Meet Literary Blooms
Cherish and Lacy | Literary Blooms
Where are you from and does that affect your work?
We are from Portland, OR which we think has a direct impact on our business model and our work. Portland is known for being an environmentally conscience and responsible city, with an emphasis on recycling and reducing waste. Around 320 million books end up in our landfills each year… 320 million! Our goal with Literary Blooms is to reduce book waste by transforming old, damaged books that would otherwise end up in the landfill, into beautiful paper roses that will last in your home forever!
Portland is also the home to one of the country’s largest independent bookstores, Powell’s City of Books. We are avid book lovers and readers, often spending our weekends and extra spending money on new and used books!
That is so many books! Who/what is your biggest artistic influence?
Our biggest artistic influences are the authors who write the books that we make our flowers from! We started Literary Blooms for Lacy’s wedding, by selecting books that were special to her and her husband. We love making flowers from classic, timeless stories like Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. We also love making flowers from children’s books with beautiful illustrations like Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
How do you define success as an artist?
Success as an artist is an ever-fluctuating thing. We both consider ourselves lucky and successful to have Literary Blooms be our full-time jobs. But the biggest meter of success for us is connecting with fellow book lovers. When our flowers cause an emotional response from people who love the stories we love and appreciate seeing them brought to life in another medium, there is no feeling like it!
What would you say is the hardest part of the creation process?
The hardest part of our creative process is time. Every single one of our petals are hand drawn, cut by hand, curled individually, and then glued onto our stems one at a time. Each flower takes us about an hour to make from start to finish, and we’ve been making them for over six years! We have experimented with different tools to streamline our process, like the Circuit machine and die-cut machines, but our flowers are as special as they are because we take so much time making sure illustrations are featured and that titles and character names are easily seen. As soon as you look at one of our flowers, we hope you instantly recognize what book they are made from. That is something that can only be accomplished in our step-by-step, handmade process.
That is very cool. How has your style changed over time?
Our goal with Literary Blooms is to honor the stories we are using and to make our flowers look as realistic as possible. When we first started, we used thin, plain floral wire, and our petals were smaller which didn’t allow for much of the story to be easily recognizable. We have adapted our petal shapes and sizes to be large enough to feature as much of the stories as possible, and our stems are now on a thicker, green stem with rich, dark green leaves. One of the greatest compliments we receive is how realistic the flowers look now!
What is your favorite piece that you have created and why?
One of the best things about our product is that it is so easily customizable! We often get requests for custom orders and our favorite thing is to see what other people come up with creatively! The greatest honor for us has been making flowers for weddings. We make bridal bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, and more! Being able to help happy couples add a personal touch to their big day by using stories that are important to them is always so special for us!
What do you love most about Pasadena?
Pasadena is one of our favorite areas in LA! We love the diverse, artistic community. Pasadena is also home to one of our favorite independent bookstores in Octavia’s Bookshelf. This bookstore celebrates Black authors, queer authors, and dozens of independent artists. It is a beautiful, welcoming shop that always has an amazing selection!
Find Literary Blooms at Jackalope Pasadena on April 27th & 28th, 2024.
Website: Www.literaryblooms.com