Shane Connolly Meets The Dutch Masters

I had the honor of meeting Shane Connolly (an Irishman living in London), this past weekend while taking his floral design class at the MFA during Art in Bloom 2013. Shane (we're on a first name basis now), was most recently chosen by William and Kate to design their Wedding at Westminster Abbey. You know the infamous Field Maple Trees, and the Lily of the Valley bouquet? Yup, that's him.

Shane was engaging and unassuming, as he spoke to the group. He asked to remain in the next room during his formal introduction, not wanting to hear all the wonderful accolades being spoken about him. Following his demonstration he spent the remaining time walking around helping to guide, and compliment us. I really enjoyed his teaching style.

With the current trend in floral design being of a natural and organic nature, it wasn't hard to identify with his particular design style. We would be making a mantel design for a formal space, not unlike a Dutch Masters design in both style and color. His instructions were to throw caution to the wind, and get a little wild. He encouraged us to follow our own design course, and that rules need not apply in this case. Since that's the way I like to roll, I had no issue with the plan.

We used varieties of fruits and veggies which were fun to work with. The brown fruit on stems are called Longan, which grow in tropical parts of Asia. A fruit of which I was not familiar with, but one that I would definitely use again for its draping effect.

I learned some great mechanical techniques about how to make a tower-like design, strong and supported. I ran into Jeff Sawyer of Verde Floral Design in Mashpee, who I had met (and sat beside) last year, at the Paula Pryke class. 

This is my design after a hot, and bumpy ride home from Boston. It really makes a nice presentation (love the height), don't you think? I will definitely use the techniques that I learned from Shane, and incorporated them into future designs. Thanks, Shane. 

Until next time...L.

Paula Pryke Master Class

As part of the MFA Boston, Art in Bloom celebration, a master class was offered this year by Paula Pryke. I decided to take the class, and follow up with a tour of Art in Bloom (post to follow). Paula Pryke is a British floral designer, and author of many floral design books. Her latest, Simply Pink spoke to my lifelong love of pink, ask my Mom. Paula is well known for her hand-tied bouquets which she demonstrated for us.

Here she is designing a hand-tied bouquet with some of the same flowers that we would be using for the master class. Paula talked about some of the trends in the business right now, one of which is "a getting back to nature approach," with a focus on technique. Birds of Paradise, grapevine, Protea, lemon leaf (Salal), and raffia ribbon were used to create this masculine bouquet, as Paula referred to it. Suggesting that it might be given to a man for Valentine's Day.

We started our designs with a 16 cm. glass cube and wove a design with leaves. This technique would be used to hide the oasis. My leaves had tons of variegation which contributed to a more interesting design aesthetic.

I was able to trim the tops of my woven design to allow for better access to my oasis. Creating more foam "real estate," as Dr. Steve of Rittners School of Floral Design, would say.

The greening process began with the use of Salal aka lemon leaf.

Time for the placement of Bird of Paradise, and vine. My (interesting) design neighbor decided to create her own design, separate from Paula's plan.

With tangerine being the hottest design color right now, it was not surprising that Paula chose to use it for her design. Then on to placing the Protea and Hypericum.

Up close you can see the variegated pattern of the leaves, and how beautifully they add to the overall design. In an effort to save on time, the use of staples made things move more quickly. I'm sure there is a better application for creating this design, minus the staples.

Frankly this design is so large that it was difficult to get into one frame, and tricky to drive home. I will be enjoying this in my home for the next week or so. On to more terrarium designing...





Until next time...L.