Creative Playtime: An Interview With Tiffany From *The Loved Co*
I met Tiffany at a wedding we were both working back in 2016. Five months later she did my wedding florals. A few more months later, we moved to Los Angeles, and started having regular dinners with her and her husband. Tiffany & Delano were our first new friends in LA after our move, and I will always feel lucky that it was them.
Earlier this year, amidst the 2020 craziness, we started doing these creative playtimes together: open explorations of anything we wanted, breaking out of creative laziness together, and lots of synchronized giggling. Here is a selection of images from our time together, paired with some insightful thoughts from Tiffany on finding inspiration, marriage, and telling our own stories.
First off, tell us a little bit about yourself. What do you do, and what is The Loved Co about?
TIFFANY:Hi! I’m Tiffany Michelle Meriwether, a second generation Chinese American floral designer and creative based in Gardena, CA. I’m a self-taught florist, and my journey began out of a desire to create something with my hands and now I can’t imagine my life without flowers. Four years ago, I took the leap of faith to create The Loved Co. with the heart to love and serve others through flowers, and through it have had the opportunity to create for and with so many incredible people, many of whom have become friends. We specialize in creating art-inspired, textural arrangements with breath, movement and emotion and our designs aim to honor and reflect the stories of those we are creating for and are inspired by the beauty we see in nature. I am grateful to be able to pursue my creative passion with the love and support of my husband, who has been there every step of the way.
Flowers aside, I have a deep love for a sky full of fluffy clouds, handwritten notes, and noodles of all kinds, particularly soup noodles. Special shoutout to my friends at Woon who make some of my favorite noods in LA.
“Who we are is deeply connected to the work we create and much of finding your own voice is about finding yourself. I believe that we each have a valuable and unique voice to share.”
How did you find your voice when you were first starting out? How do you sustain it now?
TIFFANY:In the beginning, I definitely started by pulling inspiration from other florists that I admired, observing the shape of their arrangements and the ingredients they used, but as I grew and sought to find my own expression through flowers, I realized that the only way I was going to find it was by looking inward. Early on, I made a practice of creating for myself, picking out whatever flowers drew my attention at the market, challenging myself to explore new color combinations and ingredients and designing without expectation or an end goal or shape in mind. This gave me the freedom to simply create from my heart, and through that process my own creative voice was able to emerge.
Who we are is deeply connected to the work we create and much of finding your own voice is about finding yourself. Letting go of what we think our work should be and creating instead from a place of loving yourself and confidence in who you are. It is from that space that I think we can express ourselves in a more authentic, and genuine way. But we are ever changing and evolving, so as I have changed, so has my art and it continues to evolve as I get to know myself better, as well as become more intentional about the emotions and stories I want to tell. The practice of creating for myself without expectation (or Outcome Neutral Design as defined by Studio Mondine) is something that I come back to often to both sustain and refine my voice and express my creativity in different seasons of my life.
Finding my own voice has been such an integral part of my floral journey and is always something I encourage newer florists to invest time in when starting out. I believe that we each have a valuable and unique voice to share and find so much joy in seeing other creatives discover their own. But it takes time, and patience, and lots of grace. I definitely went through seasons of feeling lost and discouraged as I struggled to find my place in the flower industry, wrestling with feelings of comparison and inadequacy. If you’re feeling that now, you’re not alone. Yet there were and are people and other florists in the industry who affirmed me, encouraged me, and trusted me to create for them and it is those moments of affirmation that gave me the courage and confidence to share my voice.
I wrote the below poem during a time when I was feeling unsure of my voice and it continues to be an encouragement to me when I feel lost. I hope it can be to you as well --
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find what emerges / in the quiet / in the stillness
in the place where the voices of doubt start to fade /
where comparison and worry lose its power / where all that remains is you
and your art / and the joy of creating
create with freedom knowing / you are just where you need to be /
you are still growing, learning, evolving / you are enough
not because of what other people say / but because only you can be you /
and what you create is valuable / and who you are is loved
“I have always felt that as creatives and artists we have an important role to play in both telling stories and creating more beauty in this world, in expanding people’s perspectives of beauty and presenting new ways for people to think.”
Where do you go for design inspiration, and what do you do when you’re in a creative block?
TIFFANY:As a florist, nature is always the first place I go to, but I also find a lot of inspiration from fashion and interior design, or any other art form, really! Especially now with so much time spent at home, I have found that a simple walk outside can be a good way to find inspiration and take a break from staring at a screen! My husband and I love visiting botanical gardens for color and texture inspiration (our favorite is LA Arboretum for their impeccable bench placement), and it’s always great to be inspired by the way plants and florals look and move in their natural form.
When I’m in a creative block, oftentimes what keeps me there is myself. I spend way too much time thinking about what I could make (hello, indecision) or looking at what others are creating (hello, comparison) that I end up feeling overwhelmed or just discouraged. So what has helped me most is doing things like these creative playdates and connecting with other like-minded creatives who share the same heart and speak the same language as me when it comes to being an artist. What that has looked like is a 2 hour phone call sharing what we’re wrestling with or dreaming up a collaborative project just for fun. It is in those moments of vulnerability that I have been encouraged to move forward with an idea or found comfort in just knowing I am not alone. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you reached out to do something creative and fun. Creating with you in this season has been such a life-giving, soul-nourishing experience, and together we have created some of my favorite works of art.
