Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/996854
"I'M ALL ABOUT SHAPES AND COMPOSITION." — Crisman Liverman " My front porch is my think tank," says Crisman Liverman, who launched his floral and event business, Keep Company, last November out of his charming old Junius Heights house. "It's where I experiment. Most of what I do is installation-based, so it gets messy out there." The porch is an imaginative setup, with canvas drop cloths hung as curtains to protect flowers from the afternoon sun. A stainless-steel worktable, purchased from a former women's prison near Chicago, is where he assembles his complex, naturalistic sculptures. For a recent dinner at the Dallas Contemporary, he created a massive ceiling sculpture from colorful geometric acrylic panels, interspersed with dangling greenery. And for an upcoming private party, he's designing an Americana theme with red-flocked Radio Flyer wagons filled with wild grasses, tulips, and cornflowers. Wired taxidermy butterflies will appear to flutter over the landscape. Liverman thinks like an artist as much as he does a floral designer. After a stint in New York City, he moved to Dallas to help style weddings with his friend Alicia Rico, co-owner of Bows & Arrows. After signing with Independent Artists Agency, a raft of photo-styling gigs followed, including work for Neiman Marcus and Apartment Therapy. A subsequent stint at Grange Hall introduced Liverman to an adventurous clientele. There, his media included exotic orchids, tropicals, woodland hellebores, and other less- expected flora. "I'm all about shapes and composition," he says. "I'd bring things home and experiment." Liverman built a steady roster of clients by word of mouth, so going out on his own was a natural next step. For larger events, he still collaborates with Bows & Arrows; recently they teamed on a beach wedding near Bordeaux, France, where he created a lush banquet-table tableau of figs, pomegranates, dates, and other fruit purchased from a roadside cart. For the ceremony, he covered a stage in natural grasses and an arch in simple eucalyptus leaves. CRISMAN LIVERMAN Crisman Liverman, Keep Company Vase with calla and foxtail lilies, statice flowers, and dahlia 47