Hi there - I'm Bonnie Hughes, and I would like to welcome you to Atelier Blooms' very first blog and ... my first blog!
‘Find something you love to do, and you will never work a day in your life.’
It’s a great quote, isn't it? It's one I tell my grandchildren. The problem of course, is to find that ‘something’ you love to do, above all other things to do.
A few years ago, I found that ‘something’… making Art. Sounds simple, but that’s not true. Finding the area of art practice that swells your heart, is a quest and a revelation. My journey began in a bookstore.
It was nearing Christmas and I was looking for gifts in the book aisles, (yes, I am that kind of Grandmother), I like to give books. I wandered into the ‘hobbies’ section and on the very top shelf was a large book with flowers on the cover. I love flowers and books. As I leafed through the pages of gorgeous flowers, it took a moment before I realised the flowers were made of paper!! These gorgeous vibrant flowers were handcrafted from paper. Suddenly and urgently, I wanted to make them, myself. I have felt sudden and urgent desires to paint or sculpt in the past, but this feeling was deep down.
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.” – Buddha
All thoughts of Christmas presents were forgotten as I paid for the book and headed home to read. The rest of the morning was spent poring over the book and details of the flowers – it was nothing short of illuminating. The author (and artist) had crafted each flower with skill, vision and the most precious of commodities – Love. It would be impossible, I am sure, to create such blooms, if love wasn’t a component … an infusion when shaping the delicate petals and stems.
I couldn’t wait to start and set out to find paper. It transpired that obtaining crepe paper suitable for the blooms I wanted to create was a mission. A mission that culminated in ‘making’ my own paper and tinting it to my needs. Which of course turned out to be a blessing, because our blooms are unique in colour, texture and weight.
The next couple of years were spent experimenting with paper and tints, shapes and sizes, tools, techniques and perfecting the ‘process’. Art is about process – making art is ALL about the process. I made thousands of paper flowers, gave some away, sold some and thought about how I could keep making flowers, as I was running out of space in my home. Every surface had a vase of flowers, friends and neighbours got flowers for special occasions or no occasion at all.
One day my friend Gil said to me, ‘a friend is getting married and wondered if you might like to do the flowers?’ ... And that is how Atelier Blooms was created!
Gil and I would love for you to join us on our new journey, taking handcrafted, hypoallergenic flowers to Auckland and beyond. Learn more about us both and our backgrounds here.
