Flower Workshop 

I recently attended an afternoon workshop in San Francisco given by Kristen Griffith-VanderYacht, an internationally known floral designer, entrepreneur and TV personality.  The first impression I got of Kristen when he introduced himself is that he’s a kind soul- there’s nothing pretentious or standoffish about him at all, despite being well-known in the world of floral design and lifestyle.  The second impression I got- he’s a floral artist.  Not a florist.  An artist.  And his medium is flowers.   I was excited to learn this about him, as that’s how I see floral work, too.   Kirsten’s workshop was based on his recently published book, Flower Love. 

If you have any interest in flowers, design, art, being creative, or just getting some ideas for designing cool centerpieces for your home, I recommend Kristen’s book.   It’s pretty darn user friendly, and just like his workshop, Kristen’s book presents floral design and floral art using vocabulary and descriptions anyone can understand.   I appreciated that he encouraged each of us to allow our designs to be an expression of each one’s creativity; he de-emphasized trying to exactly replicate his work (or others’).  It’s a great point of view, and a very supportive instructional approach. If you’re interested, you can follow Kristen on Instagram (just search his name); you can also watch him on Netflix “The Big Floral Fight.”  Thanks, Mayesh Flowers, for sponsoring this excellent workshop!