photo: Susan McLeary

It was such an honor to be invited to participate at the yearly event Fleuramour. For the 24th year this spectacular flower show took place at the  spectacular castle Alden Biesen in Belgium. Super talented designers from over 20 different countries created brilliant installations in the many rooms of this castle that was founded in the 11th century ( the current buildings were constructed between the 16th and 18th centuries).

As usual Oasis was one of the big sponsors; they wrote a great article about the event.

There were 6 of us on the team of Holly Chapple (plus 10 Chapel designers who decorated the stage and assisted all of us  – we could not have done it without you) who created a total of 24 outfits for a fashion show, that took place twice a day on September 27-30.

Our team members: Suzie Kostnick, Helen Miller, Katie Noonan, Holly Chapple and Susan McLeary

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A year an a half ago Pieter Toebaert, who organizes Flower Time invited me to participate in this magnificent flower event that takes place every other year at city hall in Brussels.

It was such an honor and the experience was simply extra ordinary. Pieter suggested that I would make botanical botanical dresses, headpieces and jewelry ; his wife Lena offered to create fabulous mannequins.

My friend Sheryl Tynes came along for this incredible flower adventure. The day that we arrived we went foraging and found so many woodland treasures.We had 3 days to get everything ready and were very grateful for the help that we received from the volunteers.

The event lasted for 5 days and was an incredible success. More than 25,000 people came to see all the installations, created by designers who came from all over Europe, and from China and Indonesia as well.

Many thanks to Cohim for these amazing images! When I receive images of the installations that the other teams made, I will add them on.

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A few months ago my friend Theresa Bear enthusiastically suggested that we would do a photo shoot with Azelle Chang at Cape Kiwanda at the Oregon coast. We could not have asked for more perfect weather: a gorgeous sunny day and some crazy wind gusts allowed Azelle to play with  the fans and large pieces of fabric.

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First photo shoot with baby Oak and his dad Ryan Bear and let’s not forget their puppy Star!

Oak’s vest, covered with silverleaf and decorated with textures and ripsalis, was Ryan’s when he was about 1 year old. Fun to keep baby clothes in the family and then transform them with botanicals!

Thank you Theresa Bear for another great concept and for the fabulous pictures!

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A couple of months ago, photographer Ted Mishima introduced me to Nina Nightshade. I had seen pictures of a photo shoot that they had done together where she was wearing the most incredible raven’s head. I found out that her husband had made this masterpiece for her to wear at some of her burlesque shows. I made a necklace, ring and a scarf for our photo shoot. It was another super fun project!

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A couple of months ago I was trilled to find a hornets nest, encased in 5 large cones of sugar pine in the booth of Wreath Sources at the Portland Flower Market. And I also found a mega fungus, about 1′ in diameter as well as some beautiful small bird feathers from J.Foss Flowers. I secured both large pieces onto a 3′ long moss covered log with ferns and then decorated it with lots of textures and some hellebores. What a fun project, which was perfectly captured by Theresa Bear.

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Last November I had the wonderful opportunity to teach a workshop at The Floral Reserve in Providence, RI. Owner Semia started this magnificent wholesale business in the fall of 2017; she wanted to have access to the most stunning flowers and textures to use in her wedding business, Flowers by Semia. The high ceilings with sky lights, the white walls and a bank of large windows create the most beautiful space for her incredible display of botanical treasures. The workshop took place in that area the first day when we focused on woodlands. The second day I taught in her studio space, which is conveniently located around the corner. Photographer Kirstin Capron documented the fabulous headpieces and jewelry that the students made.

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Earlier this month we did a photo shoot at the fabulous store Digs Inside & Out in Sellwood.  JJ de Sousa has a very ecclectic selection for interior decorating, as well as plants, books, candles… Check out her unique boutique! For the occasion made a couple of headpieces,  a botanical stole and decorated a great metal box that JJ had in her shop.

Photography: Theresa Bear

Creative Director: Gwen Severson

Models:Haliun and Nia

Wardrobe: Wildfang

MUAH: Kelli Thomsen

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Timber Press – a publishing company here in Portland, that specializes in gardening books – contacted me a year ago. Stacee explained that they wanted to publish a journal on medicinal herbs and was I interested in illustrating it? Of course the answer was a resounding yes!  What an honor to be invited to participate in this project…

I had a lot of home work to do as I was not familiar with medicinal herbs at all. Talk about a very pleasant surprise:  when doing research I found out that just about every plant has medicinal properties… Which meant that the sky was the limit when it came to the choices of flowers and textures that I could design with.  And to make the project even sweeter, Timber Press gave me total creative license… Stacee mentioned the woodlands; I interspersed them with some botanical couture, designs with fruits and veggies and a few hand-tied bouquets. And to sweeten the experience even more, I got to choose my photographer: Theresa Bear, who sees through her lens what my eyes see, was my number 1 choice! Thank you Theresa for the magnificent pictures!

“The Herbal Recipe Keeper is a beautiful, keepsake item that allows users to record the ways in which they have used healing plants—whether as medicinal formulations or as essential oil blends. It includes space to record botanical and common names, plant descriptions, harvesting notes, preparations uses, and details on dosage and safety. Additional features include an index that will help the user easily find recipes by plant name and undated monthly calendars.  With 240 color photographs and a removable belly band, The Herbal Recipe Keeper is indispensable for fans of herbal medicine and essential oils and a thoughtful gift for anyone seeking a new path to health and wellness.” Timber Press

If you would like to purchase the book, click here

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