wasn't easy. I had to stop a couple of times, and start all over again, because I didn't like the result I was achieving. But I think I finally succeeded.
I feel like I didn't manage to capture in the pictures the magnificent presence of both of them. It is always more impressive when you share the room with real vegetation.

Floral. Arrangements made in October.

During the month of October I felt really inspired to make floral arrangements but I couldn't afford expensive material. I took the challenge to find vegetation spending no money. Since October is the most colorful month of the season it wasn't difficult to get interesting stuff. I went to harvest around my neighborhood, shears in hand, taking samples of the bushes and wild vegetation that grows in the surroundings. I did it with care, of course. Trying to cut off just the necessary amount.

I also had the luck of getting a big bouquet from my lovely neighbor who lives below my apartment. She is an actress, so I guess that she receives lots of bouquets when she is invited to events and parties. We found each other by coincidence in the staircase when she gave the flowers to me. She said she will leave for a trip so she wouldn't be able to enjoy the bouquet. I found myself with lots of material to work with.

We had two serious sessions of floral work. Both times my friend Fabia was with me and, during the first time, we also had the company of a friend from Halle called Ravn. He surprised me with his creation. It was the first time he ever did something like that and the result was stunning. It looked like an alien landscape. I loved it.

In the second session, it was Fabia who went to gather the forage. When she arrived home, she placed the branches in water so beautifully that I decided to show them too. The rest is made with floral foam. I hope you like them.

By Ravn

By Fabia

First session

Second session

By me

    First session   

 

  Second session

Inspiration. Bring the Autumn in.

 The Autumn has started already and came with all its power. The other day I suddenly felt in the need to posses a little bit of it. I took my pruning shears and went on a walk around my neighborhood. As I live inside of a big city I was surprised of the variety of plants I could access in public spaces. I ended up being greedy. 

My initial plan was to create different individual arrangements. But that day I didn't have time anymore. So I simply put all the foliage in water to work on them on the next day. But in the morning I saw this abundance, this forest over the commode, and I liked it just like it was. 

It looked like a painting. A still life. But three-dimensional.

Atmosphere. La última reminiscencia de verano

 El cielo profundo. La arena y el viento. 

Cuerpos felices al sol.

Las paredes blancas, las sombras dramáticas, las flores exóticas. 

Recostados, con aroma de siesta y picaduras en la piel, observamos las hojas del platanero bailar. Inmersos en la ausencia del tiempo, dejamos el calor y la tarde pasar.

Nuestras mentes vagan lentas. Nuestras bocas no conversan. 

Esos recuerdos.

Estar desnudo frente al mar y de espaldas a la tierra.

Oír música lejana, fantasear vidas ajenas.

Improvisar. Sentir el verano. Dejarse llevar.

Experimentar la libre voluntad del cuerpo.

Fotografías de Rosa C.

Atmosphere. Fairyland Bedroom

As a child I used to daydream a lot. Basically, that's all I did. One of my favourite imagination theme was my future house. I loved to picture how it would look like. How I will decorated it. It was fantasy and, of course, it allowed great ideas with no limitations. Now that I am a grown up I have learned something about decoration: It is a process that never ends. The house you live in is permanently transforming as you do. It evolves along with you and your circumstances. The furniture, the personal items, make your space comfortable because you give them life with time. The house has a character itself too that influences you and the way you use it. I am a person who truly inhabits the living space. I think I am very attached to my home and I grow roots very fast if I feel welcomed.  
Years ago, when Manfred moved into this apartment, it was right after a long relationship so he had the strong vision of a single lifestyle. The rooms where minimalist. They were practically empty of furniture. A huge sofa and the vintage hi-fi were the elements that dominated the living room. In the bedroom, just a mattress on the floor and a standing bathtub next to the window. Then we met and he opened widely the doors of his intimacy to me. I immediately adapted and felt like I was always here. Unavoidably I started to influence the atmosphere of the house and it became more crowded.
We actually moved out for two years while we lived in Halle. So when we came back we started more or less from zero, in decorative terms. And this time the apartment had to be adapted for three inhabitants! It is a two rooms house so Manfred and I made an agreement. The living room would remain as minimal as possible, keeping it with clean lines and male tones. In the bedroom I could do what I want, making it as ornamental as I desire. And that's how the bedroom became a fairyland.

I have always been obsessed with details. With hidden elements. Things you don't realize at the first view. Things you have to dig in. I try to create a bedroom to dream. A place which inspires you to fantasize. A room for Fauna to discover. Colorful, bright and flowery. It has two faces: the daily one and the nocturnal. The daylight atmosphere pretends to be a garden (due to the lack of balcony and backyard). The nocturnal feels like an underwater world. 
It is probable that I still will change details here and there (because I am observing all the time and finding new little things to put into "perfection") but I am satisfied with it. It truly invites you to enter and relax.