LOUIS RAYMOND DESIGN

Louis Raymond Design transforms properties for clients all over the world. Louis’s 60+ years of gardening experience, 30+ years in landscape design, expansive horticultural expertise, and eye for design have together produced breathtaking landscapes that have been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Design New England, and The New York Times. “I make you glad you went outdoors,” Louis said.

Louis follows the design process from start to finish - from doing research and focusing on horticulture (in his own personal garden), designing hardscapes + plantscapes, and producing plans… all the way to implementing and building his own designs.

His home/studio is located in Hopkinton, RI, and consists largely of his massive + gorgeous personal garden. The garden acts as both a research lab (where Louis can explore how plants grow and figure out what plants work best for clients) and a space for his own creativity to thrive:

“Gardening is a break from and aid to the creativity and problem-solving that shows up in client projects.

I use my personal garden to know what’s possible and what’s successful - what do plants actually do (versus what they look like in a catalog)? What are the plants that are going to be good garden citizens and be able to grow and be handled responsibly?”

WHY RHODE ISLAND? “I love being located here in Rhode Island - where I’ve lived for over 30 years, I moved here from Manhattan. I think Rhode Island is a terrific place to be because all of Southern New England is so accessible to me - from New York to Boston to the Cape to the Berkshires, that’s all in my professional backyard. Also, for me horticulturally, this is an incredibly vibrant and densely interesting part of the country. There are so many hundreds and hundreds of great plants that I can grow here in my garden, and also from those successful experiments, figure out the great plants (maybe just a few dozen of them) that go into client gardens. So it’s a wonderful place both to live and to work.”

ABOVE: Louis’s landscape designs for clients - find more of Louis’s work at louisraymond.design.

BELOW: More photos from our visit to Louis’s personal garden! Find more at instagram.com/louistheplantgeek.

DaVINE JEWELRY

DaVine Jewelry creates jewelry that is inspired by nature in every way. Founder/Designer Danielle Vaillancourt makes molds directly from her garden (from leaves, flowers, shells, and more), works with sustainable + locally-made materials whenever possible, and hand-crafts her pieces with the utmost attention to detail, influenced by the details, textures, and shapes of nature itself.

DaVine Jewelry aims to bring people closer to nature one piece of jewelry at a time. And with Danielle’s design experience, careful craftsmanship, and deep passion for her work, Danielle’s jewelry are true wearable sculptures!

Danielle graduated from RISD’s Jewelry & Metalsmithing program, where she was able to explore and merge her passions for art+design, nature, and nature photography. Now, her studio is a true representation of her passions and hard work - cabinets and drawers full of objects from nature, thriving plants growing in and outside, prints and sketches on the wall, and, of course, her stunning, beautifully simple finished pieces.

WHY RHODE ISLAND? “I love Providence… there’s a little bit of everything - music, art, food. All your senses are engaged. And people are open and receptive to art.”

DaVine Jewelry can be found at many craft fairs, shows, and shops in the region, including Craftland and the Foundry Show. Danielle’s work can also be purchased online!

Images from DaVine Jewelry on Instagram. Learn more about DaVine Jewelry online: davinejewelry.com. And don’t forget to *stay tuned for videos coming to our Instagram Stories this Thursday (10/25)!*

Thank you to Louis (Louis Raymond Design) and Danielle (DaVine Jewelry) for showing us your work and studio spaces! See videos from Louis Raymond’s garden/studio NOW on Instagram and come back for videos from DaVine Jewelry this Thursday (10/25).

Want to join in? Post yourself working on something cool using the hashtags #DesignIsRhodeIsland and #DesignersAtWork on Instagram, or reach out to diri@designxri.com if you know a Rhode Island designer who should be featured in this series!