I‘m usually in front of the camera. However, I also love to help create with my friends. In CREATING CONTENT, I’m sharing my experience as I get behind the lens and my hand in photography while meeting interesting people. Meet Christian Montero, Bronx based florist and artist.
Diego: Introduce yourself!
Christian: I’m Christian Montero, aka @6lineflorals, and I’m a floral designer.
What does six line mean for those not familiar?
My whole life I took the six train. Six line means I was born and raised in Cypress Ave, The Bronx. So, it’s basically part of me. This train taught me how to travel in the city and be independent.
What is your background?
I’m Puerto Rican and was born in South Bronx. Mott Haven is my stomping ground, near Cypress.
You mentioned you were a floral designer. What led you to your current passion?
Just nature in general, and the fact that I can express how I feel through flowers. I can’t express it anyway else. I don’t know how! Some people can speak, some people and sing, some people can express themselves poetry. I do it with flowers. I feel it with flowers.
What was your first experience with flowers?
It was at a community garden, I was growing food and I decided to grow flowers one day. And when I grew them and harvested them I arranged them a certain way in my hand and I realized like how good I was at it and it made me happy that I was good at something! It happened just instantly. I didn’t have any training, I just knew it for some reason.
When did you discover that what you were doing was having a positive impact on you?
When I enjoyed it doing it 24/7 and it did not feel like work to me. I started working in a flower shop right after and I was up and at it at 5:00 am and I was done by 5:00pm and I was not tired. I was not stressed out. Even when stuff was getting crazy, doing and delivering flowers and doing weddings and stuff, I wasn’t upset that I was doing it. It would make me feel… I wasn’t physically or mentally tired.
For examples at a wedding, a floral arrangement can make everyone in the room happy. Everyone is stuck, speechless, just very happy to see it. And that goes beyond just a design. It’s the fact that you can impact people with just plants.
What was on your favorite designs that the created?
That’s a hard one. I want to say that my first two… Actually, my first design, which was at Mott Haven Bar & Grill, I did a piece for Edwin Reyes. He’s a fashion designer and I did this kind of arch. And that was my first big piece.
There’s a big meaning behind it, which is why it’s my favorite. It’s because that was a first opportunity, like a first door into this whole new world of my career. At the time I was going through a lot of struggles, and a lot of doors were closing. So, I had to ask myself, since this is my door to success, what does that door look like? So, I created that piece and that was my door. And ever since then I’ve been up from there.
What inspires you?
People, actually. Interactions, meeting people like minded soul, beautiful souls. Just people inspire me. And kind of just a lot of different artists, a lot of just people in general. Just really inspiring.
Tell me about your personal style.
I have this urban, but classical style to me. When I create something, I like to think of an overgrown urban space. And I could go off of that, because I am from, technically the hood. I like to mix some both classical sophisticated and urban street.
Tell me about one of your current projects.
I have this thing called the Concrete Jungle which I’m the founder of. I want to build and design gardens for the people of the Bronx, because we have a horrible food system and a horribly educated community when it comes to healthy food and living. I want to build in community gardens that would supply food to local restaurants and get gardens on top of roofs of schools. Then get classes and stuff inside of schools because there are no classes for botany or anything like that.
I want to bring people of all ages who’s interested in learning how to grow their own food and have a little healthy lifestyle, because the Bronx is actually the unhealthiest boroughs. And the saddest part is that we bring most of the food into New York City. Like, most of food that comes in that is distributed to other businesses in New York City comes from the Bronx, but we have the shittiest quality food.
We lack those things. We don’t have anything like it. And most of the gardens that are in the Bronx are owned by big corporations, and it’s hard to even get into them, and it’s hard to even get up a garden. They make it so difficult for us, but it’s easy for them.
What do you hope to achieve with the Concrete Jungle?
My dream is for each zone or project to have their own garden to use. So they can grow and eat for themselves because there’s not many healthy choices in the Bronx. When it comes to getting good healthy quality options, you sometimes have to leave your borough and when you do leave the borough, the prices rise. When you go get something simple like a bag of apples, or something it would be twice as much somewhere else.
I’m hoping to spread education and to start an actual Bronx farmer’s market where multiple gardens can come together and distribute, sell, teach, and have people come and volunteer.
How do you feel about all the things that are changing in The Bronx?
It’s a kind of a love and hate relationship. Because I do want the Bronx to get better, but it seems like it’s not getting better for us. It’s getting better and better for people from not around here. They just come… And I mean we are welcoming, but it’s the fact that we have to pack up and go when they pack up and come here.
Any upcoming projects you’re working on?
I’m going into the community and speak to community boards, and speak to schools, councilmen and council women, anybody in political power and tell them what I’m doing. Am trying to start a movement and actually build up a team, real big team so we could cover more ground.
You had a falling out with your previous team. What do you think caused that split?
I’m kind of confused on that whole thing. I think what kind of split us up was the fact that I was building momentum and I was basically in the spotlight. And I tried to get them in into the spotlight with me, but they just didn’t want to go down that route of being known. But you kind of have to be known if you want to get the word out. So, I think that’s what it was. But it’s just, I was in a spot and I tried to push them onto it and they didn’t want to do it. And then when the event happened, and they saw how much the spotlight was on me. I think they got upset about it, because I was right. You guys have to be with me in order to be seen.
You got to start with your community. Because if you can bring the community together, it can basically lift you up anywhere. You have to be a community person. You have to be able to get a whole bunch of No’s and little bit of Yes’s (sic). But you got to stay strong and just bring people together.
You’ve recently designed a blazer for me. Can you tell me what was the inspiration behind the designs you used on the blazer?
It was the Concrete Jungle. That was the whole inspiration behind it. I used, of course, wild flowers. But my main pieces on the jacket was the monarch butterfly and a honey bee. Because honey bees are dying at an alarming rate, and they’re responsible for 80% of our crops. So, I wanted to make sure I put that on there. Also monarch butterflies, because they actually come down here from Canada and they come to the Bronx to rest, get some nectar, some sugar, water, and made they make their way down to Mexico to mate.
Oh, I didn’t know that was a pit stop here! When do they usually come around?
Late Spring, early summer. But they are also declining as well, because we’re losing a lot of space and people are using pesticides.
What kind of people do you want to partner with in the future?
I really want to partner with local businesses, businesses that are Bronx brand businesses that started from the ground up. I don’t want to do chains and big corporations. I don’t want to do that. I want to do Bronx-like people.
Where can people find you online?
They can find me on Instagram at @6lineflorals and for the Concrete Jungle at @theconcretejunglebx.
Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
Just eat healthy.
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Thanks for reading, y’all stay dandy. 😎 Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram!
-Diego