Image : Luisa Brimble
Spring in Australia is in full swing and whilst it is a time of the year of new growth and a riot of exploding colourful blooms for the floral, weddings and event industries the reality is that many communities and farmers in areas of Australia are struggling with extreme drought conditions. It is encouraging that there have been fund raising campaigns implemented to raise assistance for those who need it and we praise all of those in society that have contributed in some way. Drought is a long term struggle – the before – the during and the recovery and keeping up continued assistance in anyway is vital. This issue we will be donating $2 from the sale of each issue sold to drought relief registered charity Rural Aid ruralaid.org.au Areas of Australia have the perfect growing conditions for native wildflowers and our native flowering gums, waratahs, flannel flowers and kangaroo paw flowers are admired from across the world. This issue Jardine Hansen, florist has designed a beautiful native flower arrangement with materials provided by East Coast Wildflowers, Anna May Henry Artist has painted some of those wildflowers, Gina Mastio natural dye artist has dyed linen samples with the native flowers and we take a look at the East Coast Wildflowers open day. Our wholesale stockists of the magazine are growing each week both here and in Australia and we have just launched our Floral Gift Shop online at theflowerseekers.com which we are adding floral gifting products to each month. Enjoy the Spring 18 issue – we have loads more images from the stories in this issue and floral goodness across Australia on our weekly blog on the website theflowerseekers.com
w o r k s hmoaps t e r c l a s s
masterclass
Masterclass with Fleur McHarg at The Studio by Fleur
Words : Sonya Gardiner Images : Jasmine Pettersen
The images you will see here are from Fleur McHarg’s 2 day studio masterclass in July this year. It was another bucket list flowering experience for me to attend this workshop with the attendees – to listen – learn + laugh alongside one of Australia’s most creative and experienced florists. Fleur and her floral team – they were there to generously share, teach, discuss techniques and encourage. They also made us all feel very spoilt – being a team that excels in details there was an amazing range of flower and foliage ingredients to use, the flower studio was magically reset for each section of the day, unlimited open access to ask questions, delicious lunches and of course – great company with all in attendance being die hard flower lovers. As attendees – we were all blown away when we stepped into Fleur’s studio to the most incredible display of colour. There was fresh foliages sprayed fuschia pink/gold/orange – an amazing Tiffany blue photo backdrop – roses that looked like ballerina skirts peeled back to perfection – poppies with spray painted tips – it was a visual feast for the eyes – that was our first lesson of the day really “colour bomb” to get us thinking outside the box – to stimulate the thought of “what could be”. You see Fleur has an extraordinary gift for colour – colour feeds her creativity and is the leading key element in her design genius concepts. Fleur curated the colour palette for the master class specifically to demonstrate the value and impact colour brings to design – to demonstrate choosing the “right” colour palette is vital to bringing a vision to life and as she said to us all “I wanted you all to experience new out of the box concepts this weekend – I don’t do boring”. Get your hands on Fleur’s book “The Flower Expert” published by Thames and Hudson this year – it’s a wonderful guide by Fleur on how to adapt colour to your design process along with so much of Fleur’s design experience and knowledge of how and why designs work – flowers and foliages and her collective decades of experience and thoughts. The masterclass – it was like “stepping” into the book and yes Fleur is right there in real life with her warm down to earth sense of humour to make you laugh out loud, to guide and encourage you to explore and grow. Never stop learning and experimenting with design. If you are in business - surround yourself with a capable motivated team and treat them like family. Just two valuable lessons Fleur reinforced to all of us over the weekend – the value of “learning” and “team” are essential to keep developing and running any successful business. If you are looking for a valuable flower masterclass or workshop, a hands on learning experience where the teacher will provide one on one feedback and assistance on the work you produce throughout the class – as you produce it – a class that is structured to teach and share with you the valuable techniques of experienced concepts makers - then take yourself to one of Fleur’s future classes – there are a limited number of varied class options available - but you will have to be quick! Classes are booking up fast with Fleur and her team only having a limited window of dates available between making magic year round on their weddings and events. A special thank you to the lovely Jasmine Pettersen photographer who was onsite both days to document the workshop in pictures and shared her beautiful images with the Magazine this issue. Workshop bookings and class detail descriptions – go to the website fleurs.com.au or telephone 03 9804 3522 Keep up to date with Fleur on instagram @thestudiobyfleur
flower focus
Australian Natives
S u p p l i e d b y C r a i g S c o t t o f E a s t C o a s t Wi l d f l o w e r s Images : Alex Carlyle Photographer
Eucalyptus Youngiana we call this one - a hybrid as it seems to be a young cross between Youngiana and Macrocarpa.
Eucalyptus Caesia
flower focus
Dr ying Native F lowers To help native flowers retain their color during the drying process make sure to remove them from sunlight as soon as they’re cut. Hang flowers individually or rubber-band stems together to hang a bouquet. Find a dark, dry area with good circulation, such as an attic or unused closet.
