Before leaving the UK I imagined that I’d be photographing, writing and sharing experiences regularly; initially about my travels from New York to Washington, and then about starting work at the Floret flower farm. In reality it hasn’t been quite as straight forward as that. When absolutely everything is new, it’s all so fascinating; not just meeting new people and getting to know new places, but everyday things like the extra wide roads, the timber architecture, the bird life, the sign posts, the light quality, the shops, the plants, not to mention the free-standing letterboxes that remind me of American films I’d watch as a kid in the 1990s (I’ve stared at them for too long, it’s rude, they’re in front of peoples houses)! What I’ve needed, or what I’ve wanted, to do is just soak it all up and take it all in.
So having spent the last few weeks in this sponge-like state, it occurred to me that I hadn’t really made or created anything for well over a month, probably a good couple of months actually - possibly three! So with my snips in hand I went out into the winter version of the Floret flower field and spent 20 minutes amongst the plants, bringing back hellebores, seed heads, rose hips and berries to examine and photograph. In the process I’ve realised that two things are extremely important to me. One is that I need to interact with plants (by which I also mean being out in the elements and amongst beings other than the human kind), and the second is to have a creative outlet. I need these things for my own happiness and fulfilment, and perhaps my own sanity. Perhaps everyone does.
In winter, a field or a garden can look bare and unworthy of exploration, but I’ve come to realise that there’s always treasure to be found if you go looking. As well as meeting my first hummingbird, encountering a huge bird of prey, and observing the adorable dark-eyed Juncos (the American version of the sparrow no less), I collected an armful of botanical treats, including: Hellebores, Clematis seed heads, Beech leaves, Hazel catkins, dried Acer foliage, Lily seed heads, Hypericum seed heads, Rose hips, dried Hydrangea flowers, Pieris flower buds, Crab apples & Rose leaves. I wonder what else there is to discover in and around this field next…
