Violets are Blue

Delphiniums, Anemones, Passion Vine, Lavender, Agapanthus, Phlox and Geranium in a broken clay pot set into an iron urn,

Summertime

It's hot and sweaty in the city and the plum trees are relentlessly dense with burgundy leaves. I began with a study in dark burgundy which morphed into a purple and magenta story. It made me think of Billy Holiday, all bruised, sleepy eyed and woozy- where blood and tears collide and the mood is dark and saturated with longing and foreboding shadows but not without hints of innocence and fragility.

Cy Twombly RIP

curious insect markings on a lovely weed on n6th - willyburg

Plum Crazy!

Arrangement of Early Summer Plum Branches, Chippendale Garden Roses, Peonies and Begonias

Rainy days don't get me down. I spent the day cleaning the studio and finally making this arrangement to share with you. Flowers are so pretty in the rain. These were placed on the fire escape while the water pattered down on it. It looked like a micro garden. Speaking of which, I just got a call from The Brooklyn Queens Land Trust and I have the official go ahead to start tending a local community garden which has been neglected!!!

Yippeee.
Yes Sirree!

HELLO
Northside Garden!

A lovely patch of land run by the BQLT on N5th St and Driggs. This rain should make weeding much easier and satifying!!

The new chapter begins......

Give 'em Romance

Feels like I haven't had a chance to breath between back to back consultations, samples and appeasing the gods, (that is the clients that be). But I say this in a spirit of appreciation! The studio has been host to a few fantasy maquettes of installations that are being proposed for next year. I'm officially on the bandwagon with the vintage "do- it yourself" design paradigm that is currently saturating the bridal blogosphere. It's sweet it's romantic and it touches a nerve of comfort that the event world has been craving for some time now. Martha of course has been doing it all along with her crafty throw backs which are always so quaint and frankly all American- something I am certainly not. But I love martha, spelled in lower case because I speak of her, not personally, but as an aesthetic.
I am working with a bride on a wedding for next year. She proposed that we use hand made paper flowers as accents in a garden like environment. I suggested that we string garlands and lanterns and have the wispy flowers loosely "growing" from the greenery. On the table we assembled a still life of antique bottles, lanterns, candles, etc... All in all, a very whimsical effect was achieved.
The other images are from the treatment for an escort card table blanketed with Plumosa Fern and Ivy and Illuminated by various pewter candles.
These are not original ideas but they are beautiful and resonate with the new sentimental romantic bride.

Williamsburg Glories

Morning Glory: Love you

The seedlings are starting to show blossoms! Morning glories are greeting me as I arrive to the studio. Here I caught a few before the day gave way and the small glowing trumpets shriveled up before my eyes..... But all is not lost, the flower of affection will love again tomorrow morning.

Girly Girl

Some pics from a sample presented this week. The bride loved a palette of cremes, lavenders and gray so I tried my best to steer it away from an Easter Egg hunt as I could by injecting some darker tones and a variety of textures. It's just a girly thing.

Glimpses

These photos were taken at the wedding we decorated at The Chelsea Mansion. I'm holding off on bringing out the guts of the flower story until they have been published elsewhere first. The lavish centerpieces, a nod to Maria van Oosterwick and the Dutch Golden Age, in my opinion, were the visual equivalent of eating a trio of sorbets made of the freshest and ripest tropical fruits finished off with a fine Madiera. There were three styles of centerpieces surrounded by satellite floral curiosities in antique vessels, venetian glass jewel boxes and mini urns. Every treatment was an expression of delicacy and whimsy and sometimes simply utter abandon. The room was dripping with candlelight and gorgeous garlands which wrapped around columns and exploded in giant sprays of Mock Orange, Spirea and Lace Cap Hydrangea. Needless to say.... the over all effect delighted me and made me a proud momma.

...Will revisit in the near future.

Fleurida

Back from my brief hiatus in the sweltering heat of the Florida summer. Yikes! I never fared very well in that heat as a kid and still don't. Always hated having to expose my less than cheerleader perfect thighs in school and with no recourse since no one covers their legs in the Florida heat. A few decades later and I don't really care so much about showing older and even less appealing legs. One's vanity wanes with time.
What actually brought me down there this time of year was my father's 82nd Birthday and Father's Day. I may not have been born with a silver spoon but I certainly was born with an amazing father. Can't ask for much more. The first day I went with him to his farm and tended the young bulls he has recently acquired. Eating machines they are!!!
Spent the naxt day thrift shopping with my mom and sister. Florida has the best thrift shops! Brought back all sorts of interesting vessels!
This is the time of year when the trees are filled with flame colored flowers down there! My favorite tree is the Flamboyant or Royal Poinciana and it was everywhere as showy as a ornery cock. Speaking of which, my father was given 6 chicks which my Mother became completely smitten with, tending them like a mother hen. Only one will grow to crow at dawn, the others will hopefully supply my folks with eggs year round.
Wandering around I recognized sweet little weed blossoms that I remember picking as a child. Back at their house I gravitated through the topical fruit laden trees past the poisonous Angel's Trumpet tree and the fragrant gardenia bushes towards a wild foresty area and again found this vine that also took me back to childhood. It has pods with bright red hard berries, some of them with little black eyes. I still feel guilty for what I did next. I ran inside grabbed my florist knife and proceeded to prune the gardenia bush and cut down a very long section of the flourishing wild vine with berries. It was the perfect material for making a wreath with and nearly made itself. The plant is called the Rosary Pea or properly Abrus Precatorious. It's seeds are very poisonous if ingested and in some cultures are strung into necklaces to ward off the evil eye.
Didn't realize it at the time, may have been channeling my Cuban heritage creating some type of Santeria Relic.