HOW CHAMPION KNITTER AND SIEN + CO. FOUNDER ALEX GIBSON FOUND HER TRUE CALLING (AND EVENTUALLY HER LUGGAGE) IN KATHMANDU.
After a challenging stint working as an event planner in Silicon Valley, Sien + Co. founder Alex Gibson decided to make a sweeping life and career change. An amateur photographer, she decamped for Nepal with a loose ambition of documenting the after effects of a devastating earthquake outside the capital city of Kathmandu.
“KEAP” IS A NOD TO THE KEAP STREET, WILLIAMSBURG KITCHEN WHERE FOUNDERS HARRY DOULL AND STEPHEN TRACY MADE THEIR FIRST CANDLES.
“Our zero-waste approach to candle design mimics nature’s cyclical systems,” Tracy says. “Our labels are biodegradable and removable, making it easy to repurpose our candle tumblers.” The pair provide instructions for safely repurposing used candle vessels on Keap’s website, making it easy for buyers to give these glass containers a new life (as whiskey tumblers, perhaps).
But that’s just part of their mission.
BLOOMIST COLLABORATOR LOUESA ROEBUCK IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE FORAGED FLORA MOVEMENT. LEARN HOW TO MAKE SHOWSTOPPING WILD ARRANGEMENTS IN 6 EASY STEPS
Small or large, Louesa Roebuck’s foraged arrangements are famous for their natural drama. Here, she walks us step-by-step through creating a showstopper arrangement — from the best mindset for choosing flowers and other flora to working with larger arrangements and creating structure and weight with frogs
FORAGED FLORA PIONEER AND BLOOMIST COLLABORATOR LOUESA ROEBUCK GATHERS LOCAL, SEASONAL, AND FOUND ELEMENTS TO MAKE INTRINSICALLY BEAUTIFUL, HARMONIOUS ARRANGEMENTS
If you wouldn’t eat a tomato out of season, why buy sterile blooms, air shipped from thousands of miles away? In co-author and artist Louesa Roebuck’s Foraged Flora: A Year of Gathering and Arranging Wild Plants and Flowers, readers will find a sharp new take on the aesthetics, and politics, of living with flowers and flora. If you eat locally and seasonally, Roebuck hopes you’ll gather your flora — from your garden, your neighbors’ garden, farmers’ markets and anywhere else your day might take you — with the same sense of responsibility and delight.
“MIX DRIED FLOWERS AND BRANCHES WITH HAND-CRAFTED OBJECTS TO CREATE A NATURAL, MINIMAL LOOK. A SINGLE STEM OR SCULPTURAL LEAF IN A SIMPLE VESSEL CAN MAKE THE PICTURE.” - Hilary Robertson, stylist, author, Bloomist collaborator
“I like things that retain a shape. If they’re too small, they look like dust catchers,” explains Hilary. “When you’re working on an arrangement with smaller, more delicate things they’re always slightly brittle, which is why I lean toward larger blooms. A dried allium has a nice, sculptural shape. The leaves you get from the Caribbean are sculptural, and they’re more interesting to work with. Another dry favorite is bayberry. I absolutely adore it – a grey berry on a branch. I always have them at home and you don’t need more than 1 or 2.”
OUT OF TIME, PATIENCE, AND INSPIRATION? BLOOMIST COLLABORATOR HILARY ROBERTSON MAKES A SIMPLE WREATH WITH JUST A HANGER AND SOME GREENS.
BLOOMIST COLLABORATOR HILARY ROBERTSON IS A FEARLESS MIXER OF FRESH AND DRIED BOTANICALS. HERE SHE TELLS US HOW AND WHY TO MAKE A NATURAL ARRANGEMENT WITH THEM BOTH.
“CARVED WOODEN CHAINS AND HAND-WOVEN BASKETS BLUR THE LINES BETWEEN ART, NATURE, AND DESIGN” - Hilary Robertson, stylist, author, Bloomist collaborator
“Interiors photoshoots involve a unique set of challenges”, says stylist Hilary Robertson. “A primary one is art. Stylists often can’t use copyrighted artwork in photoshoots, so we turn instead to natural elements”, she explains. “I call it, “art that isn’t art.”
WITH THE HELP OF MOTHER NATURE, INTERIOR STYLIST AND BLOOMIST COLLABORATOR HILARY ROBERTSON CREATES SIMPLE, BEAUTIFUL, PHOTOREADY VIGNETTES AND TABLEAUX FOR THE HOLIDAYS
