Today we’d like to introduce you to Kellie Brown
Hi Kellie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
When I was a teenager, I wanted a job where I didn’t have to work as many weekends and there were not many options for someone with limited professional experience. I saw a flower shop that was closed on Sundays and applied as a Front Desk Clerk, answering phones and taking walk-in orders. My manager at the time asked me if I had ever considered floral design and honestly, I had not; I came from an artsy and creative family but never thought I had the artistic “bug”. He asked me to make an arrangement to assess my skills/eye; he then asked me to make another, and another. The next day, I was their new Floral Designer! It took me a long time to be confident in floral design but it was so refreshing to finally find an artistic way to express myself.
I started my business, Suchlike Succulents, during COVID lockdown; I was home, bored, and desperately needed a creative outlet. I had some wood flowers I was planning to use for an event that ended up cancelled and started to find different ways to color and soften them. I have never had any formal art training or education, so everything was a trial and error; I did go to an art college but I was a Sociology major! I remember texting my friend, April Kelly, asking for advice and she graciously provided a few pointers that really changed my painting-game and took my skills to the next level. Exploring painting techniques, color pairing, then putting it all together in a design has been such a fun journey. I feel really lucky to be able to do something I love and make beautiful things. Turns out, I do have the artist “bug” after all!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Finding the passion and motivation for the less-creative aspects of the business has been my largest struggle. It’s much easier to find motivation to paint or create something pretty, than to run a website or do business accounting. There has to be a balance, but I want the fun and games!
The boring stuff becomes worth it when someone walks up to my table and I get to talk about how I put something together, or my painting process. When I see someone’s eyes sort through their thought process, then blurt out the inevitable “that’s WOOD?” question, it brings me so much joy. Nothing like having someone tell me they thought everything on my table was real!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I make floral arrangements and decor out of sola wood flowers that I hand-paint! I’d say I “specialize” in succulents.
Sola wood is a soft wood, like tapioca or balsa. It’s a rapid-growing marsh plant and when the roots are trimmed back, the root wood is shaved into paper-thin rolls. From the rolls, the wood shaving is folded into various flower shapes and sizes.
I paint each flower individually by initially dipping it into a base-color with a softener added, then I hand-paint all the layers of shading and detail. When I started my learning process with the flowers, I was really wild about succulents and took a lot of inspiration finding unique succulents to mimic with paint; this is where my business name “Suchlike Succulents” was born. I love to exaggerate the succulent colors or think about how I would manipulate the growing process to get a certain color but, the painting process is much faster!
Once my painted flower batch is completely dry, I arrange them into various designs, like wall-hanging skulls, shadowboxes, novelty animals, ocean driftwood. The opportunity with these wood flowers is endless. It’s a fun collaborative project to do custom designs for people as well, I can match any color so easily and they don’t need to be in season. The sola wood arrangements should last years if they’re not exposed to moisture, humidity, extreme sunlight or heat. You’ll just want to make sure they get dusted every once in awhile!
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I grew up right outside of DC and access to beautiful National Parks, historical sites, and the Appalachian Mountains was a quick day drive or weekend trip. I was so lucky that my mother always wanted to be outside or see someplace new, she would often toss my 2 older brothers and I in the car and take off. I think one of my favorite memories of these day trips was a drive to Westmoreland State Park where we found a red clay deposit while exploring. My mother had previously found a really old wood pottery wheel someone was throwing away so, we felt like we had struck gold finding the clay and could not wait to get it home and play on the wheel. It’s such a unique experience and memory digging fresh clay out of the side of a mountain, one of many trips I think back on and am so thankful for.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.SuchlikeSucculents.com
- Instagram: @SuchlikeSucculents
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SuchlikeSucculents
Image Credits
Ned Imming
