Call for Artists!!

The Moth
1946
Grace Albee

This astonishingly beautiful wood cut by Grace Albee inspired me to create a warm hued arrangement with tans, rust and other brown and muted textural elements. I am quite pleased with the color palette and gesture which I'd like to think harks back to a bygone sepia toned memory. She also inspired me to brush up on my drawing skills.
I'm going to host a floral still life class open to anyone who is serious about sharpening their artistic abilities and training to really SEE. This is experimental and the first classes will be free so if anyone wants to join please email me and lets do this!! Charcoal ready! bring self and pad of drawing paper! I really hope to hear from y'all artists!!!

Tender as the Night

OK so I went over board uploading photos from this sample but I couldn't leave any out. My all time favorite color combination for weddings: blush, white, gray, green with very small hints of pale blue and smaller accents still of hot pink. Above I paired assorted vintage silver vessels with an etched glass mirrored frame and jewel box and crystal candle sticks. For the actual wedding I'm proposing these smaller arrangements marching down the center of a long communal table anchored visually by two tall crystal candelabras. Half of the round tables will have larger central arrangements in the same style with a pair of crystal candles and assorted mercury glass votive holders and the other tables tall silver fluted vases filled with masses of June bush and a few small floral pieces at the base with various votives. Voila! Enchanting!

The Flower Dance

Anemones remind me of blushing ballerinas in tutus.

This trophy urn took an inordinate amount of time to polish back to life and so, once it's grimy tarnish was removed it was filled with Spirea which is unusually out of season yet sprouting leaves and little blossoms. Weird!

Pussy willow, Eucalyptus Brunia and Queen Anne's lace set the stage for the blown Anemones, Tulips and Peonies. This time of year parrot tulips actually show up pure white. Their tattered edges are so gracefully expressive and graphic.

I was thinking today about what's happening in the floral design world and how exciting it is to see so many truly inspired young designers working with the materials in such masterly ways. At last the bar for floristry has been set off into the stratosphere elevating the craft of floristry into the realm of fine arts. I love it! And I am very grateful to all the young ambitious designers who are not selling out and producing floral decorations not seen since Constance Spry gave the world of flowers wings and the freedom of individuality. I've always tried to stay true to my own individualistic approach and whenever I felt something was verging on gimmicky it was time to move on to something new. The one thing that never gets cliched with flower arranging is the naturalistic style which is not easy to achieve. It takes a designer with a sculptural eye and a painter's touch. It's not something which can be cranked out en- masse and requires thought, patience and sensitivity. The Art of Japanese Ikebana is based on the principles of balance within a triangular shape using "Ma" or the space between the individual elements to create the energy of movement throughout the arrangement. A naturalistic approach to flower arranging resembles Ikebana in that both the materials and the designer come together to simulate the harmony of the natural world. I may be getting too flower-nerdy-esoteric here but it is relevant to the direction my discipline is taking me. As I mature as a designer and challenge myself to evolve the work becomes more layered and sculptural. Of course not every client wants a romantic loose arrangement and I need to deliver the massed classic umbrella shaped mono-floral arrangement as well- which actually has its own set of challenges of creating a clean design that also has movement but with very little space between each flower. Those are the "corporate flowers" as I refer to them and they are quite lush with an impact of their own. It's always fun to mix it up and deliver a well made arrangement in any style but truth be told, my heart belongs to the wild garden approach.

A Family Affair

After working on so many Winter themed weddings it's refreshing to be revisiting Spring and Fall ideas this week. It's so nice to have a respite from the storm to pull from recently acquired collections of vessels and embark on design directions for '12 weddings. The one above is for my nephew Chase's fiancee who is a real fall gal. She wants deep saturated oranges and reds subdued by paler cremes, whites and grays. Of course Oct will offer completely different goodies but I'm simply pulling together the look and feel and color palette for her to get a visual of what I have in mind.

