Whether you have been working with flowers for decades or just getting started, or looking for a craft to learn, arranging flowers is an artform to captivate the heart and stir the romantic in us each.

While arranging a centerpiece requires skills that can be taught, it is, as an art, best when designed with hands full of passion. At my first visit to the New York Botanical Garden for a flower arranging class, I was unsure of what “an egg” was. Like a puppy boxer still unwavering and clumsy upon its feet, I muddled my way thru an arranging a compote piece among professionals in the field. Still, I’ll never forget the feeling after the instructor’s feedback as he walked by. Among the large class, it was my piece among only a few others he gave such a positive response to. Surely he may have picked up my nerves, by I couldn’t help but stand back and be proud of what was in front of me, before his response. But, before the feeling of accomplishment, I transcended to a state of duende. Unexplainable,

Consider your color palette.

Textures.

Vessel.