People
KEEPING THE HANDS OPEN
A few years back, Gabriella Odh was living in Stockholm. Her day-to-day then resembled the lives of many in big cities, featuring a corporate career, fewer square metres to live than one would hope for, and a tight schedule that makes time for oneself a luxury.
Today, Gabriella is a floral designer welcoming us into her home in Svanshall, a small town in Southern Sweden. The cottage-like house follows the local style of Skåne architecture, the region we’re in. The façade combines visible wooden beams and bricks. Like all other houses in the area, the construction is old but respectfully well-kept, surrounded by lush gardens and caressed by the sea. These houses are also modest; life here is not so much about grandeur of space, it’s about having room – and time – for the soul to grow.
Leaving the past behind, geographically or emotionally, comes with hardships. But it’s mostly the positive aspects of it that we talk about. Closing a chapter to begin a new one is part of existing – a representation of nature’s cycles, even. Rather than nostalgia, Gabriella finds peace in the passing nature of things.
‘You know, I’m really happy to leave all the full inboxes, the meetings, the stress, behind. I loved that in the moment, but that was like another era. Sometimes I need to think about it because no one here knows that I used to be that kind of person. But I am so happy to be here. It’s hard, sometimes, to explain it, but it’s nice to feel that there has been a change and that you like it.’
‘It’s nice to feel that there has been a change and that you like it.’
‘I think I like constant change. It would be harder for me to create if I knew it would last forever. I’d have to be super strict; I’d be blocked. Maybe it’s something that I’m used to: the seasons, moving… I’m not afraid of letting go, in a way.
‘When I moved, so many people thought I was crazy because everything was perfect in Stockholm. But people who’d known me for a long time knew that a big part of me was missing. Now, everyone knows that I have found my place, everyone is happy for me – happy that I found my place.’
‘I work as a flower decorator, but I also do a lot of other small things and help people with all kinds of stuff. I like cooking, baking and playing with my child, and now I have time for all of that. I think I just like to create something and I’ve always wanted to be surrounded by harmony. I don’t really know what it takes to achieve it, but I am always changing, so I am always changing things and moving things.’
‘I think it’s important to mix the old with something new. The mix makes it beautiful. I love glass and porcelain and vases and plates. It’s hard to say what it is that draws me to something – some people know exactly what they’re looking for but I can like so many things. It’s the same with flowers.’
‘If you talk to the older school of florists, there are many principles and rules. I just learned half of it, and I am happy for that. The friend I work with is more sensitive, looking at the shape of everything, and not forcing anything to be in a way that it shouldn’t be. When you look at super modern creations, there can be unbalanced but really balanced compositions. I think it’s something that you learn by doing and by looking.’
‘I really like working with things I can pick in my garden or around the area. That was my dream, to be able to work with what is close to me. I enjoy mixing unexpected things.’
‘It’s easy to hold on tight, if you really want something… When I’m afraid of losing something, I try to believe that you need to have open hands. It’s easier, then, to do new things. It’s a passion, in everything, to pick things I like and mixing them in my world. It can be a person, flowers, objects. As long as you like it, it’s good. It all makes sense.’