Now that a bank fraud nightmare, a major studio move and new cooler build are mostly behind me, I’m finally pulling together a calendar of 2024 workshops - spanning beginner floral workshops, sustainable floral design, pressed flowers, botanical drawing and more! I may throw in soil science, as it’s a favorite of mine, and one central to growing flowers - if you are a home gardener. I’m all ears for your requests!
A Beautiful New Space to Share with You:
Teaching floral design workshops is something we’ve offered every year since 2013, but that tapered in the pandemic (for obvious reasons). Our new Sunset Park studio provides ample space for us to welcome people in to grow their knowledge of and skills in the world of flowers with us and with other amazing teachers and experts. I’m excited to get back into this aspect of my work in the world.
I’m hoping we can provide just enough structure for those looking to dabble in this field, or looking to up their flower design work for the home. This is something I honestly never received, and I know it would have served me well!
First a Farmer, then a Teacher, then a Floral Designer…
In case you’re new here – I stumbled into flowers and floral design as a farmer. I’d spent almost 6 years producing organic vegetables (and a few flowers), from seed to harvest, and selling them to customers through a variety of means, when friends began getting married. (By that point, I was beginning to specialize in flower production. I was spending my days co-managing a 1 acre farm in Brooklyn, training other adults in all aspects of sustainable agriculture: soil preparation, seed starting and greenhouse management, planting, pest management, harvesting and marketing.)
Because I could grow flowers, friends assumed I knew how to produce designs – that would hold up and transport well and be delivered on time - for events. Ha! It was certainly true that I’d found passion for a whole other creative world beyond and adjacent to agriculture; a deeply satisfying one, in which I could create beauty and plan with the various colors and textures of the flowers I was cutting each week from the farm. Nonetheless, their appraisal of me as an event floral designer was a very generous one - especially knowing what I do now about what it takes!
My Path from Farming to Floral Design…
2011 was the first year I did flowers for a wedding. In 2012, I did a couple more. Back then, I had fairly low confidence in my ability to design with flowers. In the organic farm training program I completed in 2008 in northern California, where I first learned to cultivate cut flowers, I had been given very basic parameters for making bouquets to send to market. (Rule of thirds, filler and focals, a pie plate to measure our bouquets to ensure consistency in size.) Each week, 10 large 5 gallon buckets lay out in front of us, with endless exquisite freshly-harvested options, and we were invited to create our own recipes. I felt overwhelmed. Our 20 or so bouquets would go off to market… and then some would come back. I felt so discouraged when mine would return. I hadn’t been happy with them - why should someone else be?
Flash forward to 2024. Sixteen whole years later (absolutely shocking how time flies), my team and I have produced floral designs for over 200 events. I am still learning every day, as possibilities for combinations and palettes are nearly endless. I’ve loved taking classes with floral design icons like Sarah Rhianon of Saipua and Sue McCleary of Passionflower Sue. I’ve continued to invest in my own professional development through online courses with Sarah Winward, Joseph Massie and Lys Lytle of Flowering Minds.
There are particular schools of floral design - like Ikebana - that I still plan to train in and simultaneously offer that training from our studio to the design curious.
Sharing the Healing Power of Flowers…
Mainly, I know and believe that handling and designing and caring for flowers is incredibly healing - in the same ways working with soil and vegetables was, which was ultimately what inspired me to continue on that path. Truly, the handling of these beautiful works of nature - removing their leaves, trimming them, arranging them, and lovingly choosing complementary or contrasting colors or textures … it requires you to pause and be in the present moment. While there’s little to no research, I would wager handling flowers would stimulate serotonin production in the same way handling soil in your garden does.
Working with flowers elicits a kind of childlike wonder… and when the flowers you are handling aren’t grown with pesticides or toxic chemicals - all the better! I have always loved witnessing all the kids and adults I’ve taught over the years losing themselves in the flowers, as they make a bouquet or centerpiece. It’s such a simple way of
Workshops for All!
As mentioned, I’ve run over a dozen floral design workshops – for private parties, corporate retreats, bridal showers, and for the public. These workshops have almost always taken place in another venue - a corporate office, an event space, or someone’s private home. I’m thrilled to finally be working in a space that will be conducive to hosting! I’m excited to see what workshops you find most compelling - beginning floral design, seasonal flower immersions, botanical drawing … We may do a Paint & Sip - we’ll see!
I identified as a teacher before I identified as a floral designer, and while I’m a little rusty in terms of teaching design, I’m excited to get back into this. Mostly, I look forward to connecting with participants!
At a minimum, I hope we can inspire and empower more people to take up working with flowers at home - to gain some of the basic skills in flower care, so that they can get the most from the flowers they invest in. Taking basic flower care to the next level, design, is in my experience, a mostly joyous one. There is so much to explore in the world of flowers - so much to learn, and I’m still learning.
I also look forward to learning from other designers and experts around us in NYC and beyond.
More on our workshops very soon!
