An environmentally aware florist and a tiny Schnauzer that likes to model. A strong focus on wild, natural flowers with lots of textures and asymmetrical shapes. Floral styling, workshops, flowers for the home, events, weddings.
My heart still skips a little beat when I see the image above. There was time when a small, hand held bouquet was my nemesis but I have been working hard on this to some effect. However, when I went down to meet Susanne of The Blue Carrot on the Rosehead Peninsula, I didn't expect I would or could produce something like this. It is also now my most liked picture on Instagram, which is surprising as the tiny brown Schnauzer is nowhere to be seen, and Planoly tells me that her presence in an image can increase audience appreciation by up to 40%.
I ventured down to Cornwall without my Head of Marketing for my long awaited date with Susanne in mid September. Aware of just how many floral designers had gone ahead of me, I was full of trepidation as to whether or not I would be able to come to close to matching their creations. Yes, I know that comparison is the thief of joy, because Sara of Wedding Sparrow told us so. However, when you know that florists including the likes of Kirstie from Ruby and The Wolf, Sarah of Simply by Arrangement, Jenn of Jennifer Pinder Flowers, Vic of Foxgloves and Glory and Lucy The Flower Hunter have all gone ahead of you, and that Brigitte of Moss and Stone is not far behind, it does make for a certain amount of pressure.
Flowers from The Blue Carrot's garden
Photo by Claire Bowen
If anxiety was a strong emotion at the outset, it was quickly overtaken by excitement. Susanne's garden is full of the most beautiful flowers you can imagine, and her workbenches were lined up with cuttings of the most gorgeous palette I have ever seen. If my lesson in colour psychology taught me that green has many positive attributes, Susanne showed me just how many shades of green there are, and I quickly understood which greens I wanted (the sort of limey ones that are going yellowy brown). My beloved corals were all lined up with the palest of pinks, café au last dahlias, darker dahlias, dogwood roses, chocolate cosmos, spindleberries and, my new favourite thing, hops. So many hops! Lovey crisp, gristly, low hanging, lime green hops.
Flowers waiting in The Blue Carrot's studio.
Photo by Claire Bowen
Given my hopes to soon be growing my own flowers, I was keen to know how Susanne achieved so much loveliness on her plot. She doesn't use pesticides, apart from the odd organic slug pellet. I asked her if she ever buys in any flowers. She told me that she does - she sees herself as an artist (rightly so) and thinks that to deny herself a flower just because it is not available in her garden is like a painter denying himself a particular shade of pigment that he needs to complete his picture. This is an interesting point, and one that I need to give more thought to in my quest for a sustainable floral design company. If I ever get to anywhere near the level of sufficiency I have witnessed in this little paradise, I think I can feel pretty pleased with myself.
Flowers by: Honeysuckle and Hilda
Photo by: Claire Bowen
By the end of the morning, having first photographed Susanne's demo bouquet just in case I wasn't prepared to publish my own (!), I had actually created something I was really very proud of. With the best array of flowers and foliage available anywhere in the UK, and Susanne's tips on shape, it would have been difficult not to. We headed off to The Hidden Hut for lunch. A big beach clean up was in operation at Portscatho that day, with marine biologists taking all sorts of readings for good measure. Many of Susanne's friends were out there and a few stopped to chat. I explained to them - as they amazingly seemed not to know - that coming to see The Blue Carrot is a rite of passage for most floral designers. Everyone looked suitably impressed except for Susanne, who was not familiar with the term. I don't know how much of this down to Susanne's innate modesty, and how much to speaking German as a first language, but if Alanis Morissette were to reissue a version of "Ironic" for the 2010s, I would demand a line of the refrain was adapted to include Susanne's unawareness of the rite of passage. It definitely wouldn't rhyme and I don't think it would scan either, but it is right up there with rain on wedding days and free rides that have been paid in advance, and as such demands inclusion.
Group photo: Flowers left and centre by Honeysuckle and Hilda, flowers on the right by The Blue Carrot
Photo by Claire Bowen
We spent the afternoon working on arrangements, much more delicate and smaller in scale than my usual creations and the realisation that I can make a big impact with about 20% of the flowers I sometimes use was a very helpful revelation indeed. We sang along to the radio and Susanne introduced me to the amazing Gregory Porter (what a voice!). It was one of the happiest days I have had in a very long time. Which isn't to say that I lead a sad and miserable life - far from it - just that this was a particularly happy one.
A rite of passage is defined as a ritual or ceremony signifying an event in a person's life indicative of a transition from one stage to another, as from adolescence to adulthood. My day with Susanne was so relaxed that I don't think I could describe it was something as formal as either a ritual or a ceremony, but certainly a process took place that day which took me further on my journey in floral design, a step closer to knowing where I wanted to be and how best to achieve it. I am so excited that Autumn is here and, thanks to my trip to Portscatho, I have new knowledge with which to enjoy it even more. Thank you, Susanne, for sharing your garden, your talents and your sense of humour with me on that wonderful September day.
Group photo (the boys were both missing!). I am the only one looking at my feet whilst everyone else faces the camera.
