Our Makers Series continues, from clay to blooms. Next in our series we chatted with Liv from Kensal, a local Kingsland florist brightening up the everyday moments.
Tell us a little about yourself and your craft?
I’m Liv and I own Kensal, a messy little flower shop in Tamaki Makaurau. I opened the shop in 2019 after spending five amazing years in the UK, working at one of London’s best florists, Scarlet & Violet.
Our flowers are wild and natural, almost like you’ve stepped out to the garden and cut them yourself. The flowers do all the heavy lifting though, we just put them together.
What do you love most about the process of making?
The colours and the seasons - our bunches are constantly changing, no bunch is ever the same. Some flowers can be so fleeting which makes them all the more special. You look forward to what flowers will be coming next, while enjoying the flowers in front of you that day. We work closely with local growers in the spring/summer season and on the days we get a fresh farm delivery our job becomes so easy - they’re all so beautiful to work with!
Has motherhood changed your relationship with your work or creativity?
The juggle is real! I have less time to be creative for myself now. Most weeks though I’ll bring flowers home from the shop and take some time (though not a lot!) to arrange them in vases around our house. That’s about all I have time for at the moment!
Where are the places where you find yourself coming together with the people you love?
I’m very fortunate because the women I work with are some of my closest friends so actually just being at the shop is a wonderful chance to catch up. The shop is a bit of a drop in centre with friends popping in most days for flowers or just to say hi. I’m also lucky that my best friend lives around the corner from the shop and her door is always open for a quick visit here and there amongst work and the girls, or she’ll wander her baby up to the shop for a coffee and a chat. Words fall short of what it means to have your ‘village' so close.
Is there anything you hope your children learn from watching you work?
I hope the girls learn to see the quiet beauty in everything. Each flower has its own personality if you look close enough, I hope they can take the time to slow down in their future lives and literally smell the flowers. And that they learn to have better time management skills than I do!
What are you noticing more since becoming a mother?
My ability to multitask has infinitely grown. It had to. I’d like to think it’s one of my superpowers now.
Do you have a flower that feels particularly special to you?
It’s so difficult to choose just one, but perhaps it would be Sweetpeas. My grandfather used to grow them in his Dunedin garden, and the scent of them takes me right back there. But then there is Cosmos, a vase filled to the brim with just wispy Cosmos brings me so much joy.