Lisa King interviews Joanna Game, a floral designer, gardener, and learning facilitator based in Dartmoor. Surrounded by lanes, hedgerows and moorland, Joanna’s artistry is rooted in the quiet beauty of her landscape. Her practice explores creativity, community and the healing power of nature.
Could you introduce yourself in your own words?
I am a grower, designer and facilitator. My art medium is flowers. I live on Dartmoor, and the lanes, fields and changing seasons around me are the inspiration for my creativity. After several years in event floristry and looking for a new challenge, I set up Beltane, a creative retreat in Cornwall, alongside which I teach in my studio.
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How did you begin working with flowers?
I have always loved flowers. When I lived in London with my first child, I decided not to return to my previous career as a nurse. A friend who worked as both a cook and a florist invited me to help her on a few event jobs, and from there, my confidence grew. I worked in London for about three years on large corporate events. When I moved to Devon, having always had a real interest in growing, I took a cutting garden course with Sarah Raven and began to grow my own flowers to supplement my market-bought blooms.
I've always tried to use British flowers in my work and 10 years ago, I stopped all my imports and started using purely British. This made my design process and creativity just blossom as the bendy stems, fragility and seasonality of local flowers suited me and my style. It's just an entirely different product.
Can you tell me about Beltane?
Beltane grew from my wish to give people an amazing space full of flowers and all the tools they needed to tap into their creativity. It is a retreat that celebrates the spring in Cornwall at Prussia Cove. Ten guests spend a weekend with like-minded creatives arranging, drawing, painting and photographing, finishing with a feast under a collaboratively built floral installation.
How did you end up living on Dartmoor?
We lived in London for twenty years, but my husband wanted to take a break from his career to write. We first planned to move to France, but with two small children, I had a bit of a wobble, like “I don't think I can do this”. My parents had just moved to Dartmoor, so we decided to spend a year here. That was twenty-two years ago. Dartmoor got into our blood, and we never left. It is the most amazing place to be.
Do you forage for your work?
I do, but always with care. I mostly forage in the hedgerows or on my lovely neighbour's land with permission. I only take what is abundant and never anything rare. Foraging often begins the creative process for me. A branch, a seed head or a tendril might spark an idea.
What are some of your favourite local plants to work with?
Old Man’s Beard is my favourite. I particularly love it in the autumn and early winter, but its tendrils and flowers also add beautiful movement in the spring and summer., I also love bracken in autumn, grasses, buttercups and the tiny wild strawberries.
What is your earliest memory of a garden?
My earliest memory of a garden is probably my grandmother’s garden in the Midlands. It was terraced and filled with roses. You could hear the gibbons from the nearby zoo, which made it feel magical. My happiest memories are walking with my mother and picking little bunches of wildflowers.
How has your relationship with nature changed over time?
When I was a child, it was just a delight in nature by being outside and playing outside and making dens and picking flowers. Later in London, I sought out gardens and green spaces as an escape from the city. My husband was diagnosed with cancer nine years ago, and the landscape around us became a source of comfort and grounding. The seasons and nature around us keep us balanced somehow.
Who inspires you?
Constance Spry for her creativity and daring approach to floristry. Dan Pearson for his garden design, Jess and Alex of Aesme Studio for their beautiful, naturalistic floral designs
What are you working towards? Any bucket list things in your floristry?
The garden is always evolving. I am constantly planning and changing things. I think I've ticked. Most boxes have kind of fantasies. In my floristry, I would love to be invited to create an installation for British Flowers Week at the Garden Museum. That would be a dream. I also hope to write a book one day and continue improving my photography.
How can British-grown flowers become more accessible to florists?
People need to rediscover the value of seasonality. When you cannot have something all year round, it feels so much more precious when it comes; it's more of a kind of understanding that less is so much more. It's education right from the bottom up. Teaching our children to appreciate seasonality.
Stronger networks between growers and florists. What I'm seeing in Devon now is that growers are forming hubs where flowers from several farms can be collected in one place. Everybody helps each other, it's very collaborative, and that's lovely,
Follow Joanna at @joannagame_flowers
The East London Flower Collective is a new T-shirt and original print collection from Bangkok-born artist, Lisa King as well as a portrait series of UK florists, gardeners and growers – telling the stories of those who rise with the sun to bring beauty to the world’s flower markets and gardens.
