A floral backdrop to life’s ups and down

From life drawing and sculptures to yoga and spoken word performances, Ocean Grove born-and-raised Courtney Ward is leaving no creative stone unturned.

But in every art form Ward has explored, and every business venture she has undertaken, there have been flowers – a vocation she has pursued for more than 12 years.

“Floristry was an option for a part-time job that wasn’t in hospitality while I was at uni studying Curatorial and Museum Studies, but I found myself enjoying the floristry more than my degree, so I basically just followed that avenue,” she said.

“Flowers have stayed with me through all of the things I do, and in art.

“I grew up in Ocean Grove and I have always travelled a lot, I spent time in south-east Asia, and I’ve been to Vietnamese flower markets, Myanmar flower markets… once I even bought flowers and arranged them took them to a monastery for monks.”

Ward took over Torquay Florist in August and expects it to be another place to express her creative soul.

“I could see how it could grow into something a little more in line with my creative vision,” she said.

“I hate saying the word funky, but it is.

“It’s just really creative and making things that don’t traditionally go together. We work a lot on colour, whereas traditional floristry, they work on types of flowers.

“[Floristry] used to be very structured, but we’re very out of the box. And we’re especially trying to showcase the artform that is in floristry, so putting flowers together, as much as they’re flowers, there is still technique and style and constructing something really beautiful.”

Ward started working at Torquay Florist after returning from an oversea trip and needing a second job while working as an artist, and her vision for the boutique floristry quickly grew into something more.

“We are already a florist that you couldn’t align with any of the styles of other florists around, it just makes us unique, make us stand out,” she said.

“I just try to keep things a little more interesting, bringing different flowers into the pieces. It’s very much away from traditional floristry, and just enlightening people on what flowers are out there, that are beautiful, then still bringing back the classics.

“We’re limited very much so our imports, so we use very locally grown stock… sourcing things in a different way and bringing our locally grown stock to the forefront and showing people it is beautiful and can be as nice as anything else.”

But beyond the artistry, Ward said her favourite part of floristry was delivering customer’s flowers amid the highs and lows life brings.

“I love people and I love community.

“I think people forget how much a florist deals with people while they are going through the hardest times in life, going through something.

“We have people come through that are devastated, and you can’t imagine what they’re going through when they’re lost their special person, and you still have to be there and engage with them and create that flower tribute… a memento towards someone’s life when there is that celebration of life.

“But then there’s also really joyful things, and I love the customer’s stories, when people come in and tell us why they’re buying the flowers, like a gentleman coming to buy flowers to celebrate 33 years of marriage and he’s really excited to create a beautiful bouquet for his partner. It’s always really humbling.”

Ward has made the flower shop an inviting creative space where people can learn about flowers and engage with them in a new way.

“I wanted to bring a more community-based events program to the space, because it is such a beautiful little shop on the corner there,” she said.

“We’ve started the study and sketch nights just to engage with people, because as a florist you’re kind of engaging with people over the spectrum of emotions, all those times, so it’s nice for people to know us personally.

“It’s getting people to notice and interact with the flowers and get it’s also an exchange of knowledge.

“Obviously I’ve worked with flowers for a long time, and this is an opportunity for people to get to know how they grow, where they’re grown, what they’re like when they’re not a cut stem.

“It’s actually quite interesting the amount of questions people do have about flowers. It’s just about taking the time to appreciate them.”

Beyond flowers, Ward runs a central Geelong art studio and creative event space, which doubles as her private art and yoga studio.

“At the start of COVID-19 I came back from a trip overseas, and I just wanted my own creative space, so I got a commercial space in town called VIDLER Art Parlour, and we do fun events like life drawing, and concerts and plays.

“I’ve been pretty heavy-handed in the arts community in Geelong since my early 20s, I’ve always contributed a lot to that, to visual arts and performance-based art.

“We’ve done some gigs, and we’ve had a projection artist, and we’ve had yoga studios, and the biggest thing is sketch club at the moment – it’s a life drawing of amateur models, everyday people to life model and share that vulnerability with everyday people who don’t even necessarily draw.”

Ward said Torquay Florist would continue to do everyday floristry deliveries, in-shop bouquets and interactive events in the coming months, and are looking forward to wedding season.

She is personally enjoying the process of balancing artists and florist, all the while building a house in Ocean Grove – but whatever the future holds, there are sure to be flowers.