Eucalyptus Youngiana
Doryanthes Excelsa (Gymea Lily)
design
Native Design
w i t h F l o r i s t J a rd i n e H a n s e n Images : Alex Carlyle
Armed with a box of exquisite native wildflowers from Craig Scott of East Coast Wildflowers, Jardine Hansen has created this stunning design for our spring issue. Jardine shares Craig Scott of East Coast Wildflower’s absolute adoration for the beauty of Australian native wildflowers and describes Craig Scott as “one of the kindest humans I know”. As a plant lover first, learning from Craig about the different species of native flowers grown here in Australia brings Jardine much delight. Inspired by the “shapes of nature” and capturing the “energy and feel” of the materials Jardine works with is at the front of Jardine’s mind when she designs. Observing nature in the landscape during regular bushwalk hikes is one of Jardine’s favourite pastimes. Jardine treats each stem as an individual with something special to bring to the design and transferring how that stem appears naturally in the landscape – growing - to a design is Jardine’s beautiful signature aesthetic. I’m sure you will agree – each element in this spring native wildflower design sings and shines. Branching materials can be heavy to work with and Jardine’s tip is to use a heavy based vessel – here she has used a heavy urn with a strong flower frog and chicken wire ball in the base to support and hold the branches in their desired position. Jardine has studios in both Hunters Hill, Sydney and Longley Tasmania and offers floral styling for weddings, events, coporate spaces and private homes in Sydney, Tasmania, The Blue Mountains and beyond. Contact: jardinehansen@gmail.com | T: 0412 890 841 | Instagram @jardinebotanic
design
art focus
art focus
Anna, also a working florist, shares a creative studio space with a group of artists in Petersham, Sydney. This issue, Jardine Hansen, florist came to Anna’s studio with the most incredible box of native wildflowers sourced and provided by Craig Scott of East Coast Wildflowers. Anna was overwhelmed by the choice of materials Jardine brought along that day and the painting above emerged shortly thereafter. It was pure joy to see the excitement of both Anna and Jardine at having such beautiful materials to work with. Special thanks to Alex Carlyle photographer for joining us at the studio to document our spring native wildflowers feature. Please feel free to email about available works, upcoming shows, commissions or any other enquiries : annamayhenryartist@gmail.com | Keep up to date with Anna May Henry Artist on Instagram @annamayhenry & website www.anna-may-henry.com
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East Coast Wildflowers Images : Film & Foliage
Our flower farm growers live and work a longer and busier day than the average person and face year round challenges nurturing their crops to grow and produce the wonderful selection and varieties of flowers we enjoy. From time to time growers open their farms and invite the public in to learn a little more about their business and where the flowers come from. Keep and eye out during the year for announcements from growers and take yourself to an open flower farm day to learn more about our growers – their farms and their work. In August this year Craig Scott held an open day at his family farm East Coast Wildflowers at Mangrove Mountain on the NSW Central Coast. East Coast Wildflowers is one of Australia’s leading suppliers of Australian Native and South African Wildflowers providing a year round supply of high quality seasonal flowers and foliages.
The open day was attended by many other Wildflower growers from around NSW, industry florists, gardening enthusiasts and flower lovers. Everyone enjoyed the guided farm tour – seeing the crops of Kangaroo Paw, Paper Daisies and Waratahs in bloom – hearing first hand of all the types of Wildflowers grown by Craig and his farm team on the Mangrove Farm and partner farms. The day also included a wonderful lunch prepared by the Wilderness Kitchen and floristry making demonstration by Ash Wheelhouse of Film and Foliage with Rachel Cullen of Botanica Bird. The beautiful images here were taken on the East Coast Wildflower Farm open day by creative florist and photographer Ash Wheelhouse of Film and Foliage. You will find East Coast Wildflowers on their stand at Sydney Flower Market and you can keep up to date with the wildflowers in season via their instagram @craigioscott
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collect
The Lost + Found Dept Curators of objects – once lost now found Images & Words : Samantha Mackie Styling: Naya Crookshank Est 2012 mixing…the old with the new, trend with the timeless…the practical and the beautiful…the essential and the frivolous copper, brass, nickel, and zinc – marble, crystal and porcelain wood – dark, pale, painted, rough, smooth and worn. Samantha Mackie Photographer: I love to work with small business owners because nothing beats working up close with people who have the passion and courage it takes to drive a new project. Silvia Noble, the creator of The Lost + Found Department, is certainly one of the bravest I have met. She leaps towards the impossible with a rare grace and high-grade tenacity - all while maintaining a sense of humour and a sharp focus on the joy that building a dream should bring. The team Silvia gathers are equally awesome. Watching her main side-kick, Naya, @east_of_ everything and family (including her gorgeous octogenarian parents) jump on board is an especially rare thing to see. It has been something truly special to be part of this latest dream: her store at Hunters Hill. We have all scrubbed, scraped and shaped this stunning historical building back to life, filling all the rooms to the high ceilings with love. Silvia is the lady-boss who has taught me how to have faith despite the odds and when to stop for tea. Unlucky for her it seems I have only taught her to... well, to swear – though thankfully not particularly well! According to Silvia some words have more impact when used sparingly?! Come on by and say hello – explore and discover all that the Lost + Found Dept has to offer – enjoy the charm of the Hunters Hill store – it’s so very hard to leave without finding a little “must have” amongst the treasure – a visually joyful mooching experience in any event. Visit: 39 Alexandra St, Hunters Hill T: 02 9437 4631 NSW 2110 T: 02 9879 7254 Check out the online store at thelostandfounddepartment.com.au
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3 9 A l e x a n d r a S t , H u n t e r s H i l l N S W.