Photo by: Maria Lamb Photography
If Miss Pickering was the one who renewed my interest in flowers and piqued my curiosity with her blog, then it was five days with Katie Davis of Ponderosa and Thyme that made me believe I could have a future in flowers. Our group of sixteen met back in April and, five months later, I still miss them and look back fondly on those days as some of the happiest - and most tiring! - I have ever had. We are still in touch on social media from our respective corners of the globe, and I have seen three of them again (unsurprisingly, the three that are based in the UK). In fact, because of the many and various postings on social media, lots of people have been in touch to ask me what I thought of the course and if I would recommend it. The short answer to that is "Hell, Yes!".
I wanted to wait a few weeks before sending Katie my feedback on her wonderful workshop. I left on such a high that I wanted to wait for my feelings to settle a little so I could be pragmatic about all the things I enjoyed and also gained knowledge from - the morning foraging, the Dutch Still life I created, the bouquet way too large to carry (not compulsory, mine just ended up that way)... I planned to talk about how helpful I found it to meet Flowerona and to listen to Sarah from Wedding Sparrow - a stellar cast. Their advice has proved so helpful in the months that have followed as I have been working out my own brand identity and what my own business should look like. Of course I mentioned the gorgeous setting we worked in, the beautiful home of the Earl and Countess of Shaftesbury, the most gracious hosts you could imagine, in Wimborne St Giles, and how warm and friendly all of Katie's team were. I came home with the most beautiful images from Maria Lamb Photography and Hunting Ground Films. You know, all the things I would want to know before investing in a course like this.
Beautiful Katie showing us how it is done.
Photo by Maria Lamb Photography
Flowers by: Honeysuckle and Hilda
Photo by: Maria Lamb Photography
It has been five months now and my feelings haven't settled. The glow I had when I left Dorset that day hasn't faded at all. The love and encouragement from Katie especially, as well as my fellow students, hasn't diminished. I arrived feeling uncertain of my own abilities and reluctant to let anyone see my work. Since I got home, I have taken time to practice every day - even on the rubbish ones when I was sure I was too tired or too busy - and have been proud of what I have done, publishing the images and finding that other people liked them, too. My brain hasn't stopped buzzing, not even at night, and each day I have taken another step towards growing my own business. I know now that I can do this, and I can do it well. (You see the American influence coming through there, I didn't even use the word "probably" in that last sentence).
Flowers by; Honeysuckle and Hilda
Model: Maisie Taylor
Photo by: Maria Lamb Photography
I fully intend to go on other courses with other floral artists as I work to further refine my own style. And I'll enjoy them and learn skill sets from them and probably absorb a little bit of their style into my own along the way. I'll even blog about them if anyone is interested (let me know!). But it was five days in Dorset with Katie that made me believe I could do it, and know that I really, really wanted to.
The wonderful setting for our course in Wimborne St Giles
Photo by Maria Lamb Photography
Postscript: Since the time of writing my blog, the wonderful Pilar of Gorgeous and Green has written a much fuller account of her time on the same course. For anyone who is interested, or thinking of going on a future retreat, I would highly recommend having a good read.
Meanwhile, here is a photo of the beautiful Pilar on a morning foraging trip. I think the joy on her face sums up how we were all feeling.
I wondered if the title for this blog was a little over the top. Would it embarrass the subject of this little foray into floral adulation? Then, a few days ago, I noticed an article in The Week entitled "An Ode to Tom Hanks's Upper Lip". I feel Miss P's many talents are at least equal to Forest Gump's philtrum, and so I continue unabashed.
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a big fan of Miss Pickering. Hers was the first blog I ever read "Florist. Blogger. Whatever". Her photo showed her with a camera, eyes just peeping over, and a flower crown on her head. She was a bit mysterious and I kind of wanted to hang out with her the way you do with one of the kids at school who are much more popular than you are, so you don't dare to ask, you just sit in the background quietly. Eventually, a Christmas flower workshop popped up on her site and I signed up and took myself off to Stamford. I had only had Hilda for about 8 weeks and I was also so pleased to meet Miss P that I barely noticed that the arrangements and wreath I made actually weren't too bad, I was too full of excited chatter. (Apologies to anyone else on the course that day who had hoped to get a word in edgeways about something other than my dog). As well as wreaths and arrangements, there was a candlelit lunch, the swagging of Christmas garlands on a staircase and an incident involving some peppercorns. A pretty special day.
Flowers by Honeysuckle and Hilda
Photo by Claire Bowen
Flowers by students of Miss Pickering
Photo by Claire Bowen
Eighteen months later, reasonably confident that I would return from a holiday in Italy with a ring on my finger - not least because I had chosen said ring - I attended a DIY wedding flower day. I looked at my flowers, I looked at Miss Pickering's... I'll let you guess what happened next.
Flowers by: Miss Pickering
Photo by: Laura Babb Photography
So really, this is just a thank you to the mistress of floral design and a very dear friend. Thank you for being the inspiration for my journey and for some truly stunning wedding flowers that I hope one day I will be able to match.
