Storms & Saint
A story of jewellery inspired by contrasts
I do love a founder story that begins with a quiet intuition often long before the shape of the business is clear.
Down by the River is just that. A story of flowers, creativity, and the courage to follow a whisper of curiosity into a life built with care and intention. Here is Lisa Marie’s story.
Down by the river began as a seed of an idea when I was working in production for a company in Cornwall. My background is in photography and styling, but I wasn’t very happy and was craving a change.
I used to sit on a bench, high on a hill near my house overlooking the River Fal, and the name came to me before I had figured out what that might turn into. I’d always had a tiny whisper of a thought of what it might be like to become a florist. Following my curiosity, I began taking some evening classes and workshops, and as I had predicted I loved it.
I left my job in 2017 to retrain fully at the Tallulah rose flower school and had the most dreamlike, wonderful time immersing myself in the joy of flowers. I went on to host workshops that Christmas and to create beautiful arrangements for many weddings in the coming years. I had such a wonderful time working with so many lovely couples but health issues and the pandemic meant I had to slightly change my way of working.
I had already been drying flowers leftover from weddings to limit waste and to specialise in dried flowers made so much sense to me. I love the longevity dried flowers can bring and set up my online shop in 2020.
Alongside still creating for dried flower weddings, I steadily began adding to the collection with fine art prints and greetings cards, as well as ceramics and candles made by local independent makers which really bring the whole collection together.
I continue to teach too, running workshops from my home studio and curating seasonal retreats locally which are always one part wellbeing and one part creativity. Living intentionally, slowing down and appreciating the simple things and our relationship to nature are at the core of Down by the river, and I feel so lucky to be able to weave together my varying interests in this way.
We relocated from Cornwall to just outside Hay-on-wye just over two years ago to be closer to family, my partner grew up here and my family are in Oxfordshire. I have always had an affinity with the countryside so it is here in my home studio that I like to daydream that I am creating a patchwork of creative life, from the mountains to the sea. Although I work alone, I have our trusty spaniel Pip by my side.
I feel very lucky to collaborate with my local growers, suppliers, and with the yoga teachers and fellow creatives I hold retreats with, as well as having supportive friends and family. Community is so very important and keeps me going.
I am very lucky to have a gorgeous studio space at home (arguably the best room in the house), it is full of light and overlooks our courtyard garden on one side, and has a balcony overlooking the stunning Wye valley on the other.
My hammock is on the balcony which is the perfect place to have a moment of calm, although often very tempting when there are still things to do and the sun is shining.
My music taste is very eclectic and it depends what mood I am in, there are definitely some guilty pleasures included in the mix, alongside folk, singer songwriters and classics like ‘Fleetwood Mac’. One of my favourite podcasts is ‘Dispatch to a friend’
My dried flower arrangements are inspired by nature, wildly elegant and have been described as ‘just as nature intended’, but all of my work- whether a photograph of calibri poppies for my art prints and cards, pressed flowers for a framed artwork, a bouquet or a wreath- they are all inspired by the joy of nature, celebrating simplicity and a kind of freshness and light.
Almost everything I create is completely unique, most often made to order and all orders are sent with love by post including an optional handwritten note. I love that they are a way to spread joy and let loved ones know you are thinking of them, for whatever reason that may be- to be part of that is so very special.
I think in a world that is so often chaotic, we all need that extra bit of care and I am always trying to come up with new ideas to share that, even if it is in a small way.
There are so many but some of my favourite moments have to be when I have been teaching workshops. People have shared their experiences of being told they were not creative at school but then go on to create something they are pleased with. It is often just as much about the experience than the outcome and at times very moving to move through and just try. As adults we don’t often have the chance to be a beginner and to enjoy a mindful experience and to be able to facilitate that is very special.
Although it was a very difficult decision to stop working with fresh flowers, continuing to work with flowers in a different way has been the right path for me and I’m excited to see where it leads. In a way I have had to start from scratch since we relocated to Hay, both with my offering but also as a lot of my customers were from my local community in Cornwall. I love it when people still get in touch, and getting to know my new community at Hay market has also been really wonderful.
Being self-employed can be challenging, but a lovely comment from someone on your stall, an email with some lovely feedback, or even better meeting someone who has found you online and then connects the dots when you meet them in real life is very rewarding and means so much.
On the whole, I am so very grateful to be crafting a creative life- something which is not always easy, but so worth it. There are times when my business has had my full attention, and times where I have freelanced alongside, but it remains a constant and I can’t wait for each new chapter to unfold.
Sustainability is so important to the ethos of Down by the river, all of the flowers I use are sourced as locally as possible from local growers and I’m hoping to grow more myself in the coming years as I have never had the space before. If I do have to source from suppliers, I prioritise British flowers, and always, always use unbleached, undyed and unpainted flowers. As well as not being to my taste, these have been very popular but are so bad for the environment and nature already has a beautiful selection of natural materials to choose from. This ethos continues across the whole business with plastic free packaging and thoughtful sourcing of materials.
I think that through my personal experience of illness I have realised how important it is to celebrate the simple things in life, to spread kindness, joy and care and the way I bring that message into my work is constantly evolving.
I am very excited about a new care package offering I have been working on and which I am hoping to launch very soon. I’m hoping to include a pay it forward option within that and to hopefully keep slowly building a sense of community with the work I do.
There are also plans to develop the art print and greeting card collection, with opportunities for wholesale which is an exciting prospect that I haven’t explored before.
I am looking forward to our next Gather retreat in October, an event I run seasonally with friends and fellow practitioners at the wonderful Larchwood studio in Hay.
Most of all the plan is to keep spreading the joy of everlasting blooms and receiving something special in the post. The tactile, gentle things that are sometimes forgotten in a digital era but that mean so much.
Thank you Lisa Marie for sharing your journey. Down by the River has grown so thoughtfully, I think this is the perfect example of crafting a living you love – Lyndsey
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A story of jewellery inspired by contrasts
A story of trusting the path and creating something that was always waiting to be made
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