Remember when florist was just another job? Then Brooklyn flower girl Sarah Ryhanen of Saipua burst onto the scene with romantic, painterly arrangements that turned wedding flowers into an art form and spawned a generation of imitators. Today we visit Saipua's tiny Red Hook studio, open on weekdays by appointment only:
Photography via Tacklebox Architecture except where noted.
Above: When Ryhanen's business outgrew her first studio, Brooklyn-based Tacklebox Architecture designed a space for Saipua that serves a dual purpose: tiny retail shop and production facility. The studio is open from 12 to 6 pm on weekends and by appointment only on weekdays.
Above: Photograph via Refinery 29.
After an earlier career as an art gallery curator, Ryhanen founded Saipua in 2006 and started by selling olive oil soap and flowers. As the business has grown, so has her need for the locally grown, seasonal flowers she uses in her naturalistic, unstudied arrangements. Three years ago, Ryhanen and partner Eric Famisan began growing flowers upstate on a 107-acre farm called World's End.
Above: In partnership with Brooklyn florist Nicolette Owen, Ryhanen also teaches floral arranging classes at Little Flower School. Coming this month: a six-hour Wedding Bouquet Intensive workshop; the cost is $1,600 per participant.
Above: Ryhanen creates arrangements that evoke still life paintings. Describing her work, the blog Refinery 29 said, "Petals are her paint."
Above: Saipua's design by Tacklebox was inspired by the idea of "an old dressmaker's sewing box," the architects said. "Life lies not in the wood and brass hinges from which the box is made, rather it is found within the multi-colored jumble of spools of thread and the assortment of pins placed at random in the pincushion. This is an arrangement that could only emerge from use— the result of an ongoing act between the dressmaker, the dressmaker’s tools, and the thing being made."
Above: For Saipua, the "sewing box" is a freestanding box sited within the footprint of a warehouse. Weathered barn siding wraps the walls in two boxy rooms (one nested inside the other) and nooks and shelves display the shop's inventory.
Above: The silvery weathered wood is a neutral backdrop for books, soaps and other items.
Above: Says Ryhanen: "It's a really good time to be in the market for a florist—there are just oodles of amazing, creative (mostly) women who are making gorgeous natural work."
Above: The boxy backdrop inspires vignettes.
Above: In a second room, production space where Ryhanen arranges flowers.
Above: Saipua is at 147 Van Dyke St. in Brooklyn. For hours and information, see Saipua.
For more of Sarah Ryhanen's work, see:
- Wild at Heart: 10 Unruly Autumn Arrangements
- World's End: Flower Farming with Sarah Ryhanen
- Perfect Peonies from the Little Flower School
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