They call it mellow yellow.....

 
 Yellow isn't a very popular color in floral design. Aside from sunny sunflowers, it's probably requested the least in weddings and event work. People like to include it, but not feature it. Why is this? Is it too aggressively cheerful? Too hard to work with, too bold? I found this vase this spring in one of our local thrift stores. I didn't buy it right away. It seemed a little strange. Now it's my current favorite vase  and is a gentle gateway to the color yellow. I love yellow. Doesn't everyone? Why don't we want to live with more yellow in our lives. Why? Why? Why? 

In casting about on the online world, color psychology is a fascinating in- depth topic.  After looking at a couple dozen of sites, the consensus was that yellow was perceived as universally cheerful, but too stimulating- that is, if the hue is bright and bold and used in large quantities. Essentially we use bright yellow flowers the way we use yellow signage; that bright pop to get one's attention. Interestingly, before doing any of this color research, I took this photo of lemony sunflowers and softened the color in Photoshop to tone it down a bit.

   

Forever yours

Sometimes I feel guilty for getting to work to with flowers and not in more direct service to people. It's an incredible amount of work, but to get to create with flowers and be surrounded with all that beauty and energy is an amazing privilege. I've been pulled away from years of painting, in part feeling that real flowers heal and uplift in a more immediate, intimate way. They mark all our significant life passages; in sickness and in health- birth, graduation, marriage,and death. Wired in our DNA, flower love seems part of the human experience. They nourish body, mind, and spirit.

This weekend I got a call from a woman living out of state requesting a bouquet for her friend who had suffered an almost unspeakable loss over 30 years ago. They acknowledged their friendship and this loss every year. Oh my... When I delivered the flowers to her friend she began to cry, I began to cry and we hugged one another and talked. It was an honor to be allowed into that space for a short while. In that moment, doing flowers and being of service came together very meaningfully.

The Flower and the Vase