Mike Hines specializes in making people happy. As one of the foremost floral designers in the US, his designs are iconic, but Mike is inspired by the same things that drew him to flora and fauna as a child: curiosity and wonder. It’s this childlike love for beauty that shines through his work with an unabashed and refreshing mix of splendour and savage, simplicity and story, and this is what draws me to his breathtaking work.
Few floral designers I know have the courage to allow a single varietal of bloom speak for itself, but Hines embodies the truth that da Vinci so eloquently articulated:
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Hines‘ compelling new coffee table book UPROOTED – brilliantly photographed by Doug Human – explores the origins of beauty in a very unique way. Mike says:
“Roots beget flowers. Roots also begin families, relationships and emotions. When we uproot, we expose. We get to the nitty-gritty point of origin and are able to dissect our many worlds simply by paying attention to ourselves and from whence we came. Without the almighty root we would have no stability. In a wold of exposure and unknowns, if we are able to uproot ourselves and take a hard look inward, we are then, in fact, able to see our outer world in a sharper, more vivid way.”
It’s this kind of boldĀ self-reflection that I believe translates into such courageous and inspiring design, and the resulting images found in UPROOTED are nothing short of spectacular.
Be sure to check in next week when I’ll be highlighting a very special design project that will leave your jaws on the floor. In the meantime, why not savour the beauty of Mike’s work and follow his lead with some courageous self-reflection? You never know the strength you might find within.
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