“Anonymous as cherubs
Over the crib of God,
White seeds are floating
Out of my burst pod.
What power had I
Before I learned to yield?
Shatter me, great mind;
I shall possess the field.”
– From “Two Voices in a Meadow,” by Richard Wilbur
Meadow. The word, for me, is filled with personal meaning. I imagine and daydream about meadows all the time— lavender fields, seemingly without end, and great grassy places filled with flowers peculiar to whichever country I want to visit. There are, of course, the meadows that I have walked through – meadows mostly of my childhood; real, remembered, and dear. This word, ‘meadow,’ and I have extensive personal history, and I associate it with a very particular experience of beauty and freedom. The word feels like a personal prayer—perhaps the prayer of my life. If that prayer could take shape, it might look like all the careworn bouquets of times past—gathered with greedy, messy, joy. Or it might be more disembodied– milkweed, shattered by the wind, as in that great poem. Its pods floating, suspended, like wing-bits of a dove.
In meadows, these places of untamed beauty, time exists differently. They seem to invite human experience—tall grasses seem made for laying in, and flowers invite our gaze. Meadows are beautiful, and wild, and free; here, the soul can be at rest. In my work as a floral designer, I am always trying to emulate not only this aesthetic, but this kind of experience of nature and beauty. An invitation to experience something wilder, more real, more intimate.
I think the meadow was the first place I ever touched the ‘beyond’—the creative realm, maybe, or the dream of more, which inhabits every human soul. Surrounded by flowers, I felt a deep peace, a deep rest, and I felt, somehow, understood. I knew this place, and it, in some way knew me. We feel this way when we encounter certain works of art, or music, or literature. They instantly resonate with us, even claim us. We know them, and know that they will somehow be ours forever. When I experienced flowers, it wasn’t a question of why. My hands were drawn to them, naturally. The connection was and is innate.
In my prayer life, I have a recurring vision of peace. Myself, walking and talking companionably with the Savior. We have easy rapport—the kind of understanding that comes from a lifetime of knowing and talking to someone. The conversation fills a need that no one and nothing else can. I am perfectly fulfilled, perfectly at peace, and I walk through fields without end. It is the one vision that carries me, that instantly calms me, that reminds me that there is something beyond this here and now.
In our artistic work, sometimes, we need to get to the essential reason. Ever since I began working as a floral designer, my reasons felt completely known to me. This winter, it suddenly occurred to me that I had grown, really matured into myself and my decisions. It felt like it would be nice if my business and all of my offerings belonged to a name and a concept that felt so essential, so very me. It was, for once, an easy, painless, peaceful decision. Meadow. I have this space, this journal, called by the same name. Why shouldn’t all of my offerings, my writing, and my floral work, be so perfectly aligned?
Meadow feels like the perfect embodiment of what it is I want to achieve in and through my floral work. I want to offer my clients and anyone who sees my work this sense of freedom; this invitation to really experience something beautiful. And I have always wanted, through my wedding work, to offer brides something more than beautiful flowers. I want them to feel, when they look at their flowers, as though I have seen them. As though they have been understood. This is how I first felt in a meadow of flowers—completely known. Wordlessly acknowledged, and seen. Rewarded with beauty that seems to reflect my innermost values.
I want to create from that praying place I spoke of earlier. My faith is my reason for being. Sometimes I stray and I often falter, but I am happiest when I am walking in obedience, surrender, and joyful fellowship with Christ. This is my purpose, the path on which I belong. I want to create things that flow from a good and pure heart.
In artistic work, we create with things both material and immaterial. In floral work in particular, we build great events out of dreams, memories, feelings, associations, ephemera. I can’t know the private experience that has brought each client to where she is—to this point in her story. But sometimes, I am blessed by God and the artistry He’s entrusted me with, and I come close to creating something that satisfies. I create something that feels like a part of someone’s personal history, that feels understood, and I know this surpasses any personal ability I have.
I associate meadows with love. With walking the fields hand-in-hand. I often think of that perfect hour, the gloaming hour– when the day’s work is done, and the soul wants rest and companionship. When fields and meadow grasses turn golden and people remember to love one another. I have always been looking for this otherworldly but very practical, grounding love. The work I do for weddings is a kind of tribute to it.
My flowers aren’t all deliberately meadow-y– some designs are over-the-top, surreal, romantic, improbable. But I always try to work with what is seasonal, and try to apply a light and minimal hand. I have learned a little about growing, and I am keenly interested in practicing this for the rest of my life. And I look at each flower with the eye of someone who has observed and loved nature– and especially untamed nature– all her life. Mine is an adoring touch, because I am in love– with the weight of all that word means– with flowers.
We, all of us, have places and people in our lives that follow us everywhere, that come to be a part of us. Meadows occupy an essential place in my mind, heart, and my creative world. I want everything I create to be in some small way an extension of this original feeling, this prayer, this place. Each project, each writing, each arrangement, and each wedding a small flower gleaned from my meadow. The meadow-state that I pursue, the place I pray from, and try to create from every day.
View my floral work and visit my website: www.meadowfloralstudio.com
Follow me on Instagram: @meadowbymckenzie or https://www.instagram.com/meadowbymckenzie/
And Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/meadowfloralstudio/
