Life Lessons Learned by a Preserved Flower Resin Artist

June 26, 2023

Who thought that researching and developing a new product line would provide life lessons? We never thought this was a thing either.. but, after developing this totally cool new product line, we’ve found some great life parallels with resin artistry. Take a look…

1. Life can be sticky .. protect yourself and keep going. When working with resin, the hardener and resin, either by itself or blended with the other, are like syrup-y, gooey gunk. Gotta wear gloves and work quickly and carefully! Sometimes in the real world we have to protect ourselves from the yucky stuff and tread carefully and thoughtfully through life’s puzzles and sticky situations. But, like resin work, once that current section of the project, or that chapter of life, is done, we can ditch the kid gloves, wash our hands and move on.

2. Patience is a virtue … and a necessary one when working with resin. The resin design and pouring process goes on for days. Each resin keepsake must be created shallow layer by shallow layer. Resin is poured into its mold in small increments of ¼” at a time, allowing hours between layers for the resin to harden. Just like the good things in life, patience, persistence, and focus pay off in the end. Rushing a deliberate and delicate process, be it a relationship, a tedious project or assignment, or a resin keepsake, will provide sub-perfect results. For a beautiful and quality end product, investing time and care bring a beautiful end.

3. Preparation is everything. Just like prepping for that big interview, an across the country move or a business venture, jumping in without a plan or methodical process, or skipping important, necessary, yet time-consuming steps to make the project easier usually don’t provide the desired top-notch end result. Same with preserved floral resin art.

As with all of our other Keepsake design work, the correct preparation of the flowers for their inclusion in the keepsake design is key to our keepsakes’ long-lasting beauty. After the flowers have been dehydrated carefully, our Keepsake artists work tediously to replace petals and reconstruct and reinforce each bloom. Then each flower is hand-painted to match (as closely as possible) its fresh-flower color, hiding any blemishes. Some blooms must be further modified to fit inside a keepsake or within a resin casting, reducing their depth while still maintaining the integrity of the blooms’ shape. And only then are these flowers ready to be submersed little by little in their resin art design.

Without careful preparation, these preserved flowers would not be able to hold their color, shape or original integrity. In life and in resin, there are no shortcuts. If you want a practically perfect end product, then making sure you’ve done your homework and prepped everything the RIGHT WAY before you take the plunge will ensure you maximize the one opportunity you have to get it right.

4. Having a friend by your side makes everything better. Not only does having a resin casting assistant by the artist’s side help speed the resin creation process along, but it sure does make it more efficient and helps control quality. Plus, it makes the tedious process a bit less lonely to boot. At Keepsake Floral, we find having two resin artists working together throughout the entire casting process is optimal. Together, the senior designer and design assistant prep and hand-paint the flowers a few days before the pouring begins. Each pour is organized by client and keepsake type and lined up to provide the most efficient movement from casting to casting .. for profitability’s sake, creating at least some assembly-lined methodology makes the most sense. Two artists are necessary in order to mix the small batches of hardener and resin together frequently through the pouring steps. You can’t mix too much resin together and not mixing enough at a time is inefficient. Two working side by side is the magic recipe with lots of things in this world .. a good marriage, a strong friendship, a business partnership, two hands, two feet, two eyes .. and two professional artists designing floral keepsakes and casting resin!

5. When treated properly, people, and flowers, can do fabulous things. You have to be kind, gentle and careful when working with humans .. flowers too. We find, at Keepsake Floral, that when special flowers are treated properly and kindly, the beautiful pieces of art that are created from them are amazing! And when we are kind, uplifting and positive to each other, and when we look for the best in the people we spend our time with, we find that humans can rise to the occasion. We also find that people are all truly beautiful in their own right, just like resin flower keepsakes!

We’ve always thought that Keepsake Floral was put in the world to provide more than just preserved flowers, but to promote positivity, love and goodness as well. Love the way that what we do blends so well with healthy life lessons. May you find parallels in your work as well!