In bloom
Dutch floral stylist Loesje van Herp tells us about working with nature to create her designs.
Hello, who are you?
Hi! I am Loesje, living in Maastricht, the south of the Netherlands in a green area surrounded by nature, with my seven-year-old boy Oskar and the love of my life, Maarten. I am a floral designer – nature inspires me infinitely, fresh or dried, at every stage and season. Every part of a plant is interesting, whether it's a seed pod, the form of a root, the fibres of a leaf. With those materials I create objects for interiors or a space. Like a hanging objects with a mix of plants, one big primal form containing various parts of different plants, or the 'flower cloth' – hand-sewn, dried flowers on textile, which can be used as a wall object. I always work with my hands and often use old fashioned household crafts such as a sewing machine or iron, for ironing flowers on textiles.
I love creating in an organic and honest way. The material holds information how to use it and forms will arise. We communicate with each other, it always feels like a love story!
I love your photographs of flowers ‘filling up empty gaps’. What is the story behind these?
Nature grows from the smallest cracks, independently strong. Every time I discover a small gap somewhere, I fill it up with a tiny garden. I like to bring the outside inside. Or, when it's created outside, I love the surprise of unexpected vegetation.
It's so much more adorable to fill a gap with nature, then to stuff it with a filler. Embrace the imperfection in life!
Where does the inspiration for flower on cloth come from?
I was invited to send in work for a floral magazine. The topic I had to work with was ‘homeland’ – one of my favourites. It captures so many feelings and memories. One of them is the memory of my mum. When I was a young girl, she used to take me on long walks in the forest and fields. We wandered through nature and picked flowers and grasses, had sweet conversations and were dazzled by nature's beauty. We always brought a large blanket with us for a picnic. Back home we tied the flowers together and dried them in her studio.
These materials offered themselves when I was wandering around in my house. It all came together like a puzzle. The dusty appearance of the woolen blanket and dried flowers, were breathing fresh energy again. A memory came to life in my house, and it's still there. One of my proudest creations so far. It's so very unique, such a different way to use dried flowers. Connected by a personal story, hands and memories. It's like floral poetry.
Can you tell us about the different projects you have worked on?
For 12 years I worked as a stylist for Sissy-Boy. There was so much growth and so many lovely products I could tell stories with. When you visit a store like that, you get inspired not only by fashion and interior products, but also very importantly, the way of styling things. Storytelling is key. In a distinctive and characteristic way you can add so much more to a single product. After working on the visual aspects in stores for several years, I was part of a great team styling campaign shoots on beautiful locations, like an old museum or a fantastic nature reserve, with crystal blue water and nothing but primal nature around us. Every shoot presented a new collection for a new season.
Sissy-Boy has a campaign every year, called ‘The green days of homeland’, where spring is celebrated and introduces new products for fashion and indoor and outdoor interior. The last one I worked on was filled with flower walls and wild gardens, where models present new outfits in blooming, colourful creations. What a dream to create them, by hands who know what to do. From start to finish, a true dream, such a wonderful shoot we had.
When did you start floral styling?
I started 20 years ago, in an education where I learned to look at nature's materials a different way. It was all about exploring what kind of information plants own and what kind of action to apply. We truly got to know each other. A wonderful, surprising way to work with nature, with patient eyes and hands.
For my graduation I chose the theme ‘stigmatise’ and I was locked up in a room during the day with unknown plants. When I entered the room, there were 50 pink geraniums in front of me. I had to create a final work in three days, learning about those plants and how to use them. A total surprise! Again, I worked with associations and the symbolic feeling geraniums have – always standing in a windowsill, often behind curtains in retirement homes. With domestic diligence that goes with this geranium, I boiled and ironed the flowers on eight cotton cloths, presenting them hanging in front of the windows of the room. While ironing the boiled flowers on cloth, I was surprised how much colour pigments they contained. Everything came together that day, the geranium and I stigmatised each other by working together, I got new information, and a story could be told. I graduated and became a master of floral design.
What is your creative workshop like?
I love to explore nature more with children. Their eyes and interest are so pure. With a poppy you can create a real great character! Or walk around the woods, share information and collect things you like and pin them to your wall at home. Simple and sweet, with a great awareness of how many beautiful things surrounding us in nature. Let's turn this new generation into nature lovers!
