One of Braiden’s flower arrangements, photographed by Spencer Johnson, her talented husband

One of the most relaxing things I do in my daily life, my life away from work, is designing beautiful flower arrangements. They’re not for sale. . .just something I like to have around the house for a bit of color and inspiring natural beauty.

After I put together my arrangements, if they are pretty enough, my husband takes them down to his studio and photographs them on a black velvet background using his big professional digital camera and lens. Quite often, I post the photos on my other Web site, and thought I’d do the same thing on this site as well.

The arrangement above especially appeals to me since my favorite color is purple. I love the way the cool green pompoms contrast so well with the elegant tall purple stalks (don’t know what type of flower they are).

A few Sundays ago, The Seattle Times Pacific Northwest magazine had an article on flower arranging by long-time contributor and gardening guru, Valerie Easton. Entitled, “Bouquets From Your Garden Bring the Beauty Inside,” the following paragraph especially spoke to me:

“If flowers are distilled emotion, then gathering and combining them into a single arrangement is surely the most expressive of arts. Then there’s how thoroughly absorbing it is once you get going. All you need is sharp shears, a fresh bucket of cool water to plunge the stems into as soon as you cut them, and a quiet place to work with what you’ve cut. A little music and a cup of tea wouldn’t hurt to slow you down.”