Its hard to describe how I've found myself at a point where
I've taken a leap of faith, taken that single step and ended up with a set of keys to my own flower shop. Do
you believe in the laws of attraction? Do you believe in the universe? Let me share with you my creative journey...
2007-2009
During my school education, I was always creative, I could always be found in the art block working on a project. It was often painting, exploring colour, texture, light and shape within the landscape. I was obsessed with it. I loved to paint the colour's and patterns within the reflections of water.
2009-2011
During my college education, I moved into sculpture within the landscape. I built great big elemental shapes using techniques that were sustainable, imagine that stone walls in the countryside. No cement just placement, that was me but with branches. I built this great big cube out of sticks and branches and this was probably my first realisation that i liked to physically work with nature.
2011-2014
During my university days, I played with nature being the owner of the art. I let the wind draw, the snow paint, the rain colour and i questioned who owns art? am I the owner for setting up the interactive piece, or is the maker of the art the one who left the physical evidence?
I guess this was my first foresight into how I was definitely more of a hands on maker, than honing my skills as an artist with a pen or paintbrush. I just loved the freedom.. I loved the unknown. How will it look at the end? The chance of it.
How does that link with floristry? I guess it doesn't but it really allowed me to explore, ownership, pushed my creative boundaries, helped me to think BIG! To question... how is that achievable? What are the mechanics? if i do this, does this do that and more importantly it was fun and understandable to the view or participant.
2014 - 2020
Inbetween this point, I brought our two beautiful daughters into the world, got married to the man who would do really random things in the name of my art, I experienced great family loss and with this roller coaster of emotions I've experienced I always come back to.. seeing my wedding flowers for the first time. That wow factor imprinted on me, the funeral flowers of a very close loved one, I remember thinking, they're beautiful on such as sad day and such a gift in her final hour. I want to be able to give these feelings to other people, again coming back to this relationship I experienced in university. I found that, that was the fulfilling element I could quite place. I like my work to make people feel something whilst using our environment.
PANDEMIC ERA (the virus that shall not be named)
Fast forward to the mid point of the pandemic. I'd been out of education for a couple of years. I was really lost, my hands were itchy, they needed something, all the creativity was buzzing on my fingertips with no outlet... I knew I loved nature, I knew I loved to make, I've always been really interested in gardening and the beauty and language of flowers, so I bit the bullet and went back to education, I worked my regular day job around my kids, then I went to night school.
As soon as I put together that first bouquet. BAM. I knew this was for me. The 10 year journey of learning, experiencing life, creatively evolving... my heart sang...
I learnt bouquets, weddings, funerals, techniques in flower mechanics... I really was in my happy place, it was everything coming together in one orbit.
I worked in a wonderful local flower shop alongside college as additional training and I'll always be grateful for that. The key to everything really was learning hands on.
Fast forward to the end of 2022, we welcomed our little boy into the world and coming to the end of my leave I was so torn, I didn't want to go back to that day job permanently, I loved the flower shop, but I couldn't bringing him with me, I just couldn't put my childcare on someone else, that's not fair.
One day I went to our local craft and garden centre, we've been going for years, that community there is just a wonderful bunch of people. I took my little boy to watch the fish... and you know that voice inside? It told me to look up. I looked up and there it was a To Let sign on a unit. My heart pounded, I didnt mention anything to anyone but I couldnt get it out of my head. I kept going and checking hoping it was still there To Let. within a very small time I found a home studio was just not practical with three kids and a dog especially when trying to do a big wedding for my sister in Law .... So.. I took a small step. a tiptoe towards it, I went and viewed it. I'm not going for more than a look I said. Damn, when I walked in there I could see my shop. It cemented in my minds eye, there was no going back. It had to be mine. It WAS mine. IT IS MINE. THAT IS MY SHOP! With a lot of support from family and friends I made a spare of the moment, F**k it life decision (which i personally find are the best ones, only good things have happened to me when I've made those kind of decisions) and I signed for the keys.
I hope you look forward to seeing my shop transform within my next blog posts. Ill be sharing all my wins and my falls, because...
This post is for anyone who is starting out at the beginning of my journey and can resonate, for someone looking at how to become a florist, I'll be real frank at how scared but excited I am. I know I'll make mistakes, little and big ones, but how do we learn if we don't make any happy accidents? I'll share my wins too, because we all want to be winning at something right? I wanr you all to share in the feeling that something will come your way. This is for anyone wanting to understand more about me as a creative and it is also hope for anyone feeling a little lost. Find something you love and take a single step towards it.
Carlie x
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