The Flowerseekers Spring17

SPRING17 #Forflowerlovers

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Spring blooms with Myra @mivioleta | Image : Luisa Brimble

HELLO SPRING Hello flower lovers – welcome to our bumper spring issue. I adore springtime it brings milder lighter mornings, a feeling of freshness after winter and the scent of wandering jasmine on a sunny day is just magic. This issue we feature Fleur McHarg an inspirational leader in floral design. Fleur has also been one of the driving forces behind this magazine coming to life. From the moment I discussed putting this floral platform and magazine together some 12 months ago to showcase the amazing talent we have here in Australia and to connect like minded flower lovers, Fleur was full of encouragement and support, often ringing me and asking me “what is happening” “do you need anything?” and I thank her so much for that.

Another contributor this month is Luisa Brimble photographer. Luisa is a joy to know and work with and another key influencer of the magazine coming to life. Luisa has this gift of instilling the confidence that anything you want to do is possible – you just need to take the first step – you just need to try and in Luisa’s words “just do it”. The fact that she is a flower lover is another bonus. Luisa has captured our Flower Shop feature with Summers Floral and the feeling of spring beauty when we stepped into the flower cave of the gorgeous Myra Perez of My Violet.

Launching with this issue is our website – where you will be able to order/or subscribe to the print copy of the magazine and where we will load behind the scenes images, extended images of feature stories and blog about all things happening in the floral industry think design trends, colour palettes, workshops and much more. We are establishing a job board, freelance directory and an online shop as we move along so keep an eye on our instagram for all things new as they happen.

Enjoy the spring issue – we thank all of our talented Australian based contributors, our flower loving audience, our industry vendors who we respect so much and are grateful to you all for your support and positive feedback for the magazine.

Sonya Gardiner 3.

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Contents 6.

F l e u r & t h e s t u d io

28. G r o w

F lo werSh o p : Su mmers Flo ral

32. D e s ig n

with Jurlique

38. A nna b e l l e

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H ic k s o n F r e n c h F o r a g e

52. Q& A w i t h A l e k s a ndra

: th e Stu d y C o llectiv e

42. Trille

58. We d d in g

F lo rals

Flo ral : Wo rk s h o p

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36. A rt

R o am w ith Tan y a Sh aw

Fo cu s : Saman th a D en n is o n

48. Flo w er

Fo cu s : Helleb ore s

72. H an d mad e

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“Let the flowers be the star” - Fleur McHarg

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“Organic Seasonal Ingredients�

Image @sambisso

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MY LIFE IN FLOWERS

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MY LIFE IN FLOWERS

“ BESPOKE wedding florals” 11.

Conceptual event design collaborating with top creatives

Images @thegloss.creative | Words Sonya Gardiner

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In every industry there will be individuals that lead and inspire – that motivate the rest of the industry with their passion and flair for producing new concepts – new visions – for taking the ordinary and making it the extraordinary. Fleur McHarg of The Studio by Fleur is one of Australia’s leading concept makers and creatives in the floral industry and it’s an absolute privilege to feature Fleur this issue. Meeting Fleur in real life – for me was a highlight this issue – as a self confessed flower groupie (yes there is such a thing in the floral world) – stepping into her exciting new studio space - chatting all things floral – her upcoming international book with Thames and Hudson I got a sense of all the other elements and layers in Fleur’s life that makes Fleur the incredible dynamic woman she is – Fleur the devoted wife and mum to Milly and Archie – Fleur the interior designer – the self confessed Netflix addict – team leader at Fleur – lover of life, family, friends and working with clients and industry creatives.

To be Fleur McHarg and produce the level and quality of work she does and run a busy home life is full on but Fleur would not have it any other way – she adores both her work and home life and tackles it all with commitment and passion to keep stretching and growing, her down to earth practical no nonsense hardcore work ethic coupled with her wicked sense of humour sees her kicking new goals each year.

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FLOWER SHOP

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Owning and running a 7 day a week florist shop demands dedication and commitment. To be successful you need to have the strongest of work ethics to sustain the long hours involved. A passionate creative flair and knowledge of floral design.

Multi-tasking genius is another required skill coupled with being an excellent, friendly, warm communicator to secure great relationships with growers for your stock.

Delivering the goods is also vital to ensure great customer service and repeat business. Fleur and Mark Vander Straaten have owned Summers Floral for 17 years, they have an outstanding reputation for providing beautiful bouquets and gifts for all occasions, styling wedding flowers and exciting corporate designs and event flowers. In a sense the store was their first baby together having purchased the business just after they were married. Their teamwork, dedication and commitment together has seen the shop and business flourish and allows them to team it together on the home front, supporting a full and busy family life with kids. Working together day to day – teaming both a working life together and their home life they have become great multitaskers and super communicators – seeking and implementing solutions to build a successful business and enjoy their family life together. The ideal business partnership – Mark runs the market buying – the accounts – the logistics for deliveries and installs – all the hands on background work and Fleur designs and creates with her team to produce the client + customers orders, wedding and event briefs that Summers Floral are so well known for.

