Infocus: with floral designer Sophia Kaplan
Image by Becca Crawford
“I love growing things we can eat and having the kids help me harvest from our tiny edible garden. Otis loves picking little alpine strawberries and Rafi now waits patiently for our lemons to ripen before pulling them off the tree.”
Sophia Kaplan is a mother to Rafi (4) and Otis (1), residing in Sydney’s inner west. I met her almost seven years ago when she started her floristry business and illuminated our wedding with local forage and blossoms. My bouquet was made with tiny sprigs of geranium. There were pastel lilac water lilies scattered on the tables. It truly was magnificent. Since then, her career as a floral designer and writer has quite literally blossomed with her family. She has also had the honour of publishing four books with her business partner Lauren Camilleri. The two have successfully launched Leaf Supply, an online destination for all things botanical. If you’re living in the inner city and want to root your kids to the earth, this one is for you. What a beautiful read to kick off 2023.
Tell us about your businesses. You have two. How do they work together and separately?
My businesses both spring from my love of nature. Of growing and nurturing plants and being constantly full of wonder at the beauty of their blooms. They absolutely inform one another, from the less glamorous nitty gritty of running a small business, to the client crossovers, and of course the creative side. Researching ideas, knowledge of the local nurseries, using potted plants in my floral styling work and my styling aesthetic feeding into the content we create for Leaf Supply and the community - there are constant links between these adjacent worlds.
How has the approach to making work shifted since having a second? Did you find the shift enormous or small?
The quiet creative moments at home are definitely shorter than they used to be. I’ve probably become more efficient and adapted to working in little bursts of activity throughout the day. My youngest has just started daycare so I’m anticipating more leisurely sessions in the studio soon. Having a bit of space from work always means some self-reflection on what sort of work I want to be making and how that will fit into the rest of my life. But having a balance has always been important to me, kids or not kids.
The word mother means...
So much joy and a fair amount of pain too. Being a provider and a carer, being silly, sometimes distracted.. being tired and emotionally torn and yet filled with such gratitude and sweetness.
Image by Becca Crawford
Three words to describe your second birth.
Medical, fast, positive. The first was social, loud, and magic. I spent a lot of time with friends in the early stages of that labour.
Some things/ people that inform your work and inspire you.
Nature is the biggest inspiration. Visiting botanic gardens, national parks, my local community garden. I love seeing the amazing things my flower friends are creating all over the world, and other creatives too. At the moment there seem to be so many people doing amazing things with produce and cooking. Food is a great friend of flowers.
What does the term grounded mean to you?Are there some things/rituals you need to take to get there?
Spending time in the garden is my favourite way to clear my head after a big day. It’s a type of meditation for sure. Watering or weeding or better yet, digging in new plants or harvesting food you have grown is instantly soothing.
Image by Saskia Wilson
Do you feel like creativity and matrescence are inextricably linked?
This is a hard one. I think some people find it heightens their creativity and others find it dimmed. These early years of motherhood can be all encompassing but I still feel a desire to be creative and share that side of me with my children too.
You live in a world of plants. Do you feel your kids are naturally connected to nature? How do you bring them into this world?
I love growing things we can eat and having the kids help me harvest from our tiny edible garden. Otis loves picking little alpine strawberries and Rafi now waits patiently for our lemons to ripen before pulling them off the tree. They love our ‘pet’ worms who munch through our leftovers, and I hope that I’m instilling in them a respect and appreciation for it all.
An ideal afternoon looks like to you…
A massage from Sangs in Rozelle while Otis naps (can you tell I’m craving one right now?), a swim with friends, and an early, leisurely dinner with lots of kids running around.
Advice for anyone wanting to do something that is theirs?
Find something that truly resonates with who you are, and the lifestyle you’re after. Something you’d be happy to put energy into every day if need be. And then find other people who share your passion, there is nothing better than learning from and giving back to a like-minded group of people.
Follow Sophia’s Journey here.