Finding Your Calling in Color: What Flowers Have Taught Me

Pink protea with friends

I read a lot of spiritual books. Self-help, philosophy, the kind of writing that asks you to slow down and pay attention. And one theme keeps surfacing: find the thing that makes your heart respond. The thing you don't have to talk yourself into.

For me, that's cooking. But it's also — absolutely, completely — flowers.

I think it's the combination of color and texture. And honestly, it's nature itself. I am endlessly inspired by the way the natural world combines color without effort, and how those same colors shift in a single moment depending on light. An arrangement I photograph in the morning is a different piece by afternoon.

When I'm building a floral piece, I start with color. I'm looking for different shades of the same hue — the way blush and mauve and deep burgundy are all in conversation with each other without being identical. Then colors that complement. Then I move to texture and what I think of as energy.

How does a flower stand? Is it straight or flowing, fat or skinny, open or still closed? Flowers grow toward the sun, which means most of them want to point skyward — and in an arrangement, you need movement in every direction to create life. So I often work with flowers at different points in their cycle. The parrot tulips in the brass compote above are naturally falling toward the ground because their stems are thin and their heads are heavy. That's not a flaw. That's the energy I needed at the base.

The vessel matters as much as anything. I'm drawn to old-fashioned containers — pieces that feel like they've held something before. The color and texture of the bowl is as foundational as the flowers themselves. You don't arrange into a container. You arrange with it.

This is the part of my work that feels less like a skill and more like a conversation. With color, with light, with whatever the flower is already doing on its own.
This is the work I bring to every event I design for — whether it's a wedding centerpiece, a corporate dinner table, or an intimate gathering in someone's home. If you've ever wanted flowers that feel alive, that respond to the light in your specific space, that are built around a vessel as intentional as the blooms themselves — I'd love to talk.

Floral design services are available throughout the Bay Area, Marin, and Wine Country. Reach out at deewagner.com.