Sculptural Dried Bouquet Class: Shape, Line and Balance

I've been a florist since 2016, but I didn't arrive here through a flower shop. I grew up in Istanbul, where flowers were part of everyday life rather than something you saved for occasions, and I moved to the English countryside carrying that with me. The pivotal moment came when I found a bunch of forgotten flowers that had dried in a corner of my studio. They'd faded into something quieter and more beautiful than they'd been fresh — a little imperfect, a little wild. That was the beginning. I've worked almost entirely with dried and preserved botanicals ever since.Today I run Créateur Flowers, a studio built around slow, sculptural floral design. I grow and source much of what I use, hand-colour my own stems, and design in a style shaped by wabi-sabi and Japandi principles — asymmetry, negative space, restraint, and a deep respect for materials that have already lived a little. I'm also a painter, and I think that shows in how I teach: I approach an arrangement the way you'd approach a canvas, thinking about line, balance and composition before anything else.Why I love teaching: because floristry isn't really about flowers. Every person who sits down at my table arrives holding something — a stressful week, a creative block, a belief that they "aren't the artistic type." Two hours later they've made something with their hands that nobody else in the room has made, and something has loosened. Watching that happen never gets old. I teach a method I developed called PETAL — Pattern, Elevation, Triangle, Asymmetry, Layering — which gives people a framework so they're not just copying me. They leave able to do it again on their own, which is the whole point.Something most people don't know about my craft: dried flowers aren't dead flowers. Preservation is a genuine technical skill — the timing of the harvest, the humidity, the drying method, the colouring process — and done well, an arrangement will look beautiful for years rather than days. Most people are surprised at how much chemistry sits behind something that looks so effortless.A little about my experience: I've been working professionally with flowers for 10 years, teaching workshops since 2023, and my work has included bespoke installations / wedding and bridal commissions / hospitality and interior design clients.If you come to one of my workshops, expect good tea, unhurried pace, and no pressure to get it "right." I keep groups small so I can actually spend time with each person. Whether you're here for a creative afternoon, a birthday, or a team day, you'll leave with something you made yourself — and it'll still be on your shelf next year.