A miracle happened when I turned fifty. One morning, I woke up and I realized that I could see the flowers and the leaves and trees and the garden in a way that I had never before. Really, I mean it. It was like all these years I was blind, and now, for the first time, I had eyes to see. It was like for the first time I could see the garden and the garden could see me. It was like me and the garden looked into each other’s eyes for the first time and smiled at each other. We each thought, how could we possibly not have noticed each other the way we should have? Maybe all these years I was too crowded with too much noise in my head and too many things to do, places to go, and things to achieve. And now that I am older, all of a sudden there is a pause… There is a silence, and in this silence, I can hear and see like I never did before.
My garden, my sanctuary, a place for me to get close to God, to my beginning, to my end, and to the soil itself. It’s like one day I woke up and realized I am an older woman now—an older lady in need of a beautiful garden of which she can be proud. A place she can sit back on a straw chair, pour herself a tall glass of iced lemonade on a hot summer day, put her feet up, close her eyes, and in the silence of her head, be able to listen to the bugs chewing on the corner of a leaf. Yes, she can close her eyes and in the silence and peace of her head, she can feel the slight movements of a lizard resting in the heat of the cement floor of the garden. She can be in tune with the roots of the plants that, from their dark and damp place of hiding under the soil, ever so slowly breathe and ever so slowly grow towards the light and the sun. Now, a woman my age has to practice being in tune and one with the soil, being able to be in such harmony that she can feel the presence of God Himself in the soil.
Every month and for every exhibition going on in my art gallery, I create one of my sculpture-like flower arrangements. The whole process for me is very creative, self-expressing, joyful and exciting. I take a long time to shop for my vases and go everywhere and check everything to come up with pieces that, in shape and in color, are already a work of art on their own. Then, I go to a major flower shop to pick up my leaves and my flowers. There are so many different beauties there in the shop. You look at this one and you think, Wow, and then your eyes drift to the other bunch and you are already taken by the scent and color and texture of this and that. It’s so hard to make a choice, for everything in a flower shop is so perfectly beautiful. Some flowers I have to pass, for I know they are hard to work with and they won’t cooperate and won’t last long. So, I tell myself, Just think practical.
Finally, I leave the shop with my large bunches of leaves and flowers. When I bring them home, I leave them in a bucket. I give them some plant food, then I cut them with my special knife in an angled way under the water. Afterward, I am ready to give them a personality, a shape and a soul. While doing all this, I am the happiest woman on earth. I whisper in the flower’s ears things they want to hear. I look at them and see them: some as male, some as female, some tough, some delicate and vulnerable. I sing to them and I smile at them, and they smile back. I tell them, “Just wait and see. I am going to make you all look very beautiful…” From the way they look at me, I can tell they believe me, and it’s because the plants know when you are telling them the truth. Yes, they believe me, for I always keep my promises.
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| Painter, poet and filmmaker Mahvash Mossaed offers her one-of-a-kind centerpieces and flower arrangements for the public.
Demossa Gallery presents “Gone to Pick Flowers”, a custom Flower arrangement company by the internationally known artist, Mahvash Mossaed. Working out of her Gallery in Laguna Beach, Mahvash provides floral arrangements for a wide variety of clientele which include weddings and receptions, corporate events, charity events, staging for film and television.. Many of our arrangements are featured in lobbies, restaurants and companies from Los Angeles to San Diego including special work for clients in Hawaii. And of course, Gone to Pick Flowers provides continued maintenance for many of our regular clients to assure a perfect presentation at all times. Our experience is spread over more than 15 years of corporate and residential interiorscape design. We hope you will consider Gone to Pick Flowers for your next event and facility needs. We look forward to working with you soon. |
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Demossa Gallery Flower Designs by Mahvash Mossaed We Deliver 1294-D South Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach, CA 92651 Tel/Fax: 949.725.9229 • Cell: 949.500.2107 • mahvash@cox.net |
