the sweet smell of cedar + flora

creative director + story // kelly ernst
florists // kelly ernst – fromage floral, jules gordon – julia gordon, paulina buckley – buckley house of flowers
photography // poppy + co.
location // mhm listing – 2618 east cedar

Empowered by the gig economy, a whole new genre of florists has blossomed—artists who can freelance from company to company while still communicating their art and brand.

Three florists came together on the project “Work” to extract raw visuals from the creative process. Teaming up with BOSS Architecture, a Denver-based, multi-disciplinary design firm, the florists created visuals to juxtapose the unfinished environment of the firm’s newest project, 2618 East Cedar Avenue.

A reinterpretation of the simplicity, grace and beauty inherent in classic mid-century modern architecture, Cedar sits atop a barren landscape—a brutalist image at first, framed against December mud and slabs of concrete—the project at the moment is a construction site.  Walking through the property, the home unfolds queues relative to organization, proportion and form. The mid-century value placed on seamless living within and around nature is expressed through the brick veneer, Accoya wood, steel, concrete and glass. Showcasing an interior-exterior relationship furthered by the floral installations and their drywall dusted, plastic-covered backdrops. The ephemeral moment of this process captures the rough cut of the conceptual execution.

Florist Jules Gordon runs her studio, Julia Gordon, from Denver but has traveled around the globe. Her home is London, but she has been brought to Denver via Sydney and Chicago. She’s worked on international projects, with celebrity florists, and her inspirations are a combination of all she has seen and an expression of her personal art.

Paulina Buckley, of Buckley House of Flowers, is a New York native turned LA florist, who has made the move to Denver. Paulina explores natural beauty through rough and raw expressions of floral. She has worked with Denver locals and floral mega-houses such as Lalé Florals and Flora by Nora.

Kelly Ernst of Fromage Floral runs her project-based studio by collaborating with industry members to create highly curated floral visuals, as much an expression of her own creative goals as well as of others.

As the florists run about, transient and unhinged, there becomes little distinction between florists as creators and florists as the subject.  Personal brands and personal projects begin to narrate their place with landscape and architecture, communicating an extension of labor, spirit and style.

2618 East Cedar Avenue will be unveiled early 2020. “it is extraordinary that a new build residence can be born with timeless design, architecture + inherent soul.”

peter blank, broker – milehimodern

experience more // milehimodern