Graeme Corbett

Bloom and Burn

Flower designer

©saltwick-media

©bloom-and-burn

Creativity grown locally

Graeme is a former TV producer who turned to flower design
He grows his own garden in the Kent countryside
He uses British flowers for their natural look and amazing colours

When asked what brought him to floristry, Graeme Corbett replies with candour. "In all honesty, it was sheer desperation," he says. In fact, Graeme used to be a casting producer for TV shows and happened to work on The Voice, the popular singing competition. “Meeting so many people who had a real passion for singing, I realised that I was not passionate enough about my job,” he admits. Floristry was not yet around the corner, though. First, he set up a furniture business, followed by a pickle company, but he remained unfulfilled. Graeme needed something more creative for himself. So, at the suggestion of a friend, he enrolled in a short course at a flower school in London. Even if the style taught at the school was a little too formal for his taste, Graeme enjoyed the overall experience so much that, soon afterwards, flower design became his new, well-loved job.

Interview

©saltwick-media

©saltwick-media

How has your style evolved over time?: At the beginning, I mostly used imported flowers grown in polytunnels. They had straight stems and looked all the same, so I added a lot of foliage to create movement. Since I started growing my own flowers or buying them from local growers, I no longer need much foliage and I can focus on the flowers themselves.
What do you like the most about British flowers?: I love their naturalness. For instance, a fluorescent pink ranunculus that has been grown in my garden is completely different from an artificially dyed one. Which means that I can go really heavy on colour in my works, but they will still look absolutely natural.
Does buying locally influence your colour palette?: Yes. At the flower market, I could choose whatever I wanted and I was rather lazy, often buying the same things every week. From local growers, on the other hand, I get what is available at that moment, so I have to be more creative. Sometimes I have to adapt to colours I would not pick and find a nice way of putting them together.
Besides colours, what is key to your arrangements?: Spacing is very important to me. I always try to arrange my flowers so that each one of them gets its moment to shine and no one is hidden too much. Moreover, I like to make everything functional. If I create an arrangement for my Instagram, it has to work in real-life, too. People should be able to make the same at home.

Graeme Corbett is a rising star: he began his career in 2016 and he started teaching in 2020