Liora|@amliora_designs
Introduction
Meet Liora, a creative soul hailing from Vancouver, BC, with a unique blend of talents as an industrial designer and a resin floral designer. Beyond her professional pursuits, Liora finds joy in baking, gardening, and sharing her life with her beloved dog, Pingu, who plays a significant role both personally and in her business endeavors.
Having discovered a passion for flower preservation through resin artistry during the challenging times of lockdown, Liora’s journey into the world of preserving nature’s beauty is a testament to her unwavering dedication to creating timeless art pieces inspired by the lush greenery of Vancouver. Let’s delve into Liora’s insightful reflections and experiences as she intertwines her expertise in industrial design with the art of flower preservation, capturing precious memories and moments in everlasting keepsakes.
Liora’s Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/amliora_designs/
Liora’s website: https://www.amliora.com/
Interview
Liora, can you do a little bit of an introduction of yourself first?
Sure!My name is Liora and I am from Vancouver, BC. I am an industrial designer and a resin floral designer. I love baking, gardening, and I have the cutest dog, Pingu, who is a big part of my life and business. He sniff tests all the flowers and plants I bring and he used to be in a lot of my videos and stories before I moved my business to a seperate office.
Are you a full-time industrial designer and part-time resin floral designer?
I am a full time resin floral designer now, but my education is industrial designer, and I apply that in my work daily. For example, if I need a display, I right away think how can I build it myself. I learned how to work with different materials, including resin, at university, so I have a deeper understanding of how things work. I think my education gives me a huge advantage in this work. I went to Emily Carr University, which is an art and design school, so I kind of got a big of both, and I utilize it in my work and daily life.
Liora working in her local boots
That’s amazing! It’s wonderful to have both knowledge of resin floral design and industrial design.
Absolutely!
How old are you? You sound super young to me.
Haha I’m not that young. I am 32. I went to university at a later age. I graduated university when I was 27 years old.
Oh, that’s nice. It must be a very happy experience.
Yes! I was really happy to have the opportunity to go to university when I knew exactly what I wanted to study and really appreciated my education. I do not regret going at an older age.
Did you start your flower preservation journey in university or after graduation?
I’ve worked with branches a lot in university and a design school I went to before. I made sculptures using branches. As a kid I used to dry flowers and make bookmarks with my grandma. However, properly learning how to dry and preserve flowers I started when I started my business. I have invested a lot of time learning how each flower is preserved best. A lot of trial and error, a lot of flowers that didn’t turn out that great haha. I also started growing my own flowers and experimenting on them. I would put the same flower in a flower press, in a microwave press, in silica gel and semolina, and see what are the best results.
hahah, it so nice. What make you start your flower preservation business? Is there a special moment?
I had some resin left over from university, and during covid I really needed an artistic outlet to get through the lockdown. I looked through my supplies and found the resin, which was yellow and old at that point, but I had no idea. I got a kit with molds and bezels on Amazon, watched a few videos, and started making. I would go on walks with my dog and gather some leaves, flowers, branches, bring them home, dry them and make jewelry. I was always fascinated by the nature in Vancouver. Everything is so green all the time and there are so many flowers. I decided to make something that preserves this moment, this nature, this feeling of walking through the beautiful urban nature of Vancouver.
With time, I learned how to work well with resin. I applied my knowledge, read a lot, learned a lot, tried and experimented a lot, and then did the same with flowers. I slowly perfected my method and developed my own style.
Liora’s art
What a wonderful answer. You turn the beauty of the nature and resin into a new art! From your words, I guess you must be someone that always want to create better work.During the time of flower preservation, you may try many brands of silica gel crystals. Why do you choose us at the end?
Yes, I am always trying to perfect my work. I tried many brands and I really like your brand because of a few things.
First, I saw you have amazing reviews online. Second, your packaging is great, and that is always something that attracts customers! Third- I love the size of the particles and the consistency. It also has great humidity indicators and it is easy to see. Also, barely any dust or non at all. I think I tried 4 brands, and yours is my favourite. Also, of course, the flowers dried fast, didn’t loose any colour, and came out perfectly. It was also easier to clean off the silica gel off the flowers after.
Amazing! So glad that we can help you preserve better flowers! During the journey, you must have preserved memories fore many people. Is there a story that leaves you a stong impression?
Ohh great question. I had an amazing customer that brought me to tears. She lost her daughter and wanted me to preserve Forget-me-not flowers for her in a bracelet. A few months later I saw her at an event and she told me that she lost it when she took it off at work and was very sad. I was so sad, and I had a similar bracelet. I went to her and put it on her wrist. She was shocked. A few mins later she came to me, hugged me, and we both cried.
Awwww. It’s so deep and emotional. She must be very fragile at that time.
For sure. This story will stay with me for life.
If you could sum it up in one sentence, what does this job, flower preservation mean to you?
Capturing memories and moments in time into beautiful forever keepsake. How is that? Haha....
It’s amazing. Thank you so much for joining the interview.
Writer: Mingzhu Wu
21.06.2024