ART & ACTIVISM 008 - @mWTF

A flower is one of the few things in the world that can be used to celebrate all stages of life. When someone is born, when someone graduates, when you want to show appreciation or that you’re falling in love. When you want to say you’re sorry, when you want to show solidarity or when someone has transitioned out of life and into death. Sometimes we say we love them when we hate them and say we hate them when we love them. They represent all of our complexities while capturing how simple it is to show how we really feel. Mallory Browne, @mallorywiththeflowers , has been creating art through floral design since 2018. Her first opportunity to showcase her talent was at a college friend’s wedding.

She marks that experience of decorating an intimate get together for a friend as one of the moments when she knew that she would continue to love floral design. Since then, her business has skyrocketed. She made an appearance on Insecure and has been working non-stop. She’s found ways to show up for her community during the height of police brutality and to maintain her creativity through the loneliness of quarantine. Mallory is a star on the rise, and not just because her artistry catches your eye and grips your soul, but because she encourages family, friends and strangers to find lines of work and passions that inspires them to do the same.

Name: Mallory Browne 

Age: 29

Race/Ethnicity/Any Identifications that Define/Describe You: she/her , Black & Filipino 

Hometown: Pasadena & LA

Occupation: Floral Artist/Designer, Graphic Designer & Content Strategist - hoping to transition out of the last two. I’ve found people to help me with my floral art/business which was the next step for me.

When did you start creating floral art and why? Started the beginning of 2018 - I was working in analytics super heavy. Working 9AM - 6PM and being on a computer all day...that’s when I was just like “I need to do something with my hands”. I felt an urge to do it. I always liked them, but I was never like obsessed and I kinda would always make this joke that in my next life, I’ll be a florist. Then something hit me and I thought, “why not just do it now?” I remember the exact moment - I was at the 99¢ store with my boyfriend and I said, “I think I’m gonna be a florist” and he was like “okay, sounds good...how're you gonna do it?” And I said, “I can maybe just watch tutorials on Youtube''. So I made some arrangements and sent it to friends and they'd say it looked good and now looking back they weren't, but I got there through googling, youtubing and using grocery store flowers. 

Then, I gave myself a challenge to create 30 arrangements in 30 days and uploaded it to Instagram and my friends were liking it and hyping it up and I was doing that everyday. It was really fun and that's when I thought maybe I can do this for real everyday. I kind of blame it on being a Capricorn. People tell me that I always do the most and push really hard. I became really consistent when it came to posting and googling when a friend from college reached out and asked if I wanted to do her wedding. it was small and intimate and in my head I was like of course I can do it and it was much harder than I thought, but it turned out really beautiful and it was perfect to do my first arrangement for a friend from college. 

When did you start your Instagram page and why? January 7, 2018, started on my personal page and then made a flower account.

What topics or elements do you try to incorporate into your art? I feel like a lot of times, when I'm designing, I force myself to go inward - building the flowers comes much more naturally when I don't put pressure on it in that way. But I typically try to talk to myself and ask what I am feeling and I guess that depends on what's going on in the outside world. Then I say don't think about anything else, go where your hand is going naturally. It’s taken a lot of practice, but if i try to make someone like it then it's not gonna happen for me - I just have to do what feels good and it'll be good.

What does your process look like/involve when it comes to creating pieces? 

I design in my garage studio, usually always at night because I work during the day. I like to listen to music and I like listening to reality tv on my Bravo app. I dont like to be under any influence when I’m doing flowers - I just like to have my water, Bravo app and my phone propped up. If i dont have my Bravo app, then I play a new episode of The Read (a Black and queer podcast) and I save episodes to listen to while im designing. 

What’re your feelings about the recent murders at the hands of the police? Obviously it's horrible and my first thoughts with everything that's happened was…”what can i do?” I don’t have a lot of money so I couldn't donate. I’m not really like an outward activist, even though i have conversations with friends and family. Still, I knew that I needed to contribute so that's when I did the Flowers for Black Men Project where it was just to show Black men that we love them. 

Being a Black woman with a business right now...it’s awesome. My business is growing...I’ve never been this busy before, but then I’m like me and my fellow florists have been here, creating amazing work and it wasn't until black people were dying that this happened. It's interesting realizing your voice is important because you have all these new eyes on you. It's been hard on me, because it happened so fast. I'll get dms from people theatre the most tokenizing things and it’s exhausting trying to manage it all. Honestly, all i can say is it's a huge mindfuck but i'm working my hardest so that none of this goes in vain because people are literally dying. 

Black businesses are finally getting shine, but at the same time its like our people are dying so we're just trying to manage how we’re feeling about this. We just are trying to keep going, pushing through it while life around us is all over the place. It’s not like we want to turn people away that’re new. We deserve it. It's a really weird feeling. I think everyone is just trying to manage. We're trying to manage getting all of this business and being Black at the same time. 

What was life like for you growing up? I have an older brother, parents were divorced when I was really young, always had two separate houses to live at and I didn’t realize how broke we were until i got older. I love my dad and I'm kind of a “daddy’s girl” so I've always been really close with him even though he was really strict growing up. We were always out - he made my childhood an experience. It’s funny - you kind of realize when you meet other people that their experiences have turned them into who they are - good or bad. The good memories overshadow the bad ones. My dad kept us busy but it was always fun and free - bike riding, going to the beach...I never felt like i was missing out. And the stuff I thought I was missing out on, I realize it was just outward pressure, but I was never in need of attention or love. I’m super grateful for that. 

How do you hope to inspire change? Tbh, I don't think flowers are gonna make this huge monumental change, but what I do think will make change is peoples perspectives on a personal level. It’s wanting to do something and trying it. I’m almost thirsty and me and all my friends are doing all of these things that we thought we wanted or were supposed to, but now a light bulb is on. I’ve figured out that there are other ways to do things and to be happy even if it doesnt turn into a business. We say, “in my next life I'll do this”, but it's like why not just do it now. Friends tell me that they are so proud of me for just doing that. There aren't very many tangible people we know who get to do that and don't have a trust fund or aren’t poppin’ on Instagram. Things like that are important and I talk to people and they say that's so cool and then I ask them “what do they want to do” and tell them they can do it. Nothing’s too grand; everything’s accessible. 

Favorite Food: Sushi & Filipino Food

Favorite Genre of Music: R&B, love super lovey dovy stuff like Eric Bellinger especially when i've had a bad day

Favorite Artist/Band: My favorite: Ari Lennox and recently The Internet

Favorite Artist: @bloomandplume

Favorite Program (through which you create your art): When I make proposals to make colorways, I use Pinterest and then I put it together in a Google sheet deck form like a collage. 

Favorite Colors to use: I love using oranges and purples, I love texture so a lot of different foliage and different leaves. When I'm designing, I think “how does this feel and look”. 

Favorite Inner/Outer Feature: I’m thinking my willingness to push through things whether it be a very hard bike ride or something. I feel like I'm pretty strong willed. I always hated my eyebrows growing up because I have my dad’s eyebrows and they are thick and bushy, but I’m gonna say they’re my favorite because I'm learning to love them. 

Favorite Item that you incorporate into your daily looks, special looks, going out, around the house: My phone - it has the little thing where I can slide my card in it so it's all that I need when I'm around the house or out.