Due to some successful fairs through spring including Country Living Spring Fair, The Handmade Fair Ragley and The Garden Show at Firle Place - we are really excited to announce that we will be opening a little shop in Kent very soon! We hope to be opening in a week or two so watch this space for more details...
As a designer, I love to use flowers as my main inspiration to create artworks as I believe in the importance of incorporating nature into the design process. I thought I would share with you one of the ways that I use flowers to turn them into a design.
When I have a bunch of flowers that are beginning to die off, or I see a bud that has fallen off a tree, I like to collect them and create an artwork or natural dye. This means not only does the flower not get wasted, but for me, preserves a memory.
I also love the process of working with nature to create patterns!
Have you ever thrown out flowers that you were given and thought 'what a waste' or 'I wish I could preserve these somehow'?
I have always enjoyed collecting flowers from a young age. I still continue to enjoy preserving them by collecting, photographing or using them to make natural dyes for fabrics.
flowers have now been made into an artwork!
Here is a little snippet of the hammering process I used to create the above artwork:
using flowers to create designs
It is always fun to experiment with different flowers as they can bring out some lovely colours. Next time you don't want to throw away that bunch of flowers why not give it a try!
Sourcing flowers and plants is an important part of how I get inspiration for Sarah Blythe, so what better place to start than The Eden Project in Cornwall? Environmental sustainability is a main focus of The Eden Project, which is initially what drew me in to visit. They also have some great educational resources on their website where you can learn more about plants, saving water and the Eden Deep Geothermal Energy Project.
Biomes at The Eden Project Cornwall
The Eden Project houses many different flowers and plants from countries all over the world (more than 70), so it is a great place to gather floral inspiration! On the site there are two biomes - the Mediterranean Biome where the climate was quite dry and the Rainforest Biome where the climate was more humid.
Inside the Rainforest Biome
In the Rainforest Biome there are lots of bright coloured flowers - one of my favourites being the Torch Ginger. This tropical plant is grown throughout South East Asia and as well as looking pretty it is used in food dishes such as curries or soups. I loved its waxy-type petals and the light pinkish red tones.
Torch Ginger (Etlingera elatior) - perennial herb that grows up to 6 metres tall
Outdoors there were some beautiful varieties of dahlias with stunning colours. I believe this dahlia is from the Karma Sangria variety as it appears to have a semi-cactus shape.
Pink dahlia
Varieties of flowers outside the Biome entrance
The Eden Project is a very inspirational place so if you enjoy learning about plants or simply being in a floral environment, I would highly recommend a visit!