Floral Inspiration :: Groovy Sunset Textures

It’s all GROOVY baby … The 70s are having their moment again — from this Groovy Two’s Birthday and Boho Wedding — it will forever be one of those eras that continue to make a mark in our modern days, a time period full of style we can’t help but love revisiting! For this arrangement I was inspired by the distinct colors I love from then; the retro golden and mustard yellows, the funky greens and love-filled rainbow pastels all reminiscent of a beautiful vibrant desert sunset. But the actual piece that inspired it all was the vessels brought from Portugal, a traditional terracotta “barro” piece with hand-painted details, that have always reminded me of crochet which is another element and design quite common from that time.

This ceramic art form has been around for many years, there is something that felt so groovy and retro about incorporating it into a 70s look — a time where the more mismatched the details, patterns, textures, shapes and colors were …

… the more perfect they became!

It may come to somewhat of a surprise, but flower orders florists get aren’t always perfect. The color or hue of a flower slightly off, not as bright or the right tone as envisioned or perhaps some blooms a bit smaller than needed. But the colors from this array of very different blooms were better than imagined; the tones vibrant and beautifully playful yet rich and subtly full of depth, exactly what I envisioned for a floral color palette that was beautifully showcased in Autumn but would perfectly pair with any season.

Texture! That is what I really wanted to created with this floral centerpiece, when I think of the 70s I just think of the immense depth and layers this decade had, I wanted to create a that story with these florals. Floral texture can be interpreted many ways but my technique is to use various shapes, heights, movement in colors, singular and multi-petaled blooms — a little bit of everything florally so visually what you get is the perspective of endless texture … the dried antique hydrangea that appear too delicate to touch, the bells of Ireland bold, tall its complex petals weary and intriguing to the eye and XXXX

Whenever working with such varying textures, the element I believe helps pull them all together are the colors.

As far as the final design of this piece, I wanted it to be in the moment, to simply let my heart and creativity be guided by the lush material I had at hand. As florists and designers, sometimes when we don’t have a distinct formula to follow and we’re creating whatever feels the prettiest in the moment, we end up making some of our favorite work. At least for me this happens quite often.