Last week we has such a fun workshop in the studio! Kris and Mari were so incredibly eager to get information and we ended up doing less hand-on work than usual – but as you will read their testimonials you’ll realize that they learned exactly what they wanted.
Here are some pictures of their beautiful work as well as a few pieces that I made for demos.
Designs by Mari
Last night Molly’s Fund had their annual fundraiser. They are the Northwest’s leading organization dedicated to lupus awareness, assistance, and support. It is their aim to create an online home filled with support, advocacy, information, and education and make a difference.
Here is the necklace that I made for the auction.
A wire frame, covered with moss, is the base for this very textural woodland wreath with small gourds, bark, seedpods, succulents, berries, crab apples, lichens,…
photo: Jamie Bosworth
Located in Wailuku, Maui
Class size limited to 9 students. Create and keep your designs.
Lunch 12PM to 1PM will be provided.
Please bring your own tools, i.e. clippers, scissors, wire cutters and knives.
Tuesday October 21 – Woodland Arrangements
In this workshop you will learn the mechanics behind creating textural and detailed designs that will expand the way you think about flowers. This workshop offers practical, hands-on experience that will further develop your own skills and increase your confidence to explore outside the box. After a demonstration of techniques and mechanics, you will design your own centerpiece and log arrangement using foliage, bark, berries, seedpods, twigs, mushrooms, herbs and some flowers.
You will hone your artistic talents and will be encouraged to listen to your own intuition and further your own vision. We’ll also talk about the intricacies of sourcing, ordering and pricing flowers.
photo: Lincoln Barbour
Wednesday October 22 – Botanical Couture
We will design a botanical headpiece and purse. We’ll also cover what’s involved in consultations, proposals and contracts and will discuss marketing ideas.
photo: Ted Mishima
Workshop Info
Françoise Weeks
francoiseweeks.com
francoise@francoiseweeks.com
503-236-5829
Lodging Info
Lisa Giamoyris Almeida
Blossoms Hawaii
blossomshawaii@gmail.com
808-269-3840
Testimonial:
Françoise’s Woodland Botanical workshop exceeded my expectations in every way especially since it was something I had never done before. She is so warm and easy to relate to and her humble expertise is amazing. In two full days, I felt that I learned so much that I will surely use in the future. All five participants were very sad to say goodbye to Françoise and each other.
VERY successful workshop that I highly recommend to anyone!
Sharri Robinson, San Francisco, CA – (Workshop in San Francisco)
Porcelain vine berries are in season – they’re such a favorite and I wanted them to be the common thread through the pieces. Inspired by a picture that I saw in Louis Bou’s book ” Couture Hats’ of a hat/mask combination, I decided to tackle this fun idea. Shoes and jewelry complemented the headpiece.
The wooden chair was made by Wreath Sources, one of the vendors at the flower market. Embellished with lots of texture and a few flowers, it was a perfect complement for the setting.
A huge thank you to photographer Ted Mishima and model Juliana Tobon for this exquisite collaboration!
Several years ago I bought a wonderful and very inspiring book: “Straight from the Heart – Bridal Floristry for the 21st Century” by Liz & Claire Cowling. Claire teaches workshops and owns a flower shop Thrive Floristry in Bury St Edmonds in England. I am beyond thrilled that I will have the opportunity to teach a workshop at her school next year in May!
I was very curious by the bridal bouquet designs that included a wire frame. Unable to find frames that I liked, I commissioned a welder to make some and figured out the mechanics. Here are some examples of these whimsical bouquets; they are fun alternatives to the traditional hand-tieds. There are many options to decorate the handle and to hide the mechanics at the base. You’ll learn how to make these in the wedding workshops.The next one is scheduled on November 10-12 in the studio.
photo: Jamie Bosworth
photo: Jamie Bosworth
Interested in offering alternatives to hand-tied bouquets for the bridal party? A flower purse or jewelry would be fantastic! Botanical shoes or a fascinator would get everyone’s attention!
Learn the mechanics and techniques techniques and expand your offerings for your clients!
For more information or to sign up please check:
https://francoiseweeks.com/botanical-couture-workshop-oct-2014/
Only 2 spots left!
For more ideas ideas please check the botanical couture video that was featured on Art Beat (OPB) this spring
Joni Photo
What a fun collaboration with photographer Ted Mishima and model Shayna a few weeks ago. We decided to do the photo shoot in my backyard. As always, Ted’s pictures were exquisite!
Yesterday I posted part 1 of the botanical headpieces that Jo Jarvis and I collaborated on for a birthday party -a Sandi Hoffman Event – in New York earlier this year. Here are the other headpieces that we made.
design Jo Jarvis
design: Jo Jarvis
photo: Tricia M Florals
Last spring I was contacted by the office of Sandi Hoffman Special Events in Washington DC. They were organizing a fancy birthday party at the Prince George Ballroom in New York and they hired my services to make several large botanical headpieces for models. As the work was going to be very time consuming and intricate it was recommended that I would need to collaborate with another designer and I could not think of a better person to work with than my friend Jo Jarvis.
Tack on the fact that I was already scheduled to teach a workshop in NY at the studio of Tricia M Florals around that time, this opportunity worked out very well. Trisha offered her studio to us as the venue that the function was being held at would not be available for the time we needed to create the headpieces. The selection of flowers and plants at the flower market was sublime. Even though the studio was fairly close to the flower market we totally depended on cabs to transport everything to our workspace.
These large headpieces certainly required different mechanics and techniques to create. It was so much fun to brainstorm ideas and options before Jo and I met up in New York. Many hours of detailed work and patience and a case of oasis glue resulted in these designs. I quickly figured out that glue was not one of Jo’s favorite mediums to use…as she said more than once “Glue”…sticky, tacky, yucky, messy…
It was a fantastic experience; we learned a lot and are looking forward to collaborate again soon!
Click here to see the other headpieces.
