Floral Immersion: Basic I and II, Part 2

I mentioned in my first post about my class at Longwood Gardens, that my first instructor was Jane Godshalk.  My second instructor was Nancy Gingrich Shenk, who is also an amazingly driven world-class florist, with a seriously amazing history of floral design for high-end, high profile events.

Here they are!  Please excuse the iPhone quality images.  (iPhone 4, I might add.)

Jane Godshalk and me, with my market bouquet arrangement.

She gave me a great contact for a wholesaler in the area.

Nancy Gingrich Shenk - she pulls no punches in her teaching and advice.

She had an impressive legacy in the wedding industry.

In the class, we focused heavily on learning about the elements and principals of floral design, within the model of education that Longwood has created.  

The elements of design are physical characteristics in a design.  They can be observed with the eye.  Elements of design include texture, line, pattern, and color, among many more.  

On the other side, we studied the principals of design.  This is how the elements work together in the organization of the design itself.  Harmony, unity, scale, proportion, and contrast are examples of principals.  Want to learn more?  Enroll in a class!  The instruction is world-class and the information is invaluable.  They treat their students well.  You will want for nothing while spending time at Longwood in their courses.

Since I don't want to spill all of the secrets of the class, I'll just share some photos of my work from the class instead.  

Large arrangement in a silver bowl.  Perfect for a dining room table!

Possibly my favorite design of the four days.  

The wreath had tons of greens, asters, and variegated red roses.

Delphinium, freesia, scabiosa, geranium leaves, lilies, parthenium, and much more.

Sand based arrangement on a silver tray.  

Pompom mums, spider mums, thistle, roses, statice, and green apples!

Wire based corsage.  This was also really fun to work on. 

 I wore mine to lunch that day and strolled around the greenhouse, too.

Drop bouquet with willow branches, hydrangea, carnations, and roses.

Making this was a challenge, but I love how it turned out.

Hand tied rose bouquet with fern and lemon leaf.  

I wish I had known a bride to give it to that weekend.

I am eagerly awaiting the time that I can take another class at Longwood and continue my progress in their floral design certificate program.  I hope that this is an opportunity that happens sooner rather than later!

Love and light,

Alyssa