SMH, Inc Pinterest Pages / The Sea

Many people would say there is nothing more therapeutic than a day at the beach, for land lovers, it seems we almost love the sea more, Humans were not born in the sea and yet we are mystified and engaged by it’s magical pull. Often the sea is nostalgic of our childhoods and the smells and taste of the ocean we would all agree is like no other.

As with many of us fortunate enough to live by a coastline, the sea has spoken to me my whole life. It started with my Grandmother Kit in who lived in Mentone, Melbourne, Australia near the beach and every summer as a small child we would go with her on the weekend and the best bit for me was she would shout us an Eskimo Pie on the way home. For those who did not grow up in Australia, An Eskimo Pie was a very cold Ice cream covered in Chocolate with mint flavoring. An Australian classic from another era.

As I grew older, My Parents moved from Melbourne to the Northern Beaches of Sydney where my younger sisters took to the beach like bees to honey but I didn’t have the same reaction. Maybe it was because it seemed like beach overload in overly sunny Sydney, I was used to short spurts and a quick dip now and then but in Sydney it was full time beach all the time. While others toyed with lemon juice in the hair and sunflower oil on the skin to create the ultimate surfie look, I could never keep up with my burnt to a crisp beach loving schoolmates.

Still, Sea life is a favorite theme at SMH, Inc, We love Art Directing and styling a sea themed story, it’s reflected in our Pinterest board called The Sea. See highlights from this board above and check us out on Pinterest.  

For all Photographic credits, check the images on Pinterest for links. 

Light & Bright/ Neutrals shine through

Left: Image from Alvo Alvo, Right: Japanese Architecture

Left: Image of eggs by the wonderful Photographer Amy Neunsinger, Right: Work by leading architects David Chipperfield Architects

Left: Image by the amazing Photographer Nicholas Alan Cope Right: From: French landscape from Brume, Nature is our best source

Left: An empty white room, Right: Image from then amazing Danish Design Lab Studio Oink 

Left: Image from the talented Photographer, Writer and Stylist Kara Rosen Lund, Right: Photography by a fave of ours, Anders Schønnemann

Left: Recently departed but never forgotten, Zaha Hadid Right: The breathtaking Immanuel Church and Parish Centre by the amazing German Architectural practise Sauerbruch Hutton

Left: We love Hay Copenhagen Right: Refreshing milk

Left: By artist Jen Lee, Untiled, Image from Crude Vessels, Right: Still Life From Hitta Hem

Neutral palettes are a favorite in many design circles, a minimalist’s dream come true is an all white room, and there have been many parodies in this, including my favorite in the TV show Absolutely Fabulous where Patsy and Eddie make the terrifying mistake of bringing a bottle of red wine to their all white minimalist friends house only to leave it outside the door in fear it will be a glaringly obvious faux par.

As most designers know, white comes in a million shades and while we consider it an obvious choice for a clean look, you have to pick your whites carefully. A warm creamy white feels totally different to a crisp clinical one and will give you a completely different look or feel.

Whites in nature inspire, the white of an egg, the crisp blanket of snow that can cover a city overnight. The bark of birch tree and a glass of frothy milk. More often than not, Architects and Interior Designers embrace white as a color of choice, it feels harmonious and reflects light in the most beautiful way.

At Studio Marcus Hay, We love working with white, In a world often saturated with an overload of color options, white offers a sophisticated platform in which to create, It’s painterly quality and neutrality means concentrating on composition rather than worrying about the clash of using multiple colors.

Pinterest is also a Stylist’s and Art Director’s new best friend, these images are from my folders you can check out. These layouts were created for the sole purpose of this blog only, all images are credited where possible, Let us know if it’s not the case and we can amend. We aim to highlight all the amazing work done by so many fellow people using flowers as their medium and inspiration. Thank you for bringing refreshing neutrality into our lives! 

