Meet Ernestina E Perez Chavez

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ernestina E Perez Chavez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ernestina E, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

It stays in moments of joy and stillness––and when I am well rested. Because creativity has such a wide spectrum, I often find it can flow after a night out of dancing, after going to an art show and feeling inspired or it can often come after having such a profound conversation with a friend. And at times it can come after a moment of darkness, after going through something heavy, the urge to create becomes more present. I keep it as a close friend with curiosity and a passion to explore different mediums.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I started Velvet Floral as an outlet for my artistic expression as a floral designer–a different expression of what I was doing while working at a flower shop. I am drawn to dualities and using beautiful floral elements to contrast flowers that look thorny and usual. I always go with floral elements that call me and showcase the event or pop-up theme I am working with. This year I am particularly more focused on teaching floral workshops and share what I know and how I do it. I taught a floral workshop in February that really kept me wanting to do more. The theme was inspired by Caravaggio––a painter and master of light and dark. My florals featured creams, light pink flowers with a touch of dark foliage. I really enjoyed the energy of the students and will continue to teach more workshops this year. Lastly, I also created Velvet Floral to connect with kindred creative spirits who love what they do!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

My background in graphic design helped me tremendously with floral design since many of the elements of design are similar. But with that said I would advice folks to play, stay curious and stick to what feels authentic to them. For me photography has always been important in my life and in this case, it has helped me with branding and keeping track of the process and of my work so that I can showcase it. One other important aspect of my journey has been staying open to collaborations and working with other creatives.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Absolutely! Always looking to collaborate–whether it’s for a photoshoot, for videography, floral for someone performing on stage, a fashion show, etc. And also to open to doing floral pop-ups in least expected places like a bookshop… actually that would truly be a dream of mine!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @velvetfloral

Image Credits

Some of the high resolution images were taken by Estevan Cruz
and the rest were taken by me