It is our absolute pleasure to feature one of our faves, Jessenia of Vida en Bloom with you today! If you have seen flowers from any of our recent projects, more than likely, they have been hers. She is talented, sweet, and one of those people you can’t help but feel so grateful to have met. We can’t wait for you to get to know her better! Enjoy! xo
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Hi Jessenia! We are so happy to be chatting with you! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background:
My passion for gardening and all things floral began with my grandmother in Nicaragua. Tending to the garden, learning alongside my Abuelita, I quickly learned to take my green thumb indoors and began arranging flowers throughout her home. You can say I’ve been arranging and designing flowers the majority of my life. After 15+ years in the corporate world, I decided to change course, follow my dream and open my own floral design studio, Vida en Bloom.
Describe yourself and your artistry:
I interpret life through my floral designs. You can say my expression of art is capturing mood, energy, a client’s personality, and what they see in a floral design. The concept of taking colors, textures, and tones and building a balance of how I perceive the client’s vision. It is also an expression of myself and how I interpret things in my surroundings.
Where do you find inspiration?
Inspiration is constant, I am inspired throughout the day by architecture, landscape design, colors on clothing/apparel; all things around me inspire me. My surroundings are always providing me with inspiration: it can be one pattern on top of another, it can be the way a shadow gets cast off the wall and how it picks up on other objects – what I absorb from my surroundings naturally becomes incorporated into my floral designs.
What is a typical workday like for you?
A typical workday starts at 4:30AM with a trip to the floral market in downtown Los Angeles. My happy place. I can spend hours here, and find so much joy in talking with my vendors, friends I’ve made along the way, discovering and working with new flowers, and simply learning. I love flowers that are unique! After my trip to the floral market, I make a stop at my favorite coffee shop, The Boy & The Bear Coffee (the best Columbian coffee in town). I get back to my studio and process the flowers. While the flowers are hydrating before I start to design, I respond to client emails, prepare proposals, sketch my floral designs for upcoming projects, work on admin-related matters and accounting. Then I get to creating and designing one-of-a-kind florals for my clients. I try to squeeze a spin class or Pilates class into my day; it helps to keep my mind and body balanced. During quarantine, I’ve enjoyed cooking so much and tend to end my day with making a home-cooked meal for me and my husband and having a FaceTime date with my Mom and Sister who live in the Bay Area.
What does your workspace look like? Do you work from home or in a studio? Tell us about your space!
I have an indoor/outdoor studio and my studio is always filled with flowers whether fresh or preserved - it’s the best feeling in the world being surrounded by flowers. I have good size windows that give excellent natural light throughout the studio and help me feel like I am connected to the outdoors and the gorgeous greenery and landscape that surround my studio.
Who are some of your favorite artists? Artists, musicians — any creative!
I have numerous amounts of favorite artists from Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Rembrandt, and Monet, to name a few.
Don’t get me started on favorite musicians, the list is endless, but I love Poolside, SG Lewis, Leisure, Bob Moses, Local Natives, Franc Moody, Men I Trust, FKJ, Leon Bridges, Tame Impala. We share a curated playlist via Spotify for our Instagram followers and friends that is released on the 1st of every month, that is so much fun to put together. There is always music playing in the studio.
My husband has been an inspiration to me, he is an artist himself and his mind is brilliant. He is a designer of multiple disciplines and always challenges me beyond my comfort zone. I am very lucky to work with some of the best, most creative, and talented humans in the industry that inspire me on the daily, from photography, art, ceramics to interior design.
Where can readers see more of your work, and keep up with your creative journey?
You can find my work on Instagram @vidaenbloom or vidaenbloom.com. There are also a few events scheduled for the near future and we’ll be sure to announce them as soon as the dates have been confirmed.
What are the next steps in your career — what are you looking forward to?
My next step is opening a brick-and-mortar that gives me the opportunity to take my florals further into the community and give me the reach to do more projects with florals in different arenas.
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Thanks for sitting down with us Jessenia! We are so inspired by you! x
Photography by Charlotte Lea Photography .