My Story

 

The Name

Kuhoo comes from "the sweet calling" of the bird Koyal, and it also happens to be my name.

Where It Began

ShopKuhoo was born out of a need to connect back tangibly to the transient rhythm of nature.

I've lived in the Himalayan foothills of Uttarakhand for fourteen years. While taking slow walks outside in the hopes of grounding myself, I realized the beauty and diversity of the unmoving beings in our lives. I wanted to share this with people like me, who maybe have very little idea of this wealth that is available to us.

The Abundance of This Land

People often say Himalayan soil is fertile, but I don't think they always understand what that means in practice. It means that if you leave a patch of earth untouched, something will often emerge from it on its own - ferns, grasses, wildflowers, plants you've never seen before. Life seems to appear everywhere without invitation.

Many of the flowers I work with were discovered simply by wandering and paying attention.

The Flowers

Over the years I've worked with ferns, peach blossoms, wild sunflowers, wild Forget-me-nots, hemp flowers, mustard (sarso) flowers, bougainvillea, baby dandelions, wild Himalayan daisies, coriander blossoms, and other botanicals. Most appear for only a few weeks each year. Some grow in places that are difficult to reach. Some are so common that most people walk past them without a second glance.

Every species teaches me something different. Some preserve beautifully and hold their colour for years. Others turn brown, lose their shape, or refuse to survive the preservation process at all. Sometimes a mistake is only discovered after the flowering season has passed, and I have to wait another year to try again. Some designs have taken two to three seasonal cycles to get right.

The Process

For the last eight years, I've been learning how to preserve the flowers and botanicals that grow here. Everything is handpicked and handcrafted, dried and preserved before being set in resin. The whole process, from procuring the flowers to the finished piece, takes roughly a year, and sometimes more due to the seasonal nature of the flowers I use.

Each piece is one-of-one. Once it's sold, it won't be remade. Partly because I don't keep mass stock, and partly because I may not have access to the same botanicals every year.

[What does [RARE] mean in product titles? Refer to the 'About the Process' section of the Frequently Asked Questions]

Why Preserve

For me, preservation isn't about stopping the natural cycle. The flowers still bloom where they always have and fade when their season ends. What fascinates me is that a flower which blossomed somewhere in these mountains can still exist years later as a tangible memory, as a small souvenir of the mountains. It might eventually find its way into someone's hands thousands of kilometres away, in a place that looks nothing like the Himalayas, and one day start a conversation about where it came from.

ShopKuhoo

Thus, ShopKuhoo has been created, as an experience to share with those who are also curious and interested.

And so, on this beautiful and special journey of exploration and preservation, I invite you to come along with me.. 

With love & warmth,

Kuhoo