Nonahood News: Describe your art and artistic journey.

Be Thach: I was always artistic as a young child. I grew up drawing portraits and doing watercolors. I stopped in my later years. I came back into it during a lull between careers and that’s how I stumbled upon creating paper art, which is what I’m focusing on right now.

I make paper flowers using Italian and German crepe paper. This isn’t your grandma’s crepe paper you would see in streamers at birthday parties. This is premium crepe paper that has different textures and different densities. I make single flowers, bouquets, all types of things.

NHN: Why flowers?

BT: I’ve always been drawn to flowers. I love having fresh flowers in the house, but they don’t always last. I started experimenting with the paper flowers in 2015. I stumbled upon the idea on Instagram. I didn’t get serious and start the business until two years later. 

NHN: What inspired you to create art in Lake Nona?

BT:  There aren’t many paper artists in the Central Florida area. There are many all over the world, but there’s not in Florida that I know of. I wanted to see if there was a market for this type of art in this area. I did a couple markets. I used to participate in Art After Dark [in the Lake Nona Town Center]. People were interested. They haven’t seen this kind of art before.

NHN: When did you realize creating art was something you wanted to pursue?

BT: I had a lull between careers, so I was job searching and had a lot of free time. I was looking for ways to be creative, and that’s when I came upon paper art. It’s a creative outlet that lets me explore different things with nature. I started playing around with it, and it became a form of self-care to relax, cut the petals, shape it, and create these forms and flowers out of a roll of crepe paper.

NHN: Recent artistic accomplishments?

BT: I made my first wedding bouquet for a family friend in Seattle. The bride gave me an idea of the colors and let me do what I thought would look good. It was my first wedding bouquet, so I was nervous. She ended up loving it. They took gorgeous photos. It was the first one I shipped across the US, hoping it would travel without damage. It arrived nicely and I went to visit them a couple years after their wedding, and they had their flower bouquet displayed in a glass case. The other accomplishment was doing a big wedding backdrop for a family member’s wedding. It wasn’t crepe paper; it was cardstock, and that was probably the most challenging one because it was an 8 by 10 wall. I had a couple months to do it. It was my first time working with cardstock paper, so I made a burgundy wall of roses for their backdrop. Everybody loved it. 

NHN: Describe your creative process

BT: It’s not a set process. If I find inspiration, I usually break down what I want to make. For example, if it’s a flower, I’ll break down what the petals look like by looking up pictures. Then I’ll start cutting out the petals, shaping them and seeing if I can mimic what I’m looking at. My style leans toward the realistic. I play around with different techniques. I’m kind of self-taught, so I try not to see what other people are doing and instead figure things out on my own. I go through several iterations of the flower until I finally like the look. 

NHN: What inspires you?

BT: With the crepe paper flowers, I follow a lot of people on Instagram. There are too many to name. I also follow florists. I follow a lot of people who cut flowers. My most important inspiration is probably nature. Nature gets the creative juices flowing. 

NHN: Besides art, what are your passions?

BT: I like plants. I have a lot of plants. I guess it’s kind of a millennial thing, owning a lot of plants, but my collection’s growing. I don’t have the best green thumb, but I like having a lot of plants around the house. I like to travel to new places and explore different cultures. I also have two tabby cats, so they’re kind of my obsession right now. My two little cats. 

NHN: New projects?

BT: The backdrop is the big one. Otherwise, I’m just doing commissions here and there.

NHN: Where can people find you/your art?
BT: I’m currently on Instagram at @thachlydesigns. That’s where you can find my most current work. I also have my website thachlydesigns.com, and I also have an Etsy shop called Thachly Designs where you can buy the flowers.