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FLOWER SHOP

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Images: @LuisaBrimble Words: Sonya Gardiner

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Images and words Tanya Shaw @ohflora

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ROAM

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TOKYO

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Tanya Shaw takes us to the Floret Flower workshop ‘17

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ART FOCUS

Samantha Dennison ARTIST :

Samantha paints from her home in Albany, Western Australia, where she makes still life oil paintings of treasured objects, seasonal fruit, and flowers collected from her friends, neighbours and daily surroundings. WOriginally from Perth, Samantha studied Art Education at Edith Cowan University,graduating as a high school Art Teacher in 1990 and teaching in government and private schools over the next 16 years. In 2003, she held her first solo exhibition of landscape paintings at Gallows Gallery. Since her move to Albany in 2012 with her husband and three young daughters, Samantha has concentrated on still l i f e p a i n t i n g , i n t e n t o n c a p t u r i n g m o m e n t s o f c a l m a m i d s t t h e c r a z i n e s s o f d o m e s t i c l i f e .Â

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ART FOCUS

Samantha won the Painting Prize and Popular Choice Award in the 2015 Great Southern Art Award for her work, White Jug and Lemon. In 2014, she won the Popular ChoiceAward, together with Highly Commended in the Career Development section. She was named as a Finalist in the 2016 Albany Art Prize. Samantha is currently working towards her next solo exhibition opening in late November 2017 at the Linton and Kay Mandoon Estate Gallery in the Swan Valley, WA. Samantha Dennison is represented by Linton & Kay Galleries, and Yallingup Galleries.

For more information please visit samanthadennison.com.au or hello@samanthadennison.com.au you can also find Samantha on instagram @samanthadennisonartist

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Styling, words & Images : @annabellehickson

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A design focused 1:1 workshop taught

by Cara Fitch from Trille Floral. Held in a sun drenched studio, this intimate but relaxed, one day workshop focuses on the student’s individual design needs. With styled components and a professional photographer the student will take home beautiful images for their portfolio. If you are interested in attending a 1:1 workshop, contact Cara at info@trillefloral.com

See more images at The Flower Seekers website theflowerseekers.com and on the blog at trillefloral.com

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ART FORAGE FOCUS

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Images : Lilli Kad Photography

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FLOWER focus : H e l l e b o re s

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Q&A

Q&A with Aleksandra Spring/summer is typically the high season

There are the venues that don’t have the

for weddings in Australia. I caught up with

structures/ beams to work with so it’s bringing

talented Sydney florist Aleksandra to chat over

in amazing structures and bases to work

wedding floral trends, colours and more.

with to gain height / volume or depth for the flowers. For example -Floral Columns & Towers

Sonya -

S p r i n g /s u m m e r w e d d i n g s - a r e y o u

experiencing a demand for a particular colour

/ Pillars / Marine Ropes / Floral Orbs & Clouds / Grids and Mirrors

palette ?

Sonya - Flower shapes and foliages come in Aleks

-The softer more muted colour palette

and out of favour like fashion and so many

is definitely coming back again. The musky and

styles can be achieved with mixing different

soft pinks, buttercream yellows, tinted mauves,

elements for tropical, boho, lux, rustic,

nudes, eggshell, champagne, sand and tea -

modern etc.

stained hues.

expect a certain flower type to dominate? and

A bold Crimson Red ( with the combination

style wise what is proving to be most asked

of soft pink / bright pink ) is popping up

for?

T h i s s p r i n g /s u m m e r d o y o u

everywhere too. It’s a nice bright change to the deep burgundy palette that was so on

Aleks - At the moment it’s all about the

trend during the autumn/winter months.

“Secret Garden “ and “Quicksand” roses and the reflexed petals! but also a trend of

Sonya -

Over the last two years we have

incorporating a lot of dried native sculptural

seen lots of hanging installations and large

elements ( pampas grasses, cotton, coastal

statement impact design pieces for backdrops

banksias ) paired with soft and feminine

at ceremonies and receptions. Is that

garden flowers such as roses, dyed orchids,

something clients continue to request this

oncidiums, dahlias etc.

season?

Yes, but there is a taste for something a bit beyond the ceiling canopy or the flower wall.

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Image: Tealily Photography @tealily

Q&A

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Continued..

Sonya -

Yo u r d e s i g n s a r e o f t e n l i k e a p i e c e

Sonya -

Yo u r h u s b a n d S h a n n o n i s y o u r

of art - a painting and obviously dependent

b u s i n e s s p a r t n e r, r i g h t h a n d m a n o n f l o r a l

on the brief - you have a gift for putting

buying, installing, logistics and background

unexpected pops of colour into some of

support - has his time working with you

y o u r d e s i g n s w h i c h i s a l w a y s a j o y t o s e e . To

developed a budding floral designer?

feed your design soul - what inspires your

Yes, Absolutely!

creativity?

and you’ll often find him up on the ladder with

Its definitely a team effort

secateurs in hand or sweeping the floor! Aleks - Thank you Sonya. I think a lot of things

he’s really learnt about the flowers by purely

inspire my creativity. I think I can speak for

watching on the job and often will be my

most Florists and say its Nature that inspires

second pair of eyes.

us. A unique brief definitely helps to push

He ’s a saviour and has so much knowledge

outside the creative comfort zone. We recently

when it comes to logistical

worked on an event which was to incorporate

challenges too. Having Shannon in the business

the dryness of Australia and the hidden

has also really allowed me to take that creative

beauty of what lies beneath the ocean. Colour,

director role and a step back from admin /

texture and form play a huge part in feeding

business duties that were all consuming me

that creativity.

from being creative and inspired.

I spent time before the event

and structural

admiring and researching coastal landscapes and how elements sat together in nature for

Thanks so much Aleks for chatting with me.

inspiration and then started my visualisation

Cannot wait to see your wedding and event

and bought varieties of plants that could be

briefs come to life over coming spring/summer

adapted. Travelling is always an inspiration

season.

winner too.

Keep up to date with Aleksandra’s work @ aleksandradiary email and enquiries via aleksandra.com.au

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Q&A

Image: Tealily Photography @tealily

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Q&A

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WEDDING FLORALS

Styled + produced by @georgeousoccasions

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WEDDING FLORALS

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HANDMADE

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