September 13, 2024
Story + Stying: Romane Recalde of Le Jardin Flower Farm
Photography: John Gruen
Location: The DBO Home Studio

September,

We’ve turned a corner, I feel it in my body.

After the go go go, seven days a week, craze of summer, I’m craving a slower pace. 

It's Sunday morning, I’m sitting at my computer after a long week, trying all the tricks to ground my mind. I need it to not think for a day, an hour, a moment. I turn on etherial music, lit up a candle and pour myself a cup of maple tea, the perfect fall cozy set up.

I’m looking at the images we shot in DBO home’s studio and feel giddy inside. The feeling something you find so beautiful can trigger in you. I get that feeling when I look at a flower in the field, especially a new variety.

When I was cutting from the farm for the shoot, I had no idea what I was going to do. This happens a lot. In all honesty, I was a bit frustrated and overwhelmed, should I choose a color palette now? Won’t that limit me? I’m not feeling that inspired in the moment, so should I cut everything to have options? But that will lead to waste and more overwhelm on the shoot day… Ughh! What was going on in my mind was exhausting me.

Unsure and undecided, I start cutting anyway, no time to stall, the shoot was the next day.

I cut the first bucket from the perennial border. Still uninspired and discouraged, I head to the flower field. I’m faced with blooms in all the colors of the rainbow. Where do I start? I always tell my students “fall in love with one thing and go from there”. A patch of self seeded foxgloves catches my eye. I find them so magical, always feeling like a fairy is going to pop out from one of the blooms. They’ve mixed themselves amongst the “frosted explosion” grass, making it look like glitter all around them. By now, the light has shifted and as autumn sunsets do, is turning everything pink. I can feel my nervous system getting calmer. This is my color palette, the magic hour palette. Pink, mauves, burgundy, glittering grasses. I cut as much as I can before it’s too dark for me to see, tuck the flowers away in the cool shed and head in to get some shut eye before the shoot day.

Arriving at DBO home is an experience in and of itself. John, the photographer is there to greet me. Dana, DBO’s ceramist, takes me to the studio and with a nonchalant “use whatever you like” heads out to get fresh croissants. My eyes must have been glittery from excitement - a kid in a Christmas shop. I pick out the sweetest espresso cups, a graceful vase and delicate dessert coupes. The fun begins.

Tucked away in Dana’s photo shed I play around with last night’s freshly picked flowers. My process, much like my ingredient choosing process is uncertain at first. I take action anyway. Step by step, it comes together in images that, to me, reflects what collaboration with other artists can lead to. Magic.

Just a note from me about this beautiful story.

First off, I am so delighted to now know my neighbor Romane and to be able to immerse myself in her magical world of floral fantasy. I was surely amazed to see her grab up some pieces I never would have thought to use for arranging these blooms. So I do hope you are noticing the Battuto Espresso Cup, the Bare Dessert Coupe and the Wabi Tea Cup along with the various vases she chose. What great inspiration for thinking outside the boundaries of the ordinary.

I connected John and Romane for this story knowing that John has created some incredible images for White Flower Farm, New England Home and Country Living (to name a few), and that these two talents would have a wonderful time creating spectacular imagery. I was quite surprised when they chose to make this magic happen in my workspace. How John and Romane turned my clay dusty, filled-to-the-brim studio into these beautiful scenes still amazes me. Though I will admit that our garden shed does make a fabulous photo spot.

- Dana