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While Sheltering In Place, I have done some live Instagram Stories to share my love of creating with flowers and to spread a little beauty while we are at home and distant from some of the beauty and people we love.

Here is a shortened video I've completed that can be used as a floral design tutorial or just a glimpse of how to make a hand tied bouquet. 

My favorite wedding to design for: 

1. Lush and full of greens

2. Colorful

3. A bit of tropical weirdness mixed with lots of local grown and seasonal blooms, all designed without floral foam.

 Earlier this year a photographer approached Gorgeous and Green and asked if she could photograph my work. Initially we were thinking something fairly simple, maybe an afternoon in my studio.  But I fired up an old idea I had had many years ago, and decided to do a little photoshoot in my own home.  Specifically, in my clawfoot tub that sits up against a bright window in the bathroom. 

I found a model who was willing to come sit in my creation and I hunted through my wardrobe to find some elements we could include in this photoshoot.  I brought buckets and buckets of flowers and plenty of foliage and branches to create something that would stand out. Here's what I came up with:

It turned out to be a color infused garden of foliage and florals.  With beautiful natural light shining through the window, and the model dressed in a simple bathing suit by Zoe Bikini and a James Coviello dressing gown from Anthropologie, all with touches of gold, we were in awe. The feeling it conveys is slightly romantic and ethereal, with a touch of fierceness.

 Even women warriors have to rest. Photo by Nautilus Lens 

A snippet of the floral beauty in and around the bathtub. Photo by Nautilus Lens

It was very important to me to include an image of a person of color, feeling beautiful and strong in this creation. It isn't often that we get to see brown women pictured in this way.  In a way, the warrior woman here represents the fight for change that so many of us have taken on, in small and big ways. This warrior represents the warrior I strive to be in my own life and in this specific arena of representation.  She also represents the woman warrior in so many of us and on so many levels as we fight to make change for women everywhere. My initial idea was to go for something that suggested a strong and beautiful woman taking a dip in a bountiful haven or floral beauty.  I think it came out pretty much on target. G&G

And the shop from the front:

And the boutique inside, notice the reclaimed chandeliers and the G's filled with airplants:

We hope to see you soon! Pilar and the G&G team 

Gorgeous and Green decorated another green wedding at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, here in Berkeley.  Reuse of vintage glassware, local flowers, and succulents.  The bouquet came out beautifully, and featured some local succulents I grew for the wedding!