This episode of Creative Tea Podcast welcomed Rachel Ehlin, Sculptural Weaver and studio mate at the Consultancy at Merrimac. Rachel is a San Diego-based sculptural weaver, she builds one-of-a-kind sculptural pieces rooted in folklore, impermanence, and natural materials and, as this conversation reveals, an unexpected new chapter of her career born out of divorce, love, and horsehair sourced from Mongolia.
Quick Takes
- Sculpture, Not Textiles: Rachel’s weaving is strictly sculptural, inspired by folklore like witches’ ladders, and built around themes of impermanence, decay, and reinterpreting everyday objects.
- A Business Born from Divorce: Her wedding bouquet line, Ever Woven Flowers, uses preserved flowers, horsetail, and silk to create keepsake bouquets, an idea that emerged, unexpectedly, out of her own divorce.
- The Language of Flowers: Each bouquet draws on floriography, the Victorian practice of assigning coded meaning to flowers, letting couples tell a story through their chosen blooms.
- Art, Science, Magic: Beyond bouquets, Rachel spins her own yarn, works with alpaca fleece, and grows crystals directly into her woven silk pieces, a process she describes simply as “art, science, magic.”
Watch the Full Creative Tea Podcast Episode
From Yardage to Sculpture
Rachel opened by clarifying a common misconception about her craft: she doesn’t weave functional textiles like blankets or scarves. Her work lives almost entirely in the sculptural realm, drawing on folklore and magic. Witches’ ladders, for instance, take their inspiration from the old practice of casting spells by tying hair, feathers, rocks, or beads together. She reinterprets that tradition through woven hair sculptures, treating the craft itself as a kind of personal magic.
Ever Woven Flowers: Bouquets as Keepsakes
The centerpiece of the conversation was Rachel’s wedding bouquet business, Ever Woven Flowers, which uses preserved flowers, horsetail, and silk to create bouquets designed to last far beyond the wedding day. The concept: imagine pulling a handful of flowers straight from a field, roots and all, then preserving that exact moment. After the ceremony, the bouquet can be mounted and displayed as a permanent keepsake rather than tossed or left to wilt.Ā
Rachel also incorporates floriography, the Victorian language of flowers, researching each bloom’s symbolism so couples can build a bouquet that tells a story, whether rooted in mythology or folklore.
Notably, the idea came from an unlikely place: Rachel shared that the concept took shape during her own divorce, even as she’s since made many of these bouquets as gifts for friends getting married, and found love again herself along the way.
Alpacas, Crystals, and a Little Bit of Magic
The conversation took a turn into Rachel’s wider creative world, which Steffi described discovering piece by piece after moving into the shared studio space, alpaca posters, spun yarn, and mysterious shipments of horsehair. Rachel confirmed she’s an alpaca lover who once owned one herself and still works with its fleece. She also described a process of growing crystals directly into her woven silk, aiming for a geode-like effect within the fabric, part of a large-scale installation currently in progress.Ā
A Wedding Giveaway Collaboration
Rachel closed the episode by announcing a collaboration open through the end of the month: she’s offering to create an entire bridal party’s worth of bouquets and boutonnieres, for one upcoming wedding that fits her aesthetic of magical, whimsical, and beautiful. In exchange, she’s asking for real wedding photography to use in her portfolio. Interested couples can find full details, including how to submit their wedding vision, through her Instagram. Learn more here.
Connect with RachelĀ
Find Rachel’s sculptural work on Instagram at @mrblueskye or her website at rachelehlinsmith.com and explore her wedding bouquet line via @everwovenflowers Instagram or at everwovenflowers.com.
Want to Be Part of the Creative Tea Podcast?
Are you a designer, writer, artist, creative, dancer? Want to share your hot tea? Join us for Founders Cafe of Community Co-Working Days at the Consultancy to be part of the podcast. Follow us at @sdfounderscafe or @consultancy.at.merrimac