The Story of Gathered

Flowers are storytellers. They are fraught with symbolism, a rich, intricate history, and their own language.

Gathered: Storied Botanicals is a podcast in which I meld my experiences as a floral designer with my writing. These art forms have set me out to navigate the ways in which they align and inform each other. Like a braid, words, flowers, and art play off each other, overlap, and diverge from each other. They have given me fertile ground to explore and to cultivate the stories here. I hope this can be a place to pass along those stories.

A bit about me: I love stories in all their forms. Like a moth to a flame, I’ve always been drawn to the gather-round-the-campfire allure of a great story. The ability to provoke thought, the thrill, escapism, intimacy, and comradery are all things I love—and strive for—in my writing.

After earning my B.F.A. in art history from Savannah College of Art & Design, I stumbled into the floral industry. From assistant to designer, I’ve gotten to work in Charleston South Carolina, the Washington D.C. area, and Chicago all with pet rabbits in tow.

A call for a new adventure came when I decided to go back to school. With Flemish Giant, Clover, alongside, I moved to Chicago and earned my M.F.A. in writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. This is also where my floral design work and my writing work intersected. Since then, I strive to find ways that marry these two loves.

Flannery O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy, and Mary Oliver currently sit with me at my writing desk and nightstand. I’m continuing to sharpen my floristry skills back in my hometown of Middleburg, VA at flower and plant shop, Nature Composed. In addition, I’m (slowly) working to finish my first novel, get my hands dirty in the garden, build my Etsy shop, Storied Botanicals, and continue to grow my podcast.