One thing I absolutely believe in is serendipity. On a September afternoon the Instagram algorithm suggested an account: Deer Leap Florals and immediately I fell in love with her arrangements. Within moments we had agreed to meet and create something beautiful with flowers, light and film.
While setting the table and chatting, we found out that we had both lived in Tasmania and worked on an organic farm, ate contraband cheese, and sold fruit and vegetables at the same market. Caitlyn had her first experiences flower arranging in Tasmania while sharing a home with a Japanese woman named Kaori-san, who became her mentor and friend. And now her Metchosin nook was the spirit image of my own in Kyoto, Japan, when I was the exact same age, complete with artisan ceramics by Aya Izumi.
Harvested from a terraced field just beyond where the photos were captured, the flower garden that Caitlyn has created, is held together by pieces of driftwood collected from our neighbouring beaches.
“The focal flowers used in the arrangements are several varieties of dahlias. Dahlias bloom well into fall in our mild Vancouver Island climate. Foraged greenery, grasses, zinnias and clippings from the vegetable garden, including scarlet runner bean vines and parsley flowers, accent the dahlias.” - Caitlyn
The golden light filled the calm scene and our harvest table came together. When I got home, I delivered the bouquet to our senior neighbour who had lost her dog of 15 years the day before. Her face lit up with joy, “these are so beautiful!!”
“I know of no better language to capture the beauty of life, loss and love than that of flowers.” - Caitlyn
Local artisans featured in the images below:
Florals: Deer Leap Florals
Ceramics: Aya Izumi
Silk Ribbon: Nine Bark Farm
For Photography lovers: Film was Fuji 400H and Portra 800 taken on the Pentax 645nii and Bokeh Factory adapted Contax Planar 80/f2 lens. Film developed and scanned by The Canadian Film Lab.
