Forever Flowers

A top designer in dried floral welcomes you into her studio to learn the craft’s potential. Today in floral design, dried flowers and botanicals give their fresh cousins a strong run for their long-held position as the classic material. Today, unrecognizable from the 1970s (when they were first trendy), dried flowers are a popular material for the most modern, contemporary creations in flower art. Antonia De Vere, a top designer in dried floral creations, here welcomes you into her studio to understand the potential you’ll be able to enjoy when working with dried flowers. She shares how and why dried floral has become her career and her source of creative energy. In photos and text, De Vere shows you dozens of exciting ideas through her creations, which range from 10-foot-high restaurant installations to delicately shaped ikebana-inspired pieces to small sparks of pop art in bud vases. Learn how to select, dry, and assemble flowers and foliage. Then enjoy 18 step-by-step projects that bring De Vere’s popular design style into your own home. This art’s sustaina­bility and zero-waste focus-damaged flowers that can’t be sold for fresh bouquets can be used productively-is another reason “forever flowers” are perfect for today.

Author Biography

Antonia De Vere, a pioneer in the dried-floral revival, designs floral art from large to small and works with a range of commercial clients. Her works are especially prominent in the top eateries, vineyards, and boutiques of her native New Zealand.