Part of what I get to do every year amongst the styled shoot, proposals, client meetings and actual real weddings is teach flowers in China. When people meet me for the first time they often ask me the same question…” how did you get that?!!!” I use to be coy, shy and very basic in my reply. Now I just tell them the truth which is I earned it. I work hard every day trying to make the mundane magnificent and somewhere across the world someone noticed. (see Nicki Minaj: bossed up)
This isn’t new! This has been our 6th time putting on the class. I have so many photos and Im going to do a better job at sharing them. It’s a true joy to go. Im rejuvenated and inspired by my classes. We go big with 27 florists from China, Taiwan & Hong Kong. They ask my hard questions, let me photograph them endlessly and give me key chains with panda bears.
A lot of what I do with my students is try to get them to pay attention to seasons and take a lot of pictures.
“IF YOU SEE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL TAKE A PICTURE OF IT” I yell to my amazing translator Tina. At this point she knows what im about to say before I say it. She can watch me gesture manically and know I want her to explain the importance of layering your flowers. She wears hot pants and platform sneakers to class and has hair just as long as mine.
I get to work out a lot of big ideas in Beijing. With a class size this large we become a small army and are able to bust out large scale installations in a few hours. Some are hits some are misses but im always finding ways to make it better, surprise them more and learn new things along the way. Last summer I tried making a hanging lotus pond in 90 degree heat. 200 stems of lotus later I found out my students weren’t interested in stereotypical Asian flowers. I’ll save those photos for a different post.
I said on Instagram this post was suppose to be about loneliness but actually as I reflect on working in Beijing all I see is abundance. I thought the word blessed meant you were someone who was receiving a lot of wonderful things. Now I see it more as the ability to be grateful for what you already have around you.
