This Mother Daughter Duo Creates Stunning Floral Art With Feminist Icons

Welcome to Curious Creative Spotlight, a recurring feature in which Rogue Habits interviews artists, showcasing their work as well as delving into their inspirations, creative processes, and daily life. Think your art should be featured next? Here’s how to submit.

 

Inspired by the famous 70’s song Sister Golden Hair, co-owners and mother-daughter duo, Vicki and Brooke Rawlins decided to name their online boutique Sister Golden in honor of the classic rock hit. Vicki recounts, “Brooke’s dad called her Sister Golden as a nickname when she was little and it just stuck.” Since its online debut in 2014, the store has attracted attention from design trendsetters and media outlets like Better Homes and Gardens, Popsugar, and Real Simple.

The store’s name conjures up images of a time when global textiles and bohemian embellishments dominated home decor, and self-expression and individuality were hallmarks of the counterculture era. Today, Sister Golden and its curated collection of contemporary handcrafted products and one-of-a-kind pieces keep that 70’s visionary design spirit alive and well. And what began as an online venture with a small selection of bespoke pieces and Vicki’s colorful art, quickly grew and expanded into offering a much larger collection of works from independent artists across the globe. Then, in spring of 2017, the mother-daughter team saw their dream fully realized when they opened a brick and mortar store in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Among the most unique pieces in the store are Vicki’s magnificent Balancing Mother Nature collections, made completely of outdoor foliage.

The owners of Sister Golden share their journey, favorite feminist icons, the painstaking process of creating floral art, and sage advice on how to work together and remain sane when running a family business.

The Journey

Inspired by her artistic mother, Vicki spent her youth developing her painting and drawing skills. “I watched my mother create through her work as an interior designer, a professional floral designer, and later as a photographer. She made me feel free to push myself doing something I loved. This spring, even at age 81, she will be presenting her work in a gallery show alongside my pieces.”

After completing art school and working in graphic design and illustration, Vicki was later commissioned as a muralist and colorist for commercial businesses–but her love of painting and florals kept calling her back. “While that work was fun and rewarding, I was happy to be back in the studio with paint and flowers.”

Born into a world of strong, artistic women, daughter Brooke’s journey also led to a creative career but in the advertising and retail marketing space. During this time, she began envisioning a boutique of her own and even though she and her mother were thousands of miles apart (Vicki in Chicago, Brooke in San Diego), Brooke truly believed in her mother’s talent and decided to combine her merchandising skills with Vicki’s artistic creations to establish Sister Golden. 

“Plant Mama’s” Process

Lovingly referred to as “plant mama” in a recent Instagram post, Vicki and her foliage art have garnered a large social media following and it’s no wonder, as the process of creating her pieces is just as interesting as the art itself. She describes her methods as a form of meditation, “Getting outside and foraging for foliage forces me to get lost in the present moment, which becomes meditative. Working with flowers–the smell, texture, and color– is kind of magical. I love that putting these pieces together is like capturing a moment in time and then it all goes back into the earth.”

 

While foraging through nature, Vicki scans her environment and notices how a leaf can become an ear for a dog or a twig can work as a chin or cheekbone for one of her many inspirational women portraits. “I’m kind of like the bag lady of botanicals. I keep scissors and clippers in my car at all times.”

 

 

Once back in the studio, the botanical maven carefully sifts through her treasures. She explains, “I dump all my findings on to the studio table and just start moving things around. I only use tweezers and scissors to build and create the whole piece. Nothing is taped or glued.” Once this highly intricate process is finished, Vicki takes several photos of her creation, careful not to bump the table. “I document my work quickly because some flowers start to wilt within a few minutes.”

The last step is to recycle it all back into the earth or into her next piece. “There’s a freedom in knowing everything I’m doing is temporary,” says Vicki.

 

For The Love of Frida

Inspirational women, specifically Mexico’s most famous self-portrait artist and feminist icon Frida Kahlo, are represented throughout Vicki’s floral artwork. She explains, “As a painter, I just had to create Frida in flowers when I started working in this medium. She’s just such as badass and I’m all about that.”

 

One of Vicki’s favorite pieces includes Nesting Frida. “The stars were aligned when I made her.” Other feminist icons in her collection include Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Iris Apfel, and many others, as well as several portraits offering positive messages of female empowerment.

 

 

 

 

Striking Balance In Family Business

When asked about their working relationship, Vicki explains, “It’s been a dream working with my daughter Brooke. She pushes me to show up every day and create art and to never ever settle into being safe! I used to paint all day in my cozy little studio and now I’m traveling all over the world, meeting other artists and makers, or shopping beautiful textiles from places like Morocco.”

 

Brooke also offered solid advice on the do’s and don’ts of working with family members. “When starting a business with a family member, always agree on your designated roles and responsibilities and maintain them. This way you’re not overstepping boundaries. Also, it’s easy to not “keep it professional” when you’re working with someone very close to you, but it’s important to maintain some level of professionalism when it comes time to work and behave the way you would with another co-worker. When it’s time to turn off for the day, it’s equally important to leave work at work, and enjoy your time as family members or friends.”

 

 

 

2019 will mark Sister Golden’s 5th anniversary of being an online shop and their 3rd season as a brick and mortar store in Fish Creek, WI. One of their biggest goals this year is to hire a few amazing team members. Brooke states, “We think that 2019 will be a pivotal and important year of growth and transformation, and the first step is great help!” To see their work and process in action, go on Sister Golden’s Instagram.