ABOUT WILDWOOD FLOWERS
My task as a florist is to apply discipline in working within an ephemeral medium so as to catch the moments of poetry, by using line, form and colour.
The combination of disciplined design ,respecting the individuality of the high quality flowers and natural materials foraged from my garden and fields results in compositions that endeavour to create, those little vignettes within gardens that sometimes catch us with their unexpected beauty .
And so flower arrangement is an intuitive process akin perhaps in some way to writing a poem or to a bird creating a nest. It often starts with seeing an entanglement of twigs and my mind flies to flowers somewhere else in the garden and then another and so the arrangement becomes.
Often beauty is freshly perceived in our souls when contrasted against the harsher expression of nature resulting from storms, wind and rain.
As in the Japanese art of ikebana and in contrast to many florists my work allows for more negative space and also often allows the process and mechanics of the work to be seen rather than hidden.
We also, all of us, adore the feminine softness of flowers . And so we love massed blooms nestled together in full bouquets and I do those too.
The work is seasonal beginning at that time in spring when things are emerging from the bare earth and goes through until late fall when the cycle of life comes into fullness with ripe berries and fruits .
My flowers are local, sustainable and are grown in an ecological haven that respects life and I am thrilled that the garden supports an increasing population of bees, butterflies, frogs and lizards and naturally as a result many birds have made wildwood their home.
The earth is good, being volcanic soil and is overlaid with layer upon layer of compost and that along with elevation brings an intensity of colour and vigorous life energy to the blooms.
I often choose native foliage for its graceful way of connecting us to site and place allowing us to belong and feel at home, as well as its spirited nature expressed in elegant architectural qualities.