Still Life with Alaska Peonies

Alaska has peonies?

When I was 22 years old and living in Anchorage AK, my life began to change. I learned of a very special flower called the Peony. Alaska’s endless summer days and fertile farming soil produce perhaps the largest blooms and the most saturated colors of peonies in the world. I had never seen anything like it.

As I journeyed deeper into floristry, I realized that the growing season for these flowers is rather unique. Alaska’s peonies are available to florists during the months of July and August whereas peonies are traditionally considered available for florists only in the spring. The availability of these flowers is why I so love summer weddings.

Summertime collaboration

This summer, without a wedding on my calendar, I had to find another way to get my hands on these incredible blooms from my friends at the Alaska Peony Cooperative. The APC is a not-for-profit marketing and supply cooperative that facilitates the sale of premium Alaska-grown peonies while working to empower farmer-members through education and resource sharing. Alaska’s endless summer days and fertile farming soil produce perhaps the largest blooms and the most saturated colors of peonies in the world. I have never seen anything like it. In collaboration with the cooperative, the talented photographer Jennefer Wilson, and luxury linen company Nuage Designs, I planned a still life studio session to feature these incredible blooms.

The process of creative collaboration

Typically, my audience—if that’s what you can call the 15 people who make it through the algorithm jungle to my posts and my family members—sees only the final product of my events and projects; perfectly edited images like these:

In this post, I want to share with you what the process looks like from idea, to paper, to physical reality.

Step 1: the vision

Establish the “Why”

I had a bit of a lull in weddings so I needed to find other ways to practice floral design and to keep my creative juices flowing. I also didn’t want the Alaska peony season to pass me by and needed to create a reason to create with them apart from client work.

Developing the Vision

I began to envision an unfussy studio session with opportunities for creative experimentation. Always careful not to find inspiration directly from other florists, for this particular project I felt drawn towards the still life paintings of the old masters, the decadent color, dramatic light, and passage of time (image right).

Step 2: enlisting the collaborators

Money is the most sure way to ensure enthusiastic participants. But because this was not a paid gig, I did not have a budget to pay my fellow artists. So, I resolved to spend as little as possible without jeopardizing the quality of the end result. I made a list of my preferred collaborators then relied on my relationships with them, my previous portfolio, and a vision board (left) to arouse equal enthusiasm in my associates.

Vision Board

It’s not fair to ask someone to blindly share their resources with me. They need to know what value I am bringing to their life or to their work. Moreover, a visual description of my idea allows my fellow collaborators to lean into their specialties. They may be able to recommend a product I didn’t see online or advise me towards a method I didn’t know about. I’m a visionary, but I’m a florist, not a trained photographer, not a studio manager, not a peony grower, not a textile specialist.

The vision board allowed the other experts to collaborate during the planning phase so that the project was as beneficial for them as possible. Allowing input like this always creates a better final product. Everyone is more excited, more prepared, and more invested.

Relational Clout

Not to overwhelm you with pressure and shallow motivation for kindness, but you don’t know who will end up being a resource for a future want or need. I’m going to make a quick list of all involved in this project and how I came about finding them and working with them. I think it’s very interesting to see the range of connections and it may help you to think more creatively about your next project.

• Alaska Peony Cooperative (the peonies): I became very close with a peony farmer in 2012. She later connected me with the cooperative’s sales manager in 2018/2019. We have had an electronically personal relationship ever since. She’s the best.

• American Agro Products and Fleurametz (wholesalers—the other flowers): I love my reps there but they were not interested in donating flowers so I actually had to buy these for the project. Additional flowers were necessary to round out the design although the chocolate cosmos withered before I could use it.

• Jennefer Wilson (the photographer): I needed someone who was good, like really good, with translating color from reality to imagery. The darker peonies especially are so saturated, it takes a particularly talented photographer to accurately read the color. I knew if we got the color wrong, then the peony cooperative would not be able to use the images which was the bulk of their motivation for participating.
  Jennefer and I are members of the same business group and she works closely with a photographer whose work is well known for being full of color. So even though we had not met before, we shared connections and ambitions. I was delighted that she said yes! I always feel so appreciative towards talented photographers who want to collaborate because full price is VERY expensive (though worth every penny). I did reimburse her for the cost of the film and its development.

• TX Studio (location where we photographed): I searched for a studio in the Dallas and decided on this space. I did not have a prior relationship with them so I paid full price for the use of the studio. They did kindly extend our hours when we realized we needed more time and when I needed a studio space for our family photos, we used that same space again.

• Nuage Designs (the linens): I met the Director of Sales at an industry event in North Carolina. After that event, she connected me with the Texas rep. When I reached out about my desire to do a still life series, starting with these peonies, she was happy to participate so long as I paid for shipping. Shipping is shockingly expensive but still not as expensive as paying full price for these luxurious linens. You can’t have it all.

• Childcare: With the project taking place in the middle of the summer, I could not have done this without my husband and my mom keeping up with the kids for the day. Be nice to your family. You need them.

Once I had the vision recorded and the creative team established, the rest of the details (supplies, schedule, childcare, snacks, followup plan) fell into place.

Step 3: the day in the studio

I created about 85% of the first two arrangements the day before the shoot in my parents’ house. I took all of the remaining product and extra materials with me to the studio. After the photographer and I discussed backdrops and looked through the linens, I finished out the first piece while Jennefer finished the setup. I always find it inspiring and invigorating to finish a design in the space it was created for. The third piece with the pink peonies and the locally grown sunflowers was Barbie inspired and I made it very quickly onsite. It was such a joy to work alongside such a talented photographer. We were able to bounce ideas off of each other in the moment and to make adjustments as we went along.

The day in the studio was fast and furious. We had FOUR HOURS in the studio yet the last 30 minutes was a complete rush. I was so surprised. We probably could have spent the entire day in there. That is the difficulty of being an artist in any medium: knowing when to stop. Constraints of any kind, especially time, often add to the creativity in unexpected ways plus it’s a good exercise to work under a time constraint.

Comment below if you enjoyed this look into the studio! What did you like? What do you want to see more of?

Bisous.