My sister (Chase's mom) has been amazing gathering all the vintage goblets and copper plating old vintage chalices at Palm Beach Plating. She's also collected vintage fairy lights(not seen here) which will add a cast of warm light to the whole table-scape. Altering tables will have tall fluted copper vases with loose gestural Fall branches, bittersweet and kiwi vine. It's all taking place in a venue in Central Florida so we'll be adding touches of spanish moss to tie in with the St John's River area where guests will be staying. The taller tables will also have some of the collected elements of the lower centerpieces. It's going to be so romantic and gorgeous!!! This is not the first and I'm sure it won't be the last post about Tori and Chase's big day. Our little sweethearts!

Garden Served on a Platter

I rushed this lovely story over to NY Magazine this morning as they were shooting their Spring/Summer Weddings issue. Since everything has to have a theme these days I chose to serve a garden on a platter including Peonies, Icelandic Poppies, Blush Ranunculus, White Ranunculus, Stock, Snowdrops, Tweedia, Geranium, Helioborous, Lilac, Majolica Spray Roses, Sweet Peas, Begonias, Spirea, Hyacinth bulbs, Serena Roses, Seeded Eucalyptus, Gloden clover, Dusty Miller, Clump Moss, Riendeer Moss, Slate stone, Grape Ivy, broken mossed clay pot and vintage silver trays. These silver trays and doodads are part of a collection I have been assembling for some time. I particularly love the vintage trays with the cut out borders. I've thrown around treatments for them in my head but never actually put them to use. Now that I have I may spend some hours on variations later in the week. Stay posted friends.

Prospect Park New Year's Eve

Happy New Years to you all! I brought 2012 in watching fireworks behind the Prospect Park Boathouse during the final hour of one of my favorite weddings of 2012 :) I guess I can say the New Year started on a good foot. This wedding had a snowy wintry theme with snowflakes and crystallized branches creating a whimsical and magical setting. Danielle from Curtain Up Events provided the wedding party with hand held candles which they lit during the procession as the flower girls tossed snowflakes as they descended the staircase. The bride and groom took their vows under an arch composed of crystallized branches with suspended candles. At midnight the guests exited the boathouse to the promenade and carried sparklers as the Brooklyn NY's Eve fireworks display exploded overhead reflecting on the pond. It was truly a perfect climactic ending to a very special evening.

Above are details of the flowers and venue decor which incorporated pale blush tones, ceyladon and creme with lots of candlelight, fruit still-lives,mercury glass, snow and laser cut details provided by the couple.

Merry... Be Merry!

Here is a gorgeous home which I was asked to decorate for the holidays. Picture perfect would not begin to describe it. It's an alarming contrast to my own little hovel of an apt that I left behind in NY. I have to admit that my face hurts from grinning at the light shows that the peeps down here display in their front yards. I'd go so far as to say Floridians make even a bigger deal of the holidays than North Easterners because of their lack of snow and everything Ho-Ho-Ho.

The day I was scheduled to fly out I felt like the holidays were just a pain in the ass! I was seriously grinching out loud to my favorite local barristas at Daisy Bakery when another customer in line looked at me with disapproval and said, "It should be a kinder holiday".

OH MIND YOUR OWN F%$&*(# BUSINESS AND SHOVE IT! I thought.

Of course, his criticism remained engraved in my psyche like a bad pop song all day and night until the plane reached it's final descent and I looked out the window and saw all the little houses with their masses of twinkling string lights and blow up snowmen on the rooftops. I thought of the effort each occupant had made to bring some spirit to their block and was glad to be home with my family, as dysfunctional as they are, coming together and celebrating another year of our South Florida tradition and family loving.

Scent of Juniper

The last few weeks have seen the studio filled with evergreens and all sorts of white and red flowers. These images are from a wedding we did last weekend. Unfortunately I am limited with my computer which doesn't have photoshop to allow me to correct lighting on other images so you can get a better look at the overall wedding. Hopefully this will be resolved soon and adequate representations will be uploaded. Until then please bear with the photos which make the cut. With the holidays upon us we have been enlisted to decorate homes and weddings representing the season. It's the time of year when Louie and his army at Major are in full swing making wreaths and garlands for all the designers who simple pine bows just won't do. I've seen some beautiful recipes which inspire like variegated holly and dried mountain laurel branches. I ordered Juniper mixed with brunia, and Cedar and was delighted with outcome - both elegant and fragrant. Next post will visit a home we dressed with all the trimmings.

Happy Holiday folks!