I was in Detroit last week to work on flowers for a private party happening at the NFL Draft. My client wanted all of the flowers to be mainly in yellow, to go along with the title sponsor’s logo which is a golden, canary yellow. Using a range of yellows, from pale yellow to butter yellow to canary yellow, along with white and cream tones mixed in, yielded a monochromatic palette. The client was super happy, and the flowers received so many compliments from the staff at the Detroit Foundation Hotel.
I wanted the florals to feel light, and airy, and beautiful. The NFL Draft is a predominately masculine event and I’m thinking of the Jeremy Allen White images that have been floating on the internet these last months of him in NYC with arms full of flowers from farmer’s markets.
I selected roses in a golden yellow and daffodils that gave off creamy, blended tones. I loved the pale yellow stock and pale lisianthus that seemed to cool down the eggy yolk-colored tulips and roses. And the white sweet peas — they always just make everything lighter, softer. I did add a small touch of greenery in the arrangements, only the larger arrangements because it was all I could get my hands on. I decided to go with light green hellebore. I love this flower so much and I believe it does wonders for arrangements. It’s greenery, but also a flower. It’s available in green, white, burgundy, and it’s floral nature offers a beautiful transition between colors. Hellebore also helps to soften the harsh line of the neck of a vase. IYKYK.
I thought I would have more time to play in Detroit while I was there. There are tons of things I wanted to do and people to see, but I was there for work and I was able to manage having two really beautiful dinners with very dear friends of mine. I met my girlfriends who I used to play cards with every third Monday while I used to live in Detroit. We wet to Ottava Via and it was really good as always. I also met with my friends Brad and Autumn, Brad I know from Shinola, at Seldon Standard which is easily my favorite restaurant in Detroit. It’s always so delicious and creative and feels healthy in a way that I can just tell that they are using healthy ingredients. The quality is there and it’s felt!
This spring weather has been a real treat, some rainy days in Connecticut but mostly days in the 70s with blue skies and all of the vibrant green that has been popping up with the leaves on the trees. I am feeling truly blessed, for the work that has come my way this year and the ability, my health, to produce work! I am also grateful that I had a chance to visit Fallingwater, a house I have long admired by Frank Lloyd Wright. I used to be a student in architecture school in 2008 and it’s where I learned about design principles and drawing and art history.
FLW, next to Mies van der Rohe, is one of those architects that is very hard not to like, IMO. His work is so captivating and different and pulls you right in…I think the scale of his projects and probably how he uses color, in contrast to but also working with the site. The scale is what makes his work feel so pronounced to me. I really enjoyed touring the grounds. Back when the original owners lived in the space, they had fresh flowers delivered to their home every day! I asked the tour guide to repeat that, because we all know that flowers do last longer than a day. I’m sure she composted. Hopefully. The floral design style is a single type of flower - I’m not sure if FLW or Liliane decided that, but I do think it goes well with the space! From the outside, Fallingwater has a lot of nuetrals and clean lines, but the inside feels very much like you’re inside the Brady Bunch house with the midcentury modern feel. Lots of textiles in color and patterns. The use of orange and red stands out to me and these colors of warmth are used throughout the house.
There is a lot of playfulness going on with the interior design, so flowers in a neutral tone, all one type, makes sense. The flowers in the house were mainly mums in white. There were also some vases with cuttings of branches from the nearby outdoors, like rhododendron. I also especially loved the two sets of flower boxes, one that was in the main living room - kind of a cool placement for a flower box, but going along with the theme of bringing the outdoors in. There was also a really nice flower box outside on the upper patio outside the son’s bedroom. What a cool house, so happy I had the chance to visit. The grounds are so incredibly lovely and green. I heard that June is a great time to visit because the rhododendron bushes will be in bloom.
I’m starting a SubStack next month! This is my last blog post before the transition. I’ll share a link here so you can follow me there!