We recently connected with Angie Chiuzzi and have shared our conversation below.

Angie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Learning how to design with florals can be quite objective, like any art! Learning proper mechanics is one of the most valuable skillsets to have in your floral design toolbox. Everyone thinks about design differently.. so the mechanics will be different each time too. A few of the basics include knowing how to set up an armature in a vase, compote or bowl – to wiring flowers into a boutonnière – to spiraling your stems and taping as you go when designing a bouquet – to properly setting up an archway in the way the intended design requires. All of these tasks require practice, multiple times, over and over, considering each circumstance may be completely different from the last. The flowers are different, the vessels change, the bones of the construction of each installation will almost always vary from the last.

Learning these techniques took me years to fine tune.. and honestly, I learn something new with each and every project I take on, either in a freelance setting, or with my own projects. It requires putting on a MacGyver type of brain — resourcefulness on a dime is key! Sometimes things don’t go as planned, and learning how to make do with what you have and make it work just as good- if not better, can be quite the challenge.

I think each person is different in this learning process. Motivation, time, energy, and devotion levels would likely determine how fast someone can learn these essential techniques – but most certainly experience and getting your hands into the projects physically is what will take your skills to a next level of improvement.

For me, learning floral design was something I was sort of thrown into. I began working at a flower shop, knowing nothing about flowers or design, but just that I had an appreciation for the art and love of flowers. I learned a few things at the shop, but my real introduction to the flower design world began when my best friend and I decided to start designing with flowers for weddings and events. We had each other to rely on throughout the 8 years together in business – through the countless mistakes and dusting ourselves off from the seeming failures, to finally putting something out there that felt good.. and the cycle rinses and repeats. I think this cycle never ceases – I think I will forever feel that I am a student of the flowers.

Now as a designer on my own, I am finding more of my own interpretation and voice in floral design. A big obstacle in my learning was not allowing myself to find that interpretation… of what truly inspired me. I spent so much time feeling shy about my work, comparing it to my partner’s (and others) work, and simply put.. just suffering by repressing the art I wanted to create, and feeling that I did not have what “it takes” to create. it’s a lot of conditioning to break down, and every day takes a little bit more of letting go. I have had to learn to let that inner critic say what she wants to, and then prove her wrong by doing it anyway. If there’s one thing someone can do to fast forward their design skills, is to trust your instinct and design from your heart. Don’t let your mind get in the way so much.

I think as long as we show up willing to learn and apply a few principles of design that make sense to us, our work can continue to evolve and surprise us. It’s about allowing the flowers to speak and as we listen, we become their vehicle as they tell us where they want to show up.

So, a long winded way of saying that, while logistically mechanics are very important in executing a design, it also is largely a huge part in allowing yourself to let go. Once you learn to let go a bit more each time, your work will begin to take on its own wings.. and surprise you.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Angie Chiuzzi. I got into flowers by accident – being thrown into the world of event floral designing with a few friends who were getting married at the time and needed someone to throw together some flowers. My best friend and I decided to take on the task and call ourselves Bloom Babes. From there on after, the requests continued to pour in, and we said yes to everything. it was also time where instagram was just sort of beginning to take off and getting organic following was the norm – there were no algorithm games to play. After our first trade show – it put us in the game of the event flowering world, and we were off all of a sudden without any sort of training wheels, just winging it!

Over the course of 8 years we had countless weddings and projects we worked on. Between the weddings, corporate events, special events, and floral installations, we had more than enough work lined up for us, up to a year in advance. It was pretty cool what we built – we both loved it, through the rough patches and all.

When COVID showed it’s face to the world, all of that seemingly crashed and every event we had either cancelled or postponed. Sort of left scrambling and unsure of how to handle ourselves – so we went back to school to study landscape design. We took on a few small scale/ home garden projects that were really fun, but as time went on, we realized that the event world was on it’s way to pick up again. By that time, a few things had changed, and we decided it would be best that we should continue our flowering journey separately.

A few months of contemplating what I wanted to do next, and many many life changes within that time frame – I decided I wanted to keep flowering – and this time in a much more intentional way that speaks to me deeper than before. I decided I would take up most of this year freelancing for other florists’ events and taking on just a few of my own :). And alas… Flor de Mar was born!!

Flor de Mar was created to continue my love of floral design. I mainly provide these designs for weddings, corporate, and other events.
Flor de Mar means “Flower of the Sea”. I wanted a name that would represent my family roots, and what I love most (apart from flowers) which is the ocean. I was born of immigrant Argentine parents here in California, and Flor de Mar was born with the intention of maintaining the roots of what Argentina represents – the kind people, it’s vast, dynamic and beautiful natural landscapes and plants, and the rugged, raw coast of Patagonia.

I spend a lot of my free time in the ocean surfing, and reconnecting in the water has become a very integral ritual in my life. It’s been a part of me for so long, it made sense that my heart’s work should be connected to it. I wanted Flor de Mar to represent that.

For me, its all connected – the land, flowers, art, surfing. Speaking Spanish and English fluently and interchangeably. What being brought up in two different cultures looks like. Both are felt and expressed so differently- it’s so hard to translate anything quite exact. But it is all fragments of the same language, its the flowing of both languages that paint a more colorful world. It reminds me of how we are all human and while we may speak and look differently, we all share so similarly. I feel the same about flowers and the sea. I hope these things are translated and embodied into my work :)

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think society can best support artists by lifting each other up! Recognizing that there is so much behind a single image of said artwork. Each one of us goes through a journey of pouring our hearts into our work, and many times it’s invisible – the viewer has really no idea what it takes to come to a place of completion of a piece. Just a simple acknowledgement and appreciation is enough — if it speaks to you.

As a creative, putting my work out for the world to see has felt daunting and scary at times. A simple word of encouragement or of admiration can go a long way. So sharing when it feels organic to you really feels so good :)

I do think it’s a balance though – seeking approval can be a rabbit hole that never can satisfy you. When we seek approval you begin to want it and crave it – and creating for the sake of validation tends to be creating for a reason other than the sake of creating.

I think turning the dial to just wanting to be of service and create just because , it gives you the opportunity to examine your gifts and how that is impacting others. It’s about finding your signature and discovering yourself. I think that is the most valuable and rare and most unique.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Personally, finding my own personal creative voice has been tied to so much of my expression and feeling joy. Seeing my finished pieces and installations make me feel proud of how far I have come and of how much hard work I’ve dedicated to this craft.

I look at my arms and hands after a long week of flowering – scratched up from branches, dirt under my fingernails, scabs from being poked by thorns, dry and cracked from being dipped in water so many times… And I feel stoked knowing that I gave it every ounce I had in me – I can cut thousands of stems of flowers and greenery in one week and arrange these living and breathing beings in a way that brings joy to others. It’s worth every blemish on my body and makes me emotional knowing I may have made a difference in someone’s day.

Flowers are scientifically proven to bring joy. The fact that I get to join together different combinations of them and at the end of the day call it art… oof, that’s hard to beat in my book!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.flordemardesigns.com
• Instagram: @flor.de.mar__
• Facebook: Facebook.com/flordemardesigns

Image Credits
@alihartwig @brettloiephoto