Floral. Robert & Bronwyn's Wedding.

Hello dear readers, 
who probably forgot about me and about blogs in general. Sometimes we loose our good routines along the way, for example the relationship I built up with this blog. As more time passes, harder it is to come back to good routines. But it is never too late, and the occasion is worth a try!

I am here, back after more than a year time, to share with you something I am very proud of and happy about. Last 12th of July, Robert and Bronwyn celebrated their love and transformed it into marriage. They gather their beloved ones that came from far away (the other side of the planet, actually) and made a wonderful party. They chose me for the floral work, and they asked me for a colorful picked-up-on-a-field vibe. I had the honor to create the flower jewels too for such a special occasion. It was a task I had not much experience with but they trusted me and I therefore I trusted myself. I put all my love and focus on it and I was very happy with the result. It was an extremely joyful moment when I placed the boutonniere on the lapel of Robert's suit and I was super excited when I placed the corsage on Bronwyn's wrist. I never ever thought before about such a moment. 
Bronwyn was wearing the sixties wedding dress from her own mother which has lovely daisies decorating the cuffs and neckline. I though it would be sweet if her corsage would contain a daisy too.

Few days ago, after coming back from a loooong road trip with Manfred and Fauna, I got a surprise on my inbox: the photos of the wedding were finally ready! What an indescribable feeling to see my flowers again and photographed professionally. It is just so beautiful and a reminder, after many months, of how much I enjoyed working on this. 

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

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.

About. My first floral workshop.

Last Saturday was a very special day for me: I hosted my first floral workshop! 
It took place in a Spanish bookstore/library called Bartlerbly & Co where I go often to pick up lending books. 

Back in December I was there one day to give back a couple of novels when Ana, the owner of the shop, told me that she had seen my blog where I published flower arrangements I made. She said she liked them very much. Suddenly she offered me her space to give a floral workshop. She caught me completely by surprise (Thank you very much Ana for the surprising proposal). 

The great opportunities come like this: unexpected. And if there is something I know it's that catching the unexpected is often the successful path to grow up.
I accepted the offer and started to prepare everything. I designed the content of the workshop and the strategy to put together the materials for a reasonable price.
The fixed date was getting closer while I was getting more and more excited.
Manfred helped me a lot. He gave me strength and support. He also spend that full day with me, carrying stuff and looking for Fauna (and also Deacon). Thank you husband of mine. 

You know what? It was a perfect day. As soon as the workshop started I felt relaxed. I could enjoy every minute and I had a lot of fun. We all did.
We were five persons because the room couldn't hold any more but I think that it was a good amount for the first time. All the girls who came loved flowers but never tried to work with them before. They were complete novices and this was a good thing. What I wanted to achieve was to create a joyful atmosphere were they could delight themselves creating beauty. I gave them some basic and important information about the tools we were using and I offered them some visual inspiration. For the rest, I let them do. And sometimes I gave them some advise. I didn't want to bore them with to much knowledge about design and composition.
When they finished it, each got a little arrangement to take home. One of them did even two. When the class was over I did one arrangement with what was left. Would you guess which is the one I did?

Since that day, my head is spinning around. I am thinking when I will make the second one. What would be the next exercise. Which other ways I can sell my floral work. Etc.
Because there is something sure about this experience: That I want to make a living out of floral work.