Meet Bond, Antonio Bond: a Floral Artist with an Edge
A lush new coffee table book highlights the Austin florist’s unexpected designs, which combine found objects like skulls and odd antiques with lush beauty.
The horse skull image is featured on the cover of the book and is one of Bond’s all-time favorites. “It’s so powerful and beautiful,” he says. "I love that the flowers are spilling out of this creature’s mouth, giving it life again."Photography by Alison Narro
A few years ago, I had coffee with a popular event planner who couldn’t stop talking about her favorite new florist to work with in Austin. His name alone was captivating: Antonio Bond, so I had to know more. She told me about his epic beard, his collection of tattoos with interesting back stories, and his devotion to all things heavy metal. So it’s no surprise to find that Bond was making the most unexpected and downright beautiful floral arrangements in town, taking found objects like a skull and transforming it into a vase full of cascading roses, succulents, and andromeda, or surrounding a chipped St. Francis statue with a grouping of yellow and green ranunculus and Craspedia for an end result that’s both edgy and elegant.
Bond fell into floral design after being transferred to the floral department after working in the deli at Central Market (he was a bartender at Emo’s by night). He caught his first big break as a florist in 2013 when he did a wedding at the Hotel St. Cecilia, whose staff loved his work so much they hired him to be their in-house florist. Earlier this year, he teamed up with photographers Alison Narro and Houshang Ghaharie to shoot a coffee table book featuring his diverse body of work. Transplants: Eclectic Floral Design, published in November by Blue Star Press, showcases Bond’s extraordinary sculptural designs. Take a peak inside the 200-page hardcover stunner.
"The cherub's face in this arrangement brings an element of mystery, which I always love to have in my work," Bond says.
Photography by Houshang Ghaharie
The horse skull image is featured on the cover of the book and is one of Bond’s all-time favorites. “It’s so powerful and beautiful,” he says. "I love that the flowers are spilling out of this creature’s mouth, giving it life again."
Photography by Alison Narro
Bond’s intention with the all-black still life is to force the viewer’s eye to search the entire image to find the interesting details within it.
Photography by Houshang Ghaharie
Each of Bond's images feels sculptural and full of details that draw the viewer in to his magical world.
Photography by Houshang Ghaharie
Bond finds unique antiques to use in his designs from garage sales and junk stores. “I love how broken and cracked these praying hands have become. They hold a lot of history for me,” he says.
Photography by Houshang Ghaharie
Bond believes that a simple detail can go a long way. He says: "I love the illumination of the light with the simple touch of the ranunculus."
Photography by Alison Narro
A contrast to the all-black still life, Bond created this installation mostly with bones. “I love how muted this feels, and I like that there aren’t any flowers in this one,” he says.
Photography by Houshang Ghaharie
“This is a strong image to me,” he says. “I like that death and beauty are both represented in a single image."
Photography by Houshang Ghaharie
"The spine represents my lover lying next to me,” he says. "I love the position of the spine vertical with the flowers surrounding her."
Photography by Alison Narro
In a stark study in contrast, veronica flowers spill out of the mouth of an old dental model.
