Florist Lisa Cooper's secret Sydney

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This was published 8 years ago

Florist Lisa Cooper's secret Sydney

By Nicole Elphick

The life of a florist requires one to be a very early riser in the hunt for the best blooms. "I'm usually hammer and tongs at 3.30am," says Cooper of her pre-dawn rush to get to the Sydney flower markets. "I don't think floristry is very good for a social life."

While her after-hours escapades may suffer, the lush, dramatically composed floral arrangements she creates at her Doctor Cooper Studio have found an avid following. She has received commissions from big names in the arts and fashion scene such as Sydney Theatre Company, the Australian Ballet, Toni Maticevski, Romance Was Born and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Florist Lisa Cooper at Eveleigh.

Florist Lisa Cooper at Eveleigh.Credit: Edwina Pickles

"My approach is always to have the flowers seem like they're growing. I get really inspired by the way flowers and plants intermingle in nature."

Most recently, Cooper has relocated her work space from St Peters to Eveleigh after scoring a permanent residency at Carriageworks, where she will also be crafting the flowers in the public area. "It just amplifies the art context of my work," she says. "The spaces in here are so big and so raw that they have the feeling of an art gallery. Every corner I walk around I think, 'I have to do something there'."

Grace Jones in a  promo image for Modulations, Vivid Sydney 2015.

Grace Jones in a promo image for Modulations, Vivid Sydney 2015.

How did you get into floristry?

I always used flowers in my undergraduate work [at COFA, now UNSW Art and Design]. Before that I painted flowers for a number of years. So I have always had an interest in flowers, but I'd never worked in the trade of floristry; it had always been a medium for art. When I was studying postgrad, I got a job at Grandiflora [in Potts Point] and just fell in love with the trade. I liked that I was using my intellect as well as my brawn. But, you know, I did think it was an aside. Then once I'd graduated and left Grandiflora, people contacted me and asked if I would do installations. As soon as I went to the flower market again, I just couldn't turn away from it.

What spot inspires you?

The hydrangea wall in Rushcutters Bay [Park]. I live in Potts Point and I go walking around Rushcutters Bay in the mornings when I can. As you approach the bay there's this incredible hydrangea wall that just blooms in summer. It is phenomenal. There's every different conceivable type of hydrangea and they grow to about six metres long. It's mind-blowing. Compositionally, it's really incredible, because the hydrangeas are kind of wild, so they grow in and out of each other.

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An icon of Saint Theresa of Lisieux, the patron saint of florists.

An icon of Saint Theresa of Lisieux, the patron saint of florists.

What's your advice for shopping like a pro at the flower markets?

There's a really specific way to do a market. You have to make quick decisions, because if you're looking at something and you don't just grab the lot, somebody will fly in. I see that happen to a lot of the general public. Somebody going 'Should I? How many?' then a florist will swoop in and grab the lot.

The Flemington Flower Market.

The Flemington Flower Market.Credit: Edwina Pickles

What are the best winter flowers around now?

It's really good at the moment. Winter is a great time for flowers. There's sweet pea, cyclamen, begonia, violets, lily of the valley, hellebore. You get really excited [for the change of seasons], I already miss the roses that have just stopped.

Where do you recommend for vases and other styling accessories?

You can always go to Koch and Co [in Auburn] - it's florist supplies. They have everything under the sun - ribbons, glass vases, boxes. The last thing I got there was a conical vase.

Where do you like to go in your down time?

I love the State Library's Mitchell Reading Room. The atmosphere is so quiet and beautiful.

Do you have any hobbies?

I knit. I have this pattern that I love; it's a really simple crew-neck jumper. Most years I make two over the winter and I also make my own dish cloths. Morris and Sons [in the city] have a really good selection of wool and needles. They have a knitting circle where the ladies are all sitting there. I just like to walk in and see them knitting.

Which Sydney-based designers and makers do you admire?

The most beautiful rings I own are made by Sarah [Gardner] at Garland Row, she has a little shop in Paddington. I have a gold signet ring she made me. It's a wax seal signet ring, so you can actually use it to seal wax. That one has this oak tree that I absolutely love from a farm in Oakdale. And I recently commissioned work from Adriana Picker, who's an illustrator. It's a portrait of Saint Therese of Lisieux with red roses, she's the patron saint of florists.

What's the last show you saw?

I went to Grace Jones at Carriageworks. She was amazing. She's 67 and she was absolutely killing it. She's just an incredible performer. I think her greatest talent is being Grace Jones and I think that's always been the case. I remember her being in films in the '80s when I was a child. I don't know how good she is, but it's just her. She doesn't even kind of need to be, all she has to be is her.

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