Wreath Season came on and I can't tell you how much fun it was to play outside the box of the traditional wreath. I firmly believe that it is necessary to allow oneself to do adventurous and goofy things in all things creative to keep growing and keep a fresh perspective. Give yourself permission to make something completely out of your comfort zone. There will be something of value to hold on to when you step back in.
This year I experimented with materials that have been sitting around my studio that were picked up here and there because they were interesting and seemed to have potential for what??? There were bags of cotton fiber and copper wire, leftover flowers left to dry along with leaves that are naturally gold on their back-sides. A friend brought over a piece of beautiful leather that quickly was incorporated as a wrap. Spray paint was involved as well and the hot glue gun. And tassels- did I tell you that I've become a tassel maniac?
They feel like rough sketches; ideas to be refined down the road- or not.
Wishing all of you a healthy, rich and rewarding New Year. I am so appreciative of the flower loving community that has grown around the 7petals Workshops and look forward to creating more adventures in the New Year!
With and without celosia
The quiet hum of concentration in the Holiday Wreath Workshop resulted in particularly fine wreaths this year, very textural and lush with little surprises. Don't you think?
My apologies for those photos that didn't come out as sharp as they could. After reviewing them later, I realized that my reading glasses are now essential for viewing them....
Here is the the first wreath of the season made this Thanksgiving weekend from a whole shelf full of leftover this and that from events done throughout the summer. The dried marigolds were bought from Serenity Farms, a small Northern CA Farm https://www.facebook.com/serenityflowerfarm/. They have been growing and drying a lot of flowers this year that one doesn't often see. It appears dried flowers and wreaths are making an appearance again. It's not that they ever completely went away, but they became very predictable and statice filled. With so many local flowers being grown now, I look forward to the growth of this little dried flower/ wreath niche.
I was hoping to use my vast mix to create this wreath, forgetting once again, how much material is required to make a wreath when you want to repeat your pattern. I could have started over making a smaller wreath, but I always like to play. So the addition of some fresh acacia darkened half of it and felt fitting of my mood around this Thanksgiving- which was a little bit dark and a little bit light.
It is a complicated stew of Thanksgivings past with loved ones gone, our one year old president vs wonderful relationships formed, the growth of 7petals and my beloved family and friends, including finally meeting the magical little Evelyn, my sister's granddaughter showing the rest of the family how to be the best butterfly.
This workshop focused on the use of metal pins frogs to hold weighty flowers and botanicals in place. It's just one of many flower support options and is particularly useful for home use as it reusable and works for a number of different needs.
It's amazing how unique and beautiful each piece is. Really beautiful work, everyone!
At long last, here is the work created at a workshop devoted to small, informal arrangements. We had an abundance of flowers as some people could not make the workshop. Those who came were like kids in a candy-shop of color and form. They were able to make a variety of arrangements from simple to complex. Some really lovely compositions came out of the day.
This arrangement was for a rehearsal dinner a few weeks back. Right on the cusp of the dahlia/amaryllis season. Amaryllis are being grown in a lot of colors now- not just Holiday Red and White. They begin to show up at the market in late fall. Large flowers evaporate from the market this time of year and amaryllis fills that need along with some really awesome mums that are starting to appear. Yeah, mums- the flower that my eyes tend to glaze over due to overexposure. The ubiquitous round disks in the usual brown, yellow, white and sometimes lime green. They are so tough and long lasting they have certainly earned their place. But let me tell you, there is a whole world of color and form to be explored and new flower growers are beginning to grow them.
Last fall Jon and I attended a Chrysanthemum Exhibition west of Sacramento in a hotel event room. We were greeted by rows of mums in tubes and hushed reverential tones. This was after all a juried exhibition. Judges seriously considered the attributes of each flower that may or may ot receive an award for very specific attributes. This flower jurying business takes place in different parts of the world in shrinking pockets. Below are some I saw that were pretty awesome.
When I look out at my autumnal garden this season, I have to laugh because once again, this thing called gardening is out of my control. My efforts to have more flowers in the garden paid off. There they are, winding down in their end of season glory. However, I got different flowers than I thought I was planting. That intriguing six-pack variety of supposed Double White Comos turned out to be all standard pink. And the Salmon Pink Zinnia pack ended up being a bright mulit-colored mix. It certainly was cheery looking out upon the garden, but not what I wanted. So I learned some lessons on plant sourcing this year. But all in all, I am very satisfied. The garden actually looked like a Flower Garden this year, but only enough to snip from (as harvest would imply way more flowers than I had) and I've got what I really was hoping for - access to a vast quantity of home-grown flowers, though I cheated because they are not home grown and I had to travel to the next county for them-
to Aztec Dahlias- which became my garden away from home.
About mid-season, I started working with Kate Rowe of Aztec Dahlias on a developing my first destination floral design workshop. Kate and her partner Omar had taken over Aztec just a year prior and were dealing with the growing pains of a new business. They were awash in dahlia blossoms and orders. First year out the gate they had all kinds of press and had become the darling of the Northern CA Dahlia world. The fact that they were the only grower specializing in dahlias and that the dahlias and Kate were amazing- she being a passionate and smart little powerhouse; catapulted them into instant demand.
But the constant long days were taking a serious toll on Kate. So I offered to help her harvest some orders. Which meant harvesting by head-lamp after dark when temps were cooler- quite an adventure! She would teach me how to cut the flowers and I would get free dahlias and be able to hand pick my flowers directly from the fields.
How I loved walking those fields in early morning all by myself discovering yet again another favorite variety of dahlia. In a weird way, I felt like I started the garden in my own backyard, with all the early planting, coddling, feeding and pruning, but concluded it at Aztec Dahlias with the harvesting of so many beautiful blooms for events and orders through the season.
Welcome to 7petals Design's first destination workshop at Aztec Dahlias in Petaluma! It's been a dream to bring together flower lovers with the farmers who grow them. Thanks to all who attended and created such beautiful and heartfelt arrangements. The dahlias were incredible and Kate is powerhouse, full of growing and culture information. Looking forward to creating more of these
unique adventures. See below for more on Kate and Omar.
Amazingly, this is Kate Rowe and Omar Duran's first full year farming Aztec Dahlias. The farm had been owned for 15 years
by a couple who wanted to move on - and rather quickly as
it turns out.
You can read Kate and Omar's story here:
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/7320033-181/dahlias-seasonal-show
