We start this design by placing one half block of foam into a container. The base that we are using is a contemporary style dish. It is black and has a long lid. One of these containers is placed at an angle inside another of the same variety.....

This makes the container more visually interesting.....

This contemporary style design is quite easy to do, and visually very stunning.....

Let's start the design with our dried materials........

Dried strelitzia leaf is the actual foliage from the bird of paradise flower........

When it dries out it actually curls into all kinds of interesting shapes and has a nice parchment-like texture...........

Our importers and wholesalers make it available to us in a wide range of colors. In this case it is painted a very rich gold!!!

The placement of the dried strelitzia leaf gives great height to the design. It defines the arrangement as one that is most definitely important!!!

Two pieces of cut palmetto leaf, also dried and dyed gold are placed on either side of the arrangement.......Notice how they are slightly angled, to give us a diagonal like feeling...........This imparts a real dynamism to the arrangement, even before a single flower is placed.

An interesting placement of materials provides the cover for our mechanics....A combination of ming fern and sheet moss give a very interesting texture to the base line of the design.

To create added interest, let's add several lotus pods to the design......To keep the unity of the piece, these are painted gold as were the dried strelitzia leaves and the dried cut palmettos......

Notice that we've placed the lotus pods slightly to the side of the arrangement...Several sticks are also angled out to the side of the design. These are the remainder of the stems of the cut palmetto.....

Thus far the design has been stylized mostly with dried materials.........

We strongly recommend that you properly condition the flowers you use, before you stylize any floral design.

This is necessary for the longest possible life span of the flowers, and for customer (or your own) satisfaction.

It is especially critical for roses....

We place the roses to complete our arrangement as shown in the photograph..............

Here is a good comparison of our contemporary arrangement with a vase arrangement stylized in a more traditional mode, also using roses.......

Note that the contemporary design has some very interesting features:

• Greater use of negative space....
• Unusual juxtaposition of live and dried materials....
• Smaller quantities of materials.........

This arrangement would be good for just about any occasion.

I could see this design being used as a gift when someone visits a loved one......

It would also be a great design as a birthday gift.....

It would be appropriate for anniversaries as well........

Consider this for someone sick at home or in the hospital..........

It should go without saying that this arrangement would be ideal for Valentine use as well.......

Keep in mind that roses do come in a variety of colors......Make use of this in your floral art......Red roses are lovely, but some of our other varieties as illustrated in this design may be even more appropriate depending upon the tastes of the recipient and the interior into which the design may be placed....

We hope that you really enjoyed this brief floral design lesson. At Rittners Floral School in Boston we provide floral design instruction that includes a wide range of different styles and techniques. Please come and take one of our hands-on workshop programs!!

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