The wild bouquet, a trail of impressions

Picking wild flowers in the countryside changes the way we experience this natural space. During the search, nature folds itself into a varied palette of colours, shapes, textures... motifs with which we sketch, in our imagination, our future bouquet as we walk. The walk becomes something similar to entering an impressionist painting.

The beauty of a canvas of this kind is born from the artist's ability to recognize the necessary color and where to apply it, from the strange harmony that links the final result with the nature that the painter chooses as a model. Something like this happens, but on a different scale, during our walk, while we choose the "brushstrokes" with which we will shape the future bouquet. Our attention is guided by impressions, by the search for those flowers that stand out among all the others, and even by the difficulty in reaching them. Everything influences the personality of each bouquet.

As we increase the amount of material collected, the selection becomes more capricious and demanding. With our bouquet half-finished, we begin to think of the key pieces that will make it unique: that bright yellow flower that will provide a chromatic counterpoint (St. John's Wort, St. Benedict's Wort, broom...). That fine-textured stem that will accentuate the lightness of the bouquet (wild oats, bellflower, poppy...) or, perhaps, those fruits that contrast with the dominant greens (elderberry, wild rose...)

The time spent collecting, as well as the quantity of plants we take home, must be appropriate. Among other reasons, because the flowers can deteriorate if we take too long to put them in water, and because we must not overdo it with what we borrow from nature.

This whole process will be completed with the subsequent creative composition of the bouquet, at which point we will finish "tying" our impressions. In fact, the final bouquet must be the result of a specific journey and the thoughts that it gave rise to. It will reflect a seasonal time, a moment of the day, a place... even a mood. Seeing it finished will bring to our memory that original impressionist experience: a beautiful memory because it is wild, just like the flowers in our bouquet.