I’m always amazed at how many endless ideas there are with flowers—the possibilities never run out, and that’s what pulled me into magazines and Pinterest early on.
I hate to admit it, but from time to time, I’ve let a client show me something they’d found on Pinterest, and I copied it — took the easy road. It was never satisfying, and it never set my work apart. I’ve always used Dutch design books and magazines for inspiration and apprenticing. I used to forage and experiment with foraged product to learn. Practicing with nature and taking hints of inspiration from designs that spoke to me helped me stretch and grow my style.
I started this career back in the 1990s, so I’ve watched trends come and go—dried German statice arrangements being all the rage, then the shift to “roundy-moundy” designs built from roses and hydrangea. I jumped on both trends, and you won’t find those photos in my portfolio today. The work I’m actually proud of came from going beyond the copy—pushing a shape or style somewhere it hadn’t gone before, until it stopped looking like everyone else’s version and started looking like mine.
After years of experimenting and defining my own approach, my clients now know my work distinctively. They’ll say to me on occasion, “I know you did that wedding,” or “I could tell it was your work.”
That’s the caution I’d offer: don’t get sucked into copying and pasting a design style. It will never let you discover your own style or stretch you creatively—you’ll basically become a manufacturer. Let yourself become the artist. Use Pinterest as a guide, not a blueprint. Store the ideas, and use them as inspiration to go beyond. Inspiration stretched becomes distinction—and that’s what will set you apart in the marketplace.
