What do a love of flowers, a creative spirit and a degree in physiotherapy have in common? Not much, but Gqeberha resident Melissa Watson, 29, has all three. And each has played a role in leading her to where she is today — the owner and creative behind Flower Followers.
This artistic hobby, now turned full-time business, sees Watson handcraft botanical resin artworks and jewellery.
Using pressed flowers, she creates everything from earrings, necklaces, rings and bracelets to key chains, bookmarks, coasters and even bridal bouquet preservations and pressed flower frames.
But that wasn’t always the plan.
“I actually studied physiotherapy at the University of the Free State and returned to Port Elizabeth [Gqeberha] to do my community service year,” Watson, who was born and raised in the city, said.
“But I always wanted to spend some time abroad to travel, so I took the opportunity to do the TEFL experience in 2019.
“I lived and travelled in Vietnam and taught English to Vietnamese children during that time.
“It is the most beautiful country and I was amazed at how hardworking and friendly the Vietnamese are.
“They would use the smallest space and turn it into the most beautiful coffee shop and creative space, and I was amazed at how much they could do with so little. Not to mention the beauty of their countryside and historical buildings.”
While she didn’t really know it at the time, Watson said this experience had had a lot to do with Flower Followers coming to fruition.
“I was always creative as a child. I did art from primary school to matric and I was always busy with my own little scrapbooking and creative projects at home.
“But I lost touch with that side when I went to university. Being in Vietnam definitely sparked that creative side of me and inspired me greatly without me even realising it.”
Returning to SA in December 2019, Watson started to work as a physiotherapist again in 2020 for a practice that specialised in orthopaedic surgery.
And then the Covid-19 pandemic struck and her work, like many others, was put on hold.
“During the first hard lockdown, I spent some time with my family in Sundays River Valley (Colchester), where my parents lived at the time,” she said.
“I was looking for a new way to dive into my creativity and came across these botanical resin artworks and jewellery pieces on Pinterest, and thought ‘oh hey, this looks fun! Let’s give it a try.’
“My love for flowers came from my grandfather. He is quite the gardener and always had the most beautiful rose gardens when I was growing up, and took me to the annual Addo Rose Shows.”
With this passion for nature and an urge to get creative, Watson took a stab at this craft, but the first attempt did not go as planned.
“My first try at botanical resin art was with industrial grade resin and it was a complete disaster. Let me tell you, it can be a big mess if you don’t know what you are doing,” she quipped.
“But I still enjoyed it and thought it was the most amazing concept, being able to preserve nature in such a way.”
And so she kept going. And through lots of research and experimentation, she perfected her craft.
“It definitely took a lot of trial and error and Google/YouTube doesn’t always have all the answers.
“I had to find my own way to overcome obstacles such as bubbles, tackiness, resin curing too quickly or too slowly, preventing dust from getting into the resin, yellowing of the resin, flowers not drying successfully, etc.
“Basically research, testing different methods and experimenting with different kinds of resins helped me to get to where I am today.
“And once I managed to source the right type of resin for what I wanted to do, I started making jewellery pieces, bookmarks and key chains.
“I still worked full-time and did markets and advertised on social media as a source of additional income, and it just grew from there.
“The Sherwood Garden Centre nursery was the first wholesaler that gave me the opportunity to stock my products in the nursery back in 2021 and that really gave me the confidence to continue to grow my small business and learn more about the craft.”
Today, Flower Followers has become Watson’s full-time work and she is set to open her first studio space at the Sherwood Garden Centre Nursery & Café on November 22.
But that’s not to say she doesn’t still have her work cut out for her. Creating her art takes time, patience and a lot of passion.
“The creative process is definitely a long one.
“First I hand pick and sort the flowers and cut them to size. Then I dry them in presses over a few weeks.
“Once dried, I mix and match the flowers to make up pairs of earrings where the two flowers or ferns look almost identical and fit the different flowers to the different pendant shapes and sizes. This takes a lot of time.”
And after that Watson puts in all the resin work that’s needed.
From perfectly placing and preserving the botanicals in the resin and ensuring it cures correctly to carefully removing each item from their moulds, trimming the edges, drilling holes for the jewellery pieces and assembling the pieces, Watson does everything by hand.
But, she said, for her, that’s actually the easy part.
“Being an artist or creative is easy. Building a small business and being an entrepreneur is really hard,” she said.
“One of the biggest things I have learnt and most difficult things to accept is that good things take time, and Rome wasn’t built in a day.
“It takes time to get your brand out there, to establish a client base and to build connections. It is only with time, practice and consistency that you grow, learn and improve.”
She said the biggest joys of running Flower Followers lay in the way she was able to preserve memories for others.
“I enjoy the fact that each piece is a process. And to be able to preserve nature like this.
“It is a very special thing, being able to take someone’s wedding bouquet or sentimental flowers and turn it into an art piece and a keepsake that they can cherish for years to come.
“Just like music, flowers have the ability to tell a story and trigger memories, and that is what I enjoy most about what I do.
“I also really do love working with all the different types of flowers and ferns, and really appreciating the detail and how dainty, intricate and perfect they are.
“It is just amazing when you really think about how God can make something so beautiful and perfect.”
To find out more, visit the Flower Followers Facebook page, Instagram, or website.
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