The Flower House Virtual Tour Part 4 with David Beahm and Daevid Reed (Episode 232)
February 10th, 2016
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Daevid Reed (l), Lisa Waud (c) and David Beahm (r), captured in a moment of sheer joy by photographer Heather Saunders at the Field to Vase Dinner, The Flower House, Detroit.
The Seattle floral design community’s reimagined, Flower House-inspired botanical art installation
I have two cool Flower House-related segments to share with you today.
First, I want to share a short conversation with photographer Andrew Buchanan of Subtle Light Photography as we discuss his innovative idea to document the sculptural floral art installation at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, which was led by Lisa Waud of The Flower House for the Seattle design community on January 19th. I featured highlights of the January 19th installation day in an earlier episode here.
Enjoy my quick interview that I recorded with Andrew and then view the amazing time-lapse movie that he filmed and edited – shown below. I’m amazed by the power of visual storytelling through this medium and applaud Andrew’s artistry and generosity. I’m honored and grateful that he volunteered his talents for everyone to enjoy!
Based in Seattle, Andrew Buchanan specializes in architectural photography, interiors photography, helicopter aerial photography, land design photography, and hotel and resort photography in Seattle and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Andrew offers photography of architecture, interiors, commercial and public spaces, and other built environments to design and marketing professionals, hotels and resorts, developers, magazines, and advertisers needing compelling, graphic photos of The Spaces Where We Live, Work, and Play. Please start on a Gallery page to see some of Andrew’s work or download his PDF portfolio to keep with you. Read more about Andrew here.
ENJOY THIS FABULOUS VIDEO, COURTESY OF ANDREW BUCHANAN:
SeattleWholesaleGrowersMarket-LisaWaud-16Jan from Andrew Buchanan on Vimeo.
You can find the video and all of Andrew’s “motion” work at his online gallery here.
Follow Andrew Buchanan at these social places:
Subtle Light Photography on Facebook
Subtle Light Photography on Twitter
Subtle Light Photography on Linked-In
Subtle Light Photography on Instagram
DAVID BEAHM AND DAEVID REED OF DAVID BEAHM EXPERIENCES AT THE FLOWER HOUSE
Floral designer, horticulturist, botanical MacGyver and more — Daevid Reed of David Beahm Experiences stood still long enough for me to capture his portrait in the first floor dining room at The Flower House.
Here’s a peek at the exterior detail we discussed ~ as the vegetation and flowers from David and Daevid’s interior space “grows” through the windows as if nature took over.
I have been recording conversations with Flower House designers to discuss the specific rooms they transformed last October when florists from Detroit and across the country filled an abandoned house with American Grown flowers, foliage and living plants for one glorious, breathtaking weekend of immersive floral design.
Since I was in New York last week, I scheduled interviews with two design teams who traveled to Detroit to participate in Lisa’s communal-floral experience. This interview was recorded on February 2nd in the David Beahm Experiences studios in NYC’s Chelsea neighborhood.
An overview of the woodland-inspired dining room at the heart of The Flower House, called “Channeling Mother Nature,” and created by David Beahm Experiences.
I know you’ll enjoy hearing from David Beahm and Daevid Reed. The men dreamed up a woodland dining room complete with a moss-covered table in the center of the room above which hung a giant tree-stump chandelier dripping with water as if we were sitting beneath a canopy of huge trees on a rainy day. The installation was aptly called “Channeling Mother Nature.” New York-based David Beahm is a past guest of this podcast and Daevid is the director of horticulture at Thistle Dew Farm.
And to views of the central design element, the dining table that Daevid fashioned from a leftover door of The Flower House.