spring design
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spring design
Trille Floral Spring Footed Bowl C o l o u r P a l e t t e + I n g re d i e n t s Images : Luisa Brimble
Ingredients (common flower names) 1. Anemone | 2. Magonlia 3. Pieris | 4. Ranunculus 5. Rose | 6. Sweet pea 7. Tulip Follows Cara’s floral designs this spring on instagram @trillefloral
workshop
workshop
The Flowers : Farm fresh colour bursts of dahlias, sun kissed grasses, dancing cosmos, the sweetest zinnias in muted tones,soft trailing vines and dainty clusters of spray roses are just some of the beauties we arranged with during our time at the farm.
botanic art
botanic art
“... unique contemporary stitched p a i n t i n g s a re a c e l e b r a t i o n o f F l e u r ’s a f f i n i t y w i t h a l l t h i n g s floral...”
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Sinclair & Moore Workshop Seattle Words: Steph Wall, Florist, Perth Images: Ryan Flynn Photo
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roam
Hi everyone I’m Steph Wall, Steph Wall Florals @wallflower_studio_perth. June this year I went to the Sinclair and Moore Workshop in Seattle. I have admired the work of Steve Moore and his lovely wife Jamie for so long – the weddings they produce and the details are exceptional. Turning up on the first day I was honestly so nervous, this had been on my bucket list for so long, and now it was happening! There aren’t really adequate words to describe the surreal feeling of actually walking into that famous workshop space for the first time. I held back tears and I couldn’t believe that I was really there! I made sure I took a moment to be still and present and soak it all in, but honestly, once I saw all the incredible flowers waiting for us I couldn’t stop grinning! There was a palpable energy shift as soon as Steve arrived and the nerves really kicked in for me. After opening the most beautiful welcome gift boxes (seriously, the MOST beautiful!) Steve really encouraged us to be totally open and vulnerable and share our stories, our dreams and our struggles. This proved to be so pivotal for me as someone who has a tough time being vulnerable I suddenly realised that I connected with and related to every other attendee there. All the nerves I had been feeling immediately fell away and there was almost a sense of family between this group of us that had only just met.
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The immaculate Sinclair and Moore Instagram feed of perfect weddings and that beautiful family really don’t let you see how openly candid, authentic and hilarious Steve is. Our conversations felt more like I was chatting to an old friend, not this guy that I had followed and admired from afar for so many years. His approach to his business, his clients and even his competition is completely refreshing, enlightening and inspiring as well. Getting the opportunity to work on a real wedding is so unique as far as workshops go and having an abundance of beautiful flowers at our disposal was not lost on any of us. The end results were so incredibly beautiful that we all cried when the Bride arrived! The workshop not only taught me some excellent new practical skills but it taught me so much about myself, so much I was not expecting and it opened up so much for me personally as well, it has been truly life changing and the flow on effect from that has been so incredible and so surprising in the most excellent way. For anyone who might be sitting on the fence and not sure if it will be worth investing the money in a Sinclair and Moore workshop I can tell you honesty that I would do it again in a heartbeat, without a second of hesitation. It has changed everything for me and I am so grateful. Follow @sinclairandmoore on instagram to see more of their work + workshop announcements.
Behind the Scenes with Myra Images : Li-Chi Pan
The images on this page captured and kindly shared by @lichipan were taken in the garage at the venue and just a tiny portion of the flowers for the wedding. Nicole loves white hydrangea and the hydrangea in New Zealand are sublime. Travelling to New Zealand with Georgie and Nicole as part of the planning process prior to the wedding enabled us all to step into the landscape together and create the design concepts for each area. I’m so grateful to Christchurch Flower Market for all their assistance making my “wish list of ingredients” come true – they truly went above and beyond including buying out an entire crop for one of the installations on one of the biggest flower orders they had ever received. Upon arriving in New Zealand we also made some great local connections and are so very thankful for their warm welcome and all the kind advice and help we received. Last but not least I give thanks for my incredible A-TEAM, senior florist Sophie Rothwell, John MangIia and Baramet Dejvongsa. Side by side we worked together in what was a test of endurance physically - collecting on such a large scale – delivering and installing in what felt like cyclonic winds outdoors that required heavy duty tent pegs and hammers to keep outdoor florals in place. The good humor of my team – the adrenaline of this exceptional creative opportunity fuelled us all on to bring Nicole’s vision to life. This wedding was an absolute privilege to be a part of and my team and I came away with everlasting memories of an exhilarating floral adventure together and the joy of forming everlasting friendships with Georgie and Nicole along the way.