Crafts Alive - Flowers and the Maker Collaboration - Susan Early
Eight Guild makers along with sustainable local florists and flower growers have been inspired to create collaborative displays to mark the Flower Festival held at Rodmarton Manor in 1972.
Each collaboration celebrates the skills and creativity of the makers and florists. It showcases local and regional florists who practice sustainability at every stage of the process, a shared ethos of the Gloucestershire Guild.
Guild member and renowned basket maker Susan Early is working with Emma Thistlethwaite of Thistle by Nature. After 10 years of working with flowers, Emma sees Thistle by Nature as treading between a personal art practice & design offerings for ceremony, set and styling.
Emma works often with themes of circularity and seasonality and is inspired by stories rooted in the landscape and symbolism in the natural world. Thistle by Nature aims to be a place where nature and concept-led design meet, nurturing what grows between flower arranging and allowing the flowers to arrange us.
Image: Emma Thistlethwaite by Aloha Bonser Shaw
Their floral and maker collaboration combines natural plant materials and craftsmanship.
Using entirely natural ingredients, Susan and Emma’s display is inspired by the shapes of the wooden lamps that fill the Drawing Room.
The floral elements seek to echo the warmth and radiance of a glowing lamp, soft tones and extended rays evoke a sense of light. The basket giving a sense of stability and tradition grounding the piece with its familiar form.
Follow Emma on instagram
Read more about Susan Early here