“If we are not telling our own stories in the work we create, who else is going to?”
I’m so impressed by florists for the way they see not only color and texture, but shape and movement as well in a 3D environment. How has being a florist shaped your perception of your everyday surroundings?
TIFFANY:I’ve never really reflected on this, but the first thing that came to mind was an experience I had while visiting South Africa with my husband many years ago. We were passing by an entire field of dry brush and I remember thinking how beautiful the grasses looked, taking note of the various shades of tan and yellow and the subtle hints of green found in each blade of grass, how the colors interacted to create so much texture, depth and movement. A scene so simple and common for an African landscape, yet I found so much beauty in it. I can’t say I always engage my surroundings this way, but I do find I pay more attention to the varying textures and interactions of colors in the things around me, or the way that nature interacts with the structures around it. Being a florist has definitely enhanced my experience and appreciation of nature, and shown me that there truly is so much beauty all around us, even in the most mundane and seemingly insignificant moments.
What are some of your favorite materials, colors, or flowers to work with?
TIFFANY:How do I choose? Haha. I will always love sweet peas. I honestly don’t know what I do when they’re not in season. Thankfully it seems that the seasons they are unavailable are shortening thanks to our incredible wholesalers and growers around the world bringing in the best product for us to design with. Another top favorite is flowering dogwood. We visited Japan a couple years ago when the dogwood was in bloom and I just about died of happiness. When it comes to colors, I have always loved blue, but unfortunately there aren’t many blue flowers (but I do love delphinium and muscari)! In recent years, I have grown a strong affinity for red, and especially enjoy seeing the way that different colors interact with a color as bold as red. More than any specific color, I am fascinated by the interaction between bold and muted colors, brights and neutrals, and recently had the opportunity to explore that dynamic for my last wedding client in 2020. So grateful for clients that love color and hoping for more in the future (still waiting for a client who loves red!).
It’s been a crazy year – how has 2020 influenced your perspective on being an artist and a creator?
TIFFANY:I have always felt that as creatives and artists we have an important role to play in both telling stories and creating more beauty in this world. Set against the backdrop of what has been a year of loss, grief, racial injustice, uncertainty, the list goes on, the need to find and create beauty, to tell stories of beauty in and amidst it all, became increasingly more important to me. This year in particular brought to the forefront the realities of racial injustice in this country and the ways that certain narratives and stories have been silenced. It also revealed the ways I have silenced my own story, or have stayed silent, just to be accepted.
I have been in a season of more fully embracing my identity as a Chinese American, and reflecting on the influence that my Asian American identity has on my art. 2020 has helped me recognize the value and importance of my own story and that part of my creative voice includes the unique story I have as a Chinese American woman married to an African American man, both the one we are creating together and the stories we carry on our own. It has given me the courage to speak up in times where I might have stayed silent, and has reminded me of the influence and power that we as artists have as storytellers when we speak up together. Now more than ever, I want to make sure I am doing what I can to tell my own story and advocate for the stories that have been silenced for too long. If we are not telling our own stories in the work we create, who else is going to?
“It is the artist’s role to remind us that beauty is still all around us. The Shalom is indeed a future worth fighting for—but also a present worth accessing. The artist helps us see beyond our bleak realities in what is still possible.”
– On Beauty and Faith, Alabaster Co.
“If we are not telling our own stories in the work we create, who else is going to?”
I love that you & your husband, Delano, are both super creative people. How has this dynamic played out in your marriage?
TIFFANY:First off, I feel super grateful to have a partner to walk alongside through the highs and lows of being a creative. As two people who were not pursuing anything creatively at the start of our marriage, it is such a joy to discover and grow in that area together. There are so many moments where it has been so comforting to be with someone who was able to empathize with my moments of frustration, while at the same time believed in my ability to create when I didn’t have the courage or strength to believe on my own. His presence and support has carried me through each season and reminded me to find joy in the process. To be that constant source of encouragement and support for one another in our own creative pursuits is something that I value and cherish more and more each day and I honestly couldn’t imagine it any other way.
That being said, my husband and I express ourselves creatively in very different ways, both in what we make and what inspires our creativity. Delano has an incredible imagination, creating new worlds, stories, characters, and concepts in his mind, and also sculpts, builds and paints miniature models, among other things. While we don’t always agree on what we find inspiring or interesting, it has given us the opportunity to expand our appreciation for things we wouldn’t normally find beautiful, to learn from each other’s perspective and way of seeing the world, and most of all to value and make space for stories different than our own.
What’s next? What’s a project you would love to work on, or a new role you want to try out? (You know, other than modeling 😉 )
TIFFANY:I have always wanted The Loved Co. to serve and love people beyond the wedding industry and more than anything this year has inspired me to use my art to tell stories, including my own, and more specifically to elevate and highlight those of the Asian American experience. I’m still in the process of figuring out what that looks like, but continuing to collaborate with other Asian American artists like you is definitely helping me discover more of what I hope to create. Other than that, I’d love to explore more opportunities in art direction and fashion, and am looking forward to our future collaboration with Vivian Chan :)
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Check out more of her work at: thelovedco.com / @thelovedco
Thankful for you Tiffany! ♡