My Sun

Easter Design

A Springtime Reminder

 Generally,

A few pictures go a long way. 

But this is just a snapshot into my last month in Oregon. 

This spring has cemented the fact that I enjoy learning and working with flowers more than I could have ever imagined. 

Each day is about expanding what I still don't know, and learning from others possessed knowledge. 

Friends all around me are inspiring me to grow my passion for florals in new and exciting ways. Pushing me to test my boundaries of design, dreams and understanding.

I am so fortunate to be surrounded by people who follow their passion everyday: 

For photography, science, and life...

I know SO little when it comes to these things. 

And it's such a great reminder of all of the differences between hearts, and minds that keeps the world running smoothly.

And make it such an exciting and beautiful place to live.

Flowers for Men

I do not think that flowers are a simple "fad" 

They will not be just another spring collection that is forgotten once summer arrives. 

Floral prints are a constant within fashion. 

They are a constant within art. 

Because

They are a constant within consumerism. 

Cut flowers make up a 40 billion dollar industry that continues to grow in terms of national and local development.  

Yet as a sociologist, and hopeful business owner, I have to notice that my demographics

Are glaringly gendered. 

I want to change that. 

And to change it, means posing and answering these questions first.

Why is it that flowers are feminine?

Why is it that floral prints make up the majority of females spring fashion but are lacking within mens wear?

Why is it that the majority of men do not buy flowers for their homes?

Why is it that this industry is based and backed off of the big bucks of high class females? 

Well...Where the heck do I start? 

I'll start here:

I SAY, LET THEM HAVE FLOWERS. 

FLOWERS. 

FLORAL.

BLOSSOMS.

BLOOMS.

FOR ALL. 
FOR EVERYONE

Because, well... because why the fuck not? 

Men deserve them too. 

 

 

 
All Images from Pintrest. Feel free to follow me to explore more pictures! 

Flowers as symbols of love

A FLORAL AFFAIR: DAN MCCAW

Who can compare to the calendula in brilliance?

Sweet pea and peonies perhaps, but no gentleman.

Oh no,

The supremacy of flora,

Much stronger a passion than a sugary kiss from the most dashing man

For even that man, as quick witted as he may be, can’t get me to swoon like

The lilac can in April,

Lain so heavy with perfumed blooms

That any unadventurous oxygen, that sadly is

Not ripe with the ethereal drug seems a bit too bitter.

You know,

I would lay comatose just to smell another cosmos

-Hannah Muller

Hallie and Diego's wedding part one:

 I thought I would share a few lovely photos from the wedding as they are rolling in. All of these beautiful photos were captured by our dear friend Jacob Katz. He did an incredible job, and captured so many special moments for our families. I know there will be plenty more photos to come... but here are a few to show you just how incredible this day was. 

The Dream

I have always been one to believe that dreams, both of the day and night, mean more than just possessing a strong imagination. For many years when I was growing up, I had a reoccurring dream about a young wild haired me, getting lost as I went for a swim in the swift river below my parents farm.  Each time, I would wade to a river bank, and find myself at an old house whose owner would point me back in the direction of my family.

This dream has been finding its way back to me recently as I explore my future after college. In just a few months, I will be living within that same reoccurring dream. As I leave Oregon, wild haired Hannah will be wading down an unknown river, in search of something familiar that can help guide her towards her new home.

Over the past two years, I have gotten a stronger sense of where I would like to begin building a home among the flowers. I took these pictures when I was back down in the Capay Valley for my sisters wedding. Each time I find myself exploring the dream of making this property into a flower farm I get shivers. It would be my ultimate fairy farm. 

Yet, just like a wise man (Dumbledore) said to a young Harry Potter...
"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
So, I am keeping in mind that I will continue to grow, adapt, and have new dreams as the years come.
But, I will also work. And work. And work. And work. Because dreams are nothing without follow-through, and years of sweat, clipper wounds and tears.

Because just like my dream that I had countless times growing up, I never knew the exact direction of my home... or when I would get there, but I knew it was well worth the wait.

Reflection and Culture

In my Culture and Sociology class we are diving deep into defining and learning more about cultural objects. So often in my sociology classes, I find incredible overlap with my fascination with flowers and find it helps to apply my understanding of readings to my dream of floristry. This cross-comparison was simple as flowers have been cultural objects for centuries. 
Flowers, as cultural objects stand for beauty, poise, power, passion and countless other relevant terms that are desired and striven for across countless places. 
As we are learning in class, there are two different ways to understand cultural symbols and their intermingling with the social world. 
Marx believed that cultural symbols are reflections of the social world and have derived meaning from their surroundings. In this understanding of Marx's reflection theory, we could believe that flowers are cultural representations of those ideals that are already possessed and desired by individuals within each society.
In contrast to this idea, Weber believed that cultural objects help to create the world around us by bringing meaning to our surroundings. This understanding sounds a bit more romantic to me, as it would assume that flowers have helped to create those very attributes that we desire to see thrive and grow within individuals.

 Each of these theories are fascinating to apply to the floral world as flowers continue to change and morph over time and reflect the changing world around us. Yet, even as the world changes, people get busier, and lines get longer... flowers still bloom every spring. Lupines still burst forth from the ground across the country and sunflowers break through concrete searching for light.

As we learn more about reflection within cultural objects, we have also been learning a bit about Plato's idea of reflection. Just to touch on the idea, as it too applies to my interest in flowers, and the drawings below... Plato believed and taught that God created the "Ideal Form" of all things. Including flowers. Then, to mirror Gods creation, there are those who create the "physical", like us humans who create the flower we desire by fussing with seeds, cross-pollinating blooms and searching for the darkest of the hellebores to save for next year. Lastly, Plato saw artists as producing an "imperfect copy of an imperfect copy" and distorting reality so that we were farther from the ideal desired form that God wanted to create.
Well Plato, I say, no matter how far I am getting from Gods perfect vision... I will continue drawing, and painting flowers until the day that I die.