Bloom Boom/ The Power of the Flower

Left: Art Direction: By the amazing team at The Artful Desperado and Ali & Sunday, Floral Arrangements: Ali & Sunday, Photography: Tomasz Wagner Right: Instagram/ Olivia Lea

Left: Unknown, Right: Heirloom garden roses

Left: Unknown, Right: Urban Outfitters skateboard

Left: Image from vsco.it, Right: Flora Print by the very talented  Britt Hermann/ Etsy

Left: Spotted Hyena's, Photo: Unknown, Left: Amazing cabinet, Designer Unknown

Left: Unknown, Right: from kvtes.tumblr.com, Right: From a beautiful site Sinjabloeme Flower Arrangements

Left: From one of my favorite Photographers and fellow Australian Martyn Thompson, A master at flower photography, Right: The very talented Erba Studio based out of Portland

Left: From a beautiful site Brown Dress with White Dots, Right: From the amazing Peartree Flowers based in Brooklyn, NY/ Matchbook Magazine 

Left: Photo by the wonderful iconic Photographer Melvin Sokolsky, Right: Peonie, Unknown  

Forget about that furry variety of friend, on a photo shoot, flowers are a Stylist and Art Director’s best friends. So many times when setting up a shot, everything can look amazing but it is that last punctuation of including something living in the shot that unlocks the key and confirms as human’s how we subconsciously respond to organics and more than often not, it makes the shot come alive literally in front of you like magic.

I also can’t count the number of times when transiting back from the flower markets on the subway, how a usually checked out of life, fellow commuter’s eyes light can up with sudden joy, at the peek of a beautiful spring blossom pushing it’s way through the brown paper. In my job I am constantly carrying around bundles of living joy, for me, it’s my cute baby or sweet puppy; they can’t help but get a reaction! Flowers have an immediate pull of emotion that encourages random opportunities for communication and thus they represent so much more than we give them acknowledgement for.

People can get very, very personal about flowers also, I will never forget on a certain shoot some years back with a particular Photographer whose bent and passion was with flowers to a fanatical extent, having to watch from the sidelines them throwing down on the floor in a heap my artfully arranged flower compositions with disgust and rearranging them themselves. Needless to say being just as spirited about organics myself, I have never really gotten over that moment but it made me realize how riled up and what a personal reaction flowers can have. The comment Madonna made years ago about hating Hydrangeas given to her by a fan that got her into a lot of trouble surprised me, how can someone hate a flower? 

When someone on set turns up his or her nose at a certain variety I always think it’s telling. The truth is often flowers will remind us of certain events in our life. Sometimes to be honest a certain flower can seemed dated, like for me, a poor gerbera daisy will always remind me of the 1990’s and VW bugs with test tube vases and I just can’t use them but then sometimes I will surprise myself and when a flower can be presented in an unexpected way, with the right setting you can begin see it’s beauty in a whole different light. Sometimes I make it my personal mission to try and bring back an unfairly deemed unfashionable variety of flower, for instance when you take baby’s breath out of a 1980’s inspired corsage and by itself, it’s actually quite a beautiful thing, It’s by association with being combined with another variety, it got in trouble in the first place.

When someone on set twitches and almost dry heaves at the sight of a certain variety, , you really wonder what the story is? One thing is for certain there is always a certain trepidation involved as a Stylist when bringing flowers onto a set, that it is possible that one of the key players on set may have some back story that you could have never had guessed and the day could be doomed from the early unwrapping of the flowers because you did not know for instance that you unlocked a hidden fear brought on by the scent of lilies. The reality is you could never know what could have made them run out of the room in a flushed and sweaty state, but flowers will bring out all sorts of emotions and that’s why there is power in that flower! …Boom it can knock you out!

Pinterest is also a Stylist’s and Art Director’s new best friend, these images are from my folders you can check out. These layouts were created for the sole purpose of this blog only, all images are credited where possible, Let us know if it’s not the case and we can amend. We aim to highlight all the amazing work done by so many fellow people using flowers as their medium and inspiration. Thank you for bringing beauty into our lives!