So far the thing I love most about England is how easy it is to clear my head when I need a break. Sure I get caught up in my emailing, or distracted by my kids, or overwhelmed by the prospect of starting from scratch on a new book just like I would in my life in New York. But here it is so easy to clear the decks and start again by walking the dog, going out on a ride, or collecting the chicken eggs. My favorite way, however, is to arrange flowers from our garden. I always get a twinge of anxiety when I start because its never obvious which flowers I am going to pick or how I am going to arrange them. Often one variety is in bloom, but there is not enough to make a whole bouquet with. So I have to figure something else that will look pretty with it. This is a challenge for me. For many years I have been a flower minimalist – I like a handful of all the same flower tightly and tidily arranged in a neat little uptight city-girl bouquet. But the country has made me relax. A little. My arrangements are looser and I have learned to mix and match when necessary. I have also come to like the uneasiness I feel as I figure out what I am going to do. I realize that subtle tension is a natural by-product of creativity. It makes the process more engaging and ultimately more satisfying.
September 21, 2012
Beautiful excited to see the photos on the Selby 🙂
so awesome. i love visiting your blog in the midst of fashion week and whatever as it relaxes me, your style is truly unique and timeless. i feel like all other blogs out there are cool to keep in the know after awhile i just grow tired of them. love your work. please keep writing and posting forever!!!
So so stunning!
Those are gorgeous flowers and photos!
What a great post, the flowers are beyond lovely. And I'm happy to know you are working on a new book! I hope the writing goes well for you and please keep us posted on its progress.
It's 2:30 in the morning in Los Angeles and I'm about to go out to the garden and clip some roses….Thanks for always inspiring!
makes me want to go out an buy a pretty little vase with butterflies on it. so pretty.
makes me want to go out an buy a pretty little vase with butterflies on it. so pretty.
oh, I love your style! Those flowers are lovely, and so relaxed. Being a flower child is good, I thought my snaps of Sunflowers Front Row was cooler than the slightly mind numbing nyfw fashion snaps.
And it is amazing how you can keep bring fresh inddors all winter – like evergreen branches as table runners!
What a vast selection of pretty flowers you have there! Love the peonies especially. For some excellent photos, a great book I just got that has lots of flower inspiration is called Bringing Nature Home by Ngo – rather new.