Irish Makers at Work / Claire Ryan of the Informal Florist

It’s time for another instalment of my collaboration with talented photographer Christine Burns today. This time, we get to have a reunion with the Informal Florist! Doing this interview was so fun, because the last time I featured Claire on my website was when I interviewed her for Poppytalk over two years ago!

I’ve been the recipient of some of Claire’s work in the meantime, when she did the beautiful floral arrangements for my 30th birthday dinner party last year. But I haven’t had the chance to chat with her about the Informal Florist business in quite a while, so this is an exciting update because Claire’s business has grown so much in the last few years.

The first big change in the world of the Informal Florist was the studio, where Claire is able to work without her two little blonde munchkins getting into the arrangements. With whitewashed walls and lots of space for her vessels up on the walls, the new studio is a welcome addition to the operation. Claire admits the studio is regularly freezing, which is “fantastic for flowers” but means she can’t sit still for long before the chill sets in!

Of course, with the unusually warm summer we had, Claire had the opposite problem and was bringing in bags of ice to keep the flowers cool. We both agreed we probably won’t have an Irish summer like that again for a very long time!

Claire now creates arrangements on specially made wooden tables, hand crafted from hundred year old wood and old hospital steel legs by a carpenter in her neighborhood. They’re just the right height and, Claire admits, “They’re my babies.”

 

 

 

The second big change is that Claire has welcomed a partner in the Informal Florist, Patsy Rafter. The two met at a wedding event in Dublin and became fast friends. With the addition of a partner for the Informal Florist, Claire is managing to balance the hours she spends creating beautiful arrangements with the hours she spends with her family.

The addition of a partner has also meant the re-opening of the Informal Florist shop! If Michael and I weren’t going to be gone over Christmas, there would be an Informal Florist Christmas wreath on our door. Honestly, there might be anyway – at least our neighbors would enjoy it! 

I asked Claire if she thought her style had changed over the last few years of owning her flower business, and she said the biggest change isn’t in her style but in her knowledge of flowers themselves. And she has learned she can’t discount any flowers – even calla lilies, flowers she admittedly couldn’t stand a few years ago. A wedding color palette required a deep, dark flower and she landed on almost-black calla lilies and fell in love with them. Now, she says, “I’ll never completely discount anything!”

This reflects Claire’s overall goal with the Informal Florist – to keep her arrangements beautiful but approachable. “If you do something and you like it, it’s beautiful to you.”

 

I can’t wait to see where the Informal Florist is in another few years! And I’m seriously eyeing those tables and those giant dahlias!

Thanks, Claire, for chatting with me, and thanks to Christine for sharing these gorgeous photos!

Missed the earlier Makers at Work? Visit KaroArt, Mianra Soaps, and Fawn Prints.