THOMASVILLE — John Herron has been the maestro of floral art for 29 years at his Herron House Flowers in downtown Thomasville.

While his shop is business, it’s also a canvas for Herron, who creates elaborate floral arrangements. It’s no surprise, then, that he reached out to another Chair City artist to offer her a chance to show her work in his Main street flower shop. Now when customers enter Herron’s store they will be greeted not only with his handmade arrangements, wreathes and potted plants, they can view Nathalie Tremblay’s photography.

“We met at church at Heidelberg United Church of Christ,” he said. “I just fell in love with her and her husband and Nathalie’s art. I told her I wanted my shop painted and she did it. … When I had dinner at her house, I saw her artwork. It’s beautiful. I told her I wanted her artwork in my shop.”

Tremblay, a transplant from Chicoutimi, Canada, to the Thomasville area, captures landscape photographs of her new and former home place, as well as during her travels, with her iPhone 13.

She said that her passion for art photography began in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when she offered to help her husband, Sean O’Heron, market the yachts for which he was a broker. She began staging them and taking photographs for the company’s website and social media. The company soon hired her to do all its marketing photography.

Soon, she began seeing the beaches, piers and buildings with a different eye. On their vacations, she was compelled to wait for hours for the perfect light to take pictures of rivers and mountains.

What started as Herron’s desire to change his floral shop’s surroundings and give it a fresh look resulted in a partnership between artists. Tremblay has 12 photographs on canvas displayed on the walls at Herron’s House Flowers.

“It’s a great opportunity you are giving me,” she said to Herron as they discussed the new gallery area.

The photographs will change as they sell or when Tremblay wants to show new artwork. The sizes range from 16-inches-by-20-inches for $90 to a 24-inch-by-36-inch canvas for $300.

The photographs rangefrom a street view in her hometown to a temple in Cambodia. She recently showed her art at an all-female show at historic The Finch House in Thomasville.

“I thought this was a great idea,” she said of being the main attraction at the new art gallery. “As an artist, you want people to see your work. I feel very fortunate for this opportunity.”

Herron said he wants his friend’s work to have the same longevity he has found with his floral shop.

“I thought her artwork compliments what I do here,” he said. “I hope she will do well.”