Katie Chirgotis Wolf is a practicing florist, student of Nature and seeker of deeper knowing based on the Central Coast of California. Raised in the marshes of Virginia, her love for the land in relation to body, observation of tides in relation to breath, and appreciation of the seasons in relation to spirit continues to inform the woman and artist she is becoming today.
As our collective society tilts into a time and experience unlike any other, it is her deep belief that we must look to Earth-based practices and ancestral teachings from those far wiser to call back our humanity, and return to center. It is her daily effort to make, work and act from a place of trust, co-creation and heart-centered intention. Trying, failing, learning and loving along the way.
Tell us a bit about Eothen’s backstory. When and how did you begin working with flowers?
I grew up in my father's garden, first in the Piedmont region of NC then in the Tidewater region of VA. Being in the company of plants from a very young age instilled in me a practice of noticing, and believing that beings don't have to be talking and walking to be very much alive. I arced back towards seeking that relationship in my late 20's, wallowing in a quarter-life crisis and wanting desperately to be in a line of work that felt purposeful, seasonal, and beautiful. In the early aughts, blogs were all the rage - I read one called Design*Sponge that featured a column called "We Like It Wild." It followed the adventures of best friends and florists Jill Rizzo and Alethea Harampolis, aka Studio Choo. Based out of a groovy shop off Divisadero in SF, they were making gorgeous, inventive, botanical crafts tied to the seasons up and down the epic stretch of Highway 1 with a bad boi crew of dogs in tow. I decided I 1. was going to become a florist 2. was going to move to California 3. was going to work for them.
After I sent a love letter in 2011, they brought me on as an intern. Which became an apprentice, to full-time work, to managing the studio. When personal life shifted them into different directions away from the business in 2016, I had honestly never once thought about working for myself but all of a sudden it was sink or swim. I sold advanced gift cards to raise 20K and buy them out of their equipment, took over the lease on the old studio, and just started running. That's how Eothen came into being, and I've been jogging along ever since.
Your floral designs feel grounded and earthy yet simultaneously ethereal. How did you develop your style? Where do you find your inspiration?
Thank you, that's really kind and means a lot to hear, as that is certainly how I would always like to move through the world.
The flowers are the Muse, for sure. You move with them, rather than fighting against them. Let them lead the way with their lines, how they once grew towards the sun.
Also, some thoughts on developing a style.
We really admire the way you work with the seasons when making your floral creations. In what other ways do these seasonal shifts show up in your life?
Flowers and food are so closely tied, so the seasons absolutely show up in my cooking pot. I associate the seasons with working in these correlations. I'll be collecting wild greens and herbs to throw in the processor for "Yard Pesto" while inhaling the scent of daffodils in the early Spring. Tomato on the vine goes in a vase, and I'll pop some sunsweet fruits in my mouth for a snack in Summer. Arranging branches fluttering with Autumn leaves in an urn after I buried this season's batch of fire cider under the Black Walnut tree. Hearing the bubble in the pot for Soup Season is also when I have sticky palms from Evergreen Season in Winter. Getting to experience the shifts with all your senses is, I think, one of the most beautiful and memorable ways to hold them close.
As the mother of a one-year-old, would you share a bit about your personal postpartum experience?
This last year was the fastest slow year of my life! It makes my head spin to think that this laughing, sassy, opinionated, embodied little person running around my house was just a soft tadpole landing on Earth a blink ago. Watching her BECOME is such a joy and an honor, and I often have the background track in my mind puzzling out how I can best steward her to be her whole self. Part of that is wanting to model as her mother how to care for the planet and other people.
What a time to do it!
From the moment she was born she was so solidly here. Very present, blessedly healthy, such a great partner in nursing and co-regulating. It was actually me that was more of a slippery slope. But, I think so many of us are better at paying attention to, and caring for, other people than we are for ourselves. I ended up with severe pre-eclampsia, so that took many weeks to recover from. As soon as that was resolved, I - for better or worse! - went back to work. I can definitely say one of my biggest postpartum challenges has been tangling with my overzealous commitment to what it is I Do, versus how it is I need to Be.
I don’t regret my choice, as I think one of the reasons why she's so confident is because she's had people other than her parents love her up and care for her, (we have been SO LUCKY to have friends who have become family in the aspect of her care, as we do not have grandparents or uncles and aunties close by). But, the body does keep the score and I did choose to have a baby older than some. To be self-employed in a physically demanding job at 40 ain't easy; I may just have a slower road towards becoming fully whole and healthy again. But this tracks who I have always been as a person, and I'm grateful for the years I spent growing, exploring, building and learning before starting a family.
Has becoming a mother informed or adapted the work you do?
Saved completing the above paragraph as it related to this question : ) Big Yes. I have always been a "Projects" person, I love starting new things in a way that verges on an addiction. There's such a high that comes with making something new. It's for sure one of the reasons why I ended up in floristry, you're constantly making something, then it goes in the compost, and you start all over again! From 2020 to 2024 I opened a brick and mortar, went to herbalism school, created and printed a tarot deck, continued running the flower business and had a baby. Today you can call me an Herbal School Drop-out and I closed Eothen Circle - a beautiful little hippie witchy apothecary - on Aug 31. Motherhood is rapturous, consuming, transforming. It is an initiation by fire. And water and earth and air and everything else! Babies are Wild Nature. Who you think you were, what you think you were capable of, all is on the table for renegotiation. My new project now is...less projects. Simplifying and honing what I can offer to what's "reasonable" which, for me prior to this chapter of my life, may have felt a little boring. But I'm curious to see what my working life will shift and change with the shift and change of my focus.
What are some family rhythms and rituals you’ve integrated since the birth of your daughter?
We have a little cedar hottub on the back deck, part of her bedtime routine is "Family Tubby." We all get in together, Jacob and I pass her back and forth and get in snippets of connection about our day. Oftentimes we're recounting the silly things she did during HER day, which is hilarious since she's right there and honestly one of those parent tropes I'd never thought I'd do but, here we are.
My line of work doesn’t have weekends when we're in the high season, but J and I are committing to a practice of spending time solely as a family on Sundays. Politely declining invitations, throwing screens as far away as possible, planning close-by adventures. Prior to Bowie Mar's arrival he and I were always getting lost in the yard, and that's usually how those Sunday afternoons are spent. We push piles, dig holes, clear brush, and she gets muddy, climbs over logs, finds mischief to make. Sundays feel like our Fridays, and I couldn't be happier to see that day roll around each week.
