The home of inspiration
‘Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing’.
Camille Pissarro
I accept that nature is in control.
She is the order, we are the chaos, and that realisation and constancy is actually, really reassuring.
If searching for perfection is a form of control then I am certainly guilty of this in my work as a garden and floral designer, manipulating space and nature for our own needs and desires. Pools of deep dark water reflecting the sky and occasional perfect jets. Places to sit, wide and generous herbaceous borders with planting in perfect rhythmic style and harmonious colour palettes. But it’s those plants in the cracks of the pavement, the self-seeded opportunists in the middle of the garden that obscure the front windows (just leave it for a little while longer you think, won’t come too much, can’t possible grow and then you realise you’d need more than just a spade to move it to a new location even if you did want to).
These are the transient moments I want to capture in my work, the sheer abandon, the ‘don’t care, don’t care, can’t hear you moment’ when you feel unshackled by social opinion and standards. When you allow the blooms in your vase fall as they want, when the sweetpeas in the garden are past their perfect moment but there is something so raw and honest about them that you just want to encapsulate it and not just the image in front of the camera, it’s that entire moment. The end of summer, the shortening days, the hazy warmth, the ease with which they slouch. Capturing that moment without the feelings of order and perfection having a say, whispering quietly in your ear,’if you just tweaked it here and maybe there it could look just a little bit better, maybe even perfect’.
My floral arrangements and hand painted designs become about a conversation with the landscape, an observation. Where I attempt to capture that moment where nature has the upper hand, totally relaxed in her home and surroundings. They will never totally embody the feelings that come from being in that outdoor space. They can never be the ‘real deal’ but she inspires my floral storytelling to create a feeling that takes the reader beyond the page, beyond the image, to another world where nature is allowed to fully express herself and in turn provides solace, reassurance and inspiration.
