30. Library Bookcases
Ikebana DC Chapter
Parissa Javid and Mahsa Javid
2025 installation - Library
The Inspiration
These built-in oak bookcases hold volumes from the Andersons’ extensive collection of books, including classical and contemporary literature as well as nonfiction works on history, politics, art, and travel.
The Flowers
Florist’s inspiration: The colors of the flowers inspire warmth and like the books in the library, the use of the color purple stimlulates creativity and imagination. Assymetry and the deliberate use of line and mass in the arrangement highlight the beauty of flowers individually, and grouped together.
Recipe: Bird of Paradise, Grape Hyacinth, Dianthus Green Ball
THE DESIGNERS
Parissa Javid and Mahsa Javid
Ikebana DC Chapter
Parissa and Mahsa Javid are members of the DC Branch of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana (Japanese floral art). They began their Ikebana journey as children in Iran and received their first certificates from the Sogetsu School of Japan in 1991. They have continued their studies and are working toward earning their Teacher’s Certificates soon. Ikebana has enriched their lives, bringing continuity, serenity, and friendships all over the world.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY
Aimee Custis Photography
Aimee Custis & Katie Lingan
Aimee Custis Photography documents weddings, portraits, and events in a rich, luminous, and emotive style. Their inclusive, client-centric approach to wedding photography is informed heavily by Aimee’s background in hospitality, non-profit event planning, and college summers as a camp counselor. Their wedding work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Washingtonian Weddings.
Aimee (she/they) lives in a rowhouse in Washington DC’s U Street corridor with her husband Greg and golden retriever Whiskey. Aimee is also the web designer behind the Art in Bloom website.
Aimee’s Associate Photographer Katie Lingan is rare cancer survivor with an entrepreneurial spirit. Katie joined the wedding industry in 2012 and has documented hundreds of weddings. Katie believes life is too short not to celebrate happiness.
