Sustainable floral animal sculptures - NEW PIECES ARRIVING ALL THE TIME
By Poppy Wilson
Original artworks
Sustainably-sourced flowers, moss and pine cones on a recycled wood frame
Wall-mountable
Serenity - Botanical Stag: H: 56cm x W: 44cm - £245
Botanical Hare: H: 42cm x W: 24cm - £175
Mini Stags (Burford and Pink shown above) - £125 each
Poppy Wilson has combined her academic Animal Science background with experience in working with animals and her wedding floristry know-how to design these charming stag and hare floral artworks.
It's traditional flower arranging combined with floral sculpture - and a far-preferable and prettier alternative to taxidermy.
'Serenity - Botanical Stag', 'Botanical Hare' and the Mini Stags are hand-made with dried flowers symbolically linked with love and romance (see list below), plus preserved moss, pine cones and teasels. They will last for years, as long as you don't put them in a sunny or humid place.
Poppy grows and dries her own flowers and dyes her own moss and, in a touch of pure serendipity, the creatures' noses are made from pine cones from her grandparents' garden.
Once the flowers have bloomed, between June and October, they are harvested. Drying involves hanging the blooms in her workshop for the air-drying process to take place, which can take three to five weeks.
"I’m self-taught and have focused on sustainability with my designs from the beginning. I am very lucky to live on a farm and be able to grow my own British flowers which can be dried in my workshop and used in the designs. I am looking to expand and grow more varieties of flowers in 2024-25, with long lasting colour and textures in mind."
The floral sculptures are mounted on a bespoke recycled MDF 'skeleton' and wall plaque.
Via the gallery, Poppy will also take on commissions, if particular colour schemes or flower types are required.
Care instructions: gently dust with a soft brush or duster but take care around the flowers. Alternatively, a hair dryer on a low and cool setting is a good way to blow the cobwebs away and maintain a vibrant appearance.
ABOUT POPPY WILSON
Having grown up on the family farm near Cheltenham, Poppy studied Animal Science at the University of Nottingham. She went on to work with animals in a range of contexts, from animal rescue charities to farm animal veterinary research.
Poppy launched her flower sculpture venture in 2022. She has focused on growing her own British flowers, sustainably - often choosing straw flowers or others that retain their colour - and also does her own flower drying and dyes her own moss.
“My Botanical Stag and Hare Heads are crafted using a combination of mainly home-grown and dried flowers and preserved moss, collected from the farm.
“The floristry industry can have a negative impact on the environment due to sourcing flowers from hotter climates, transportation into other countries and the plastic packaging around every bunch which goes to landfill.
"For my work, the moss, acorns, pinecones and teasels are collected from different parts of the farm on a rotational basis. These are all sustainably collected where they can be found in abundance, to preserve ecosystems and maintain biodiversity. We only collect small amounts of everything: it is especially important with moss that we take no more than what we need for our projects.
"For the past two years we have been growing both fresh flowers and flowers for drying in the orchard next to our workshop. Each year the flower growing patch grows and, by trial and error, we introduce different flower varieties to work out what thrives in our soil. Currently, we use both our homegrown flowers and 'bought in' flowers, trying to buy from as many British flower farmers as possible. However, each year we get closer to being fully reliant on our own sustainably grown flowers."