We asked Maya De Roo, one of the teachers on our Flower Design Course, to give us some inspiration to better understand what moves a person to live with and for flowers. The result is this interview conducted by our teaching coordinator, Dr Tania Sette, full of the colour and sweetness that can be felt in the compositions created by Maya. Happy reading!
Tania: Good morning Maya. What does being a Flower Designer mean to you? How does this represent the evolution of the florist?
Maya: The floral designer, or flower designer, is someone who creates art, compositions, decorations and arrangements with plant material in an innovative way. I like to compare him to the fashion designer or stylist of haute couture because, just as in the world of fashion, floral designers are always on the lookout for new techniques, new materials and possible combinations between them, new shapes and colours intended to create trends. It is precisely this incessant experimentation that is the hallmark of the flower designer, a figure that has more and more in common with the artist and the stylist, representing precisely the evolution of the florist.
Moreover, while the florist usually works in direct contact with the private customer, the floral designer most often moves up the chain, acting as an intermediary between suppliers of florist material and the florists themselves.
Tania: The Flower Designer is an emerging professional figure that is enjoying increasing success in our country. What do you think is the reason for this rise?
Maya: The reason for this rise is undoubtedly the massive use of social networks. Through these networks, flower producers, floral designers, florists and private individuals have a greater opportunity to make themselves known, to exchange ideas and to spread their passion for flowers. Even the complex and stressful period of crisis that we are currently experiencing encourages us to carve out moments of well-being that flowers with their scents and colours certainly create.
Tania: Technical knowledge is fundamental for the Flower Designer. But how much does passion influence the success of the profession?
Maya: Passion is just as essential as knowledge of techniques and subjects. Particularly for the floral designer, without passion it will be difficult to benefit from a profession that always demands new stimuli, research, experiments and is more often than not quite exhausting. Moreover, as in all fine arts, works without passion remain inexpressive.
Tania: On your scale of values, how important is practice, such as an internship experience, for an aspiring Flower Designer?
Maya: On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say that practice is worth 8 in the path of an aspiring floral designer. During a course one can discover and experiment, but it is only experience and practice that lead to greater control of the techniques learnt.
Tania: In your opinion, does the Flower Designer's style emerge over time or is it already discernible from the first approaches to the profession?
Maya: The style of the floral designer necessarily emerges over time. There are so many styles that it will take time before you have tried them all and discovered which one suits you best. Also, as previously stated, characteristic of the floral designer is the incessant search for the new, so it is natural to change style over the years. Personally, after more than 17 years working in the floral industry, I still have not adopted a unique style. I find interests, stimuli from innumerable techniques, which propel me towards ever new challenges.
Tania: Where do you find the inspiration to bring your compositions to life and satisfy customer tastes?
Maya: I find inspiration for my creations everywhere: the internet, books, magazines, television, but also observing people in the street, shop windows of all kinds, buildings, listening to music... everything becomes a source of inspiration. Nature is certainly the starting point because it is she who gives us the raw material for our creations.
Satisfying the client's tastes is not difficult for someone who knows his trade well and above all knows how to listen: if the client has tastes different from mine it may be less fun to do the job, but a good floral designer knows how to deal with all tastes. If I see that a client's tastes are too distant from mine and there is no way to find common ground, out of professional fairness I recommend another person instead.
Tania: Can you describe the set-up that most excited you?
Maya: There are some installations that have remained in my heart more than others, but not so much for the result of the work itself, but for the context in which I was working, the team, the location, the client, all factors that contributed to making that experience unique.
One installation that particularly fascinates me is the one that Charles van der Voort has been creating for 25 years in St Peter's Square for Easter Mass and in which I had the honour of participating for several years. There is certainly the magic of the understanding of a great team there, the meeting with the Pope was special, and all those gardens created with plants grown especially for the occasion are unforgettable... But the most impressive thing is that all the flowers, just before the mass, change their appearance. It almost always rains during the preparation in the days leading up to the Holy Sunday, but on the day of the mass the sun suddenly comes out and the flowers turn up in an indescribable, almost magical way.
Tania: How do you see the future of the Flower Designer?
Maya: Living in the present, I have never given much thought to the future of floral design. Thinking about it now, I see a positive future. If until now it has always been a misunderstood profession, in the future I believe that people will understand what we do and as a result it will be easier and easier to conquer and capture the world with our work.
Tania: What advice would you give to those approaching this profession for the first time?
Maya: My advice to those embarking on the road to becoming a floral designer would differ greatly from person to person. But what I certainly advise everyone, and I often remind myself as well, is to never forget humility, never feel like you have arrived, but to use the adult mind while remaining a child at heart.
Tania: Thank you very much for this chat, Maya. Good luck with your work, which we always follow with interest and enchantment.
Maya: Thank you Tania, and see you soon!
Would you like to meet Maya De Roo? Request information on the next edition of IDI Flower Design Course.