Here are the designers’ statements shared from The Flower House web site:
David Beahm says this:
i got into this business because you can look at every project as a blank slate – an opportunity to start all over again and create a new way of looking at a space. invite people to look at a space in a different light. i don’t like to repeat myself, so this house really gives us an opportunity to think out of the box and create something that isn’t normally seen. besides, i like to make people smile. can you imagine a project that will create more smiles?
my favorite task is to get into people’s heads – to see what makes them tick and what they respond to – then help them see things differently – to look at new techniques and appreciate they way they look and the craft behind it.
this isn’t a white wedding. i’m so there. this gives the flower and creative community a chance to come together and exchange ideas and revel in each other’s ideas. and people lived here and made this home and brought it warmth and life. – i love that we can bring light into this space one more time.
Daevid Reed says this:
in march i was told about the house by susan mcleary and the movement, and wished at that point i could somehow be involved. i was recently hired by david beahm experiences in december of 2014 to be a project manager for his holiday installations, as well as operations manager, and horticulturist for his beautiful farm “thistle dew farm,” in bucks county pennsylvania. so the more i read about the house, i immediately thought, i wonder if the farm could contribute in some form. months later david and i were invited to attend a field to vase dinner in new york city with our wholesaler delaware valley and claudine perez.
leading up to that dinner i had reached out to debra prinzing because i noticed her name on the speakers list. with a gentle nudge by her and kathleen williford we all spoke about perhaps if “Thistle Dew Farm” could contribute to the flower house. i immediately went to david and re- familiarized him with the project and said “we need to be involved in this project, i want to be involved in this project for everything it stands for!” with that …here we are, prepping for the flower house, the journey, the adventure, the humbling task to come.
my favorite task as florist is taking what god created and translating into a piece that invokes emotion, emotions of joy, amusement, passion, and even the moment of silence when a flower makes you stop and be one with it. how it’s beauty is a marvel of nature….god created this, we only get to enjoy its short time here, but we remember and embrace until the next flower, arrangement, or moment.
it is, i think, what life is all about: enjoying a moment of beauty, and what the flower house represents. a wonderful memory of a collaboration; of beauty dictated through a variety of artist, to bring the moment of joy, happiness and an abundance of memories. what floats my boat? “inspired by nature and designed with passion” i am an organic, natural style designer. i love how a flower grows, and try to mimic its growing habits in my arrangements.
Thank you for joining me today and continuing the fascination I have with The Flower House project.
In the interview, we allude to the big news that David Beahm’s Thistle Dew Farm, which Daevid manages, will host a Field to Vase Dinner on September 14th! You can attend this magical evening by following this link to reserve your seat at the table. I’ll be there to help make sure you have a wonderful time!
A BONUS INTERVIEW
Those of you who’ve been listening for a while know how much I love to interview flower farmers and florists about their role in the American Grown/Slow Flowers Movement, right?
Well, last week, my friend Theresa Loe of the Living Homegrown Podcast turned the tables on me with an interview about the Slow Flowers Movement. I am so honored that she took the time to bring the message of seasonal and local flowers to her audience of listeners who are passionate about seasonal and local food.
Follow this link to listen, download the audio and also find the full transcript. There are also links to all the resources Theresa and I discussed.
Theresa is an associate producer with the award-winning PBS show called Growing a Greener World, which was one of the first outlets to film an episode about The 50 Mile Bouquet back in 2011. You might want to watch that piece, which was filmed at Jello Mold Farm in Mt. Vernon, Washington, the farm depicted on the cover of The 50 Mile Bouquet.
Slow Flowers in Manhattan, with Alison Manne of BW&P Floral; Angela DeFelice of Rock Steady Farm & Flowers; Molly Culver of Molly Oliver Flowers; and me, photographed at Jimmy’s No. 43 in the East Village.
Before I close, I want to thank Molly Culver of Molly Oliver Flowers for hosting a Slow Flowers Gathering when I was in New York last week — what fun to meet and re-meet florists, designers and flower farmers for conversation and friendship.
The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 82,500 times by listeners like you. THANK YOU to each and every one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much.
Until next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And If you like what you hear, please consider logging onto Itunes and posting a listener review.
The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.
The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Wheatley and Hannah Holtgeerts. Learn more about their work at shellandtree.com.