Whether it’s sharing her analytical brilliance with her AP English Literature class or confidently leading the Warrior Health Society meetings during their meetings, Westmont senior Elizabeth Shamgin (AKA Liza) certainly shows off her many academic talents to her peers. However, something you may not know about her is her knack for creating beautiful flower bouquets. Through thoughtful color combos and an eye for detail, Liza carefully curates floral arrangements for herself and for her friends and family.
How long have you been into making bouquets?
I think I started really making bouquets myself last summer when I was assigned the task of arranging a bouquet for our research program’s instructor. Before, I have only ever helped my mom with making bouquets by picking out flowers or cutting off thorns, so I mostly winged it. However, I started making bouquets a lot more actively since this January & choosing my arrangements from Trader Joe’s or my garden.
Since I know you also paint, how has your preferred art medium of choice changed with time?
I have always enjoyed painting, but I evolved from using mainly gouache in my pieces towards acrylics. I admire the saturation of color I am able to get with acrylic paints and the variety I have in the subject of my paintings, which are mainly landscapes. Unfortunately I haven’t had as much time this school year with my busier schedule to paint, but bouquet making and expressing different themes through choice of color, type, and composition of flowers has made me realize I can achieve the same creative freedom through flower arrangement.
What is your thought process behind choosing which flowers/colors to use?
I tend to begin my inspiration of bouquets off of smaller ideas: maybe I want to incorporate a specific flower, take inspiration from someone’s personality, or create a themed collection for a particular event of season of the year. Then, I visit a floral shop and go through the selection of flowers, seeing which ones complement one another to create a harmonious bouquet.
Who has your biggest artistic inspiration been?
My mother has always been a creative mind, creating sketches and paintings throughout her entire life. However, her main artistic journey began following her breast cancer treatment and surgery as she used acrylic painting as a form of relief during her recovery, creating more than 10 landscape pieces over the next few years. She has also taught me a lot about bouquet making as well—how to trim the flowers, which flower types go well with each other, where to place them in the arrangement, etc. Her resilience over the years inspired me to also take on painting and flower arranging as a way to release stress and forge the motivation to not only create art, but experience the ineffable accomplishment of completing my pieces.
What is the most meaningful piece of art you’ve ever received? Why was it so important to you?
My mother’s first landscape painting she completed following her surgery, a beach sunset. I felt that it represented her most arduous part of her healing journey, as well as a way of her finding herself during that difficult time. In a way, it makes me remember her strength and reminds me to approach life with the same determination and fortitude.
What is something you’ve learned through making flower arrangements?
It takes patience and trust in the process to see the result of something beautiful. Oftentimes when I am arranging, I diverge from my original vision and experiment with different ideas and flowers to find the optimal combination. I think that the most important lesson I have learned through flower arrangement is to approach life with an open mind and not be afraid to change your original ideas, or else you might miss out on potential opportunities that may be better.
Any advice for people wanting to begin their own bouquet journey?
Don’t feel restrained if you feel like you may not be good at flower arranging, because the process is a lot more simple than you think. I would recommend Trader Joe’s as a great flower place for accessibility and variety, since you can get a nice bundle of flowers for a bouquet at a lower price while still guaranteeing quality. What helps is also picking a main “subject” flower that you can build around with smaller flowers. Pinterest is also a great place to find bouquet theme inspiration and flower types you would like to incorporate into your arrangement.