Inspiring natural flair for floral arrangement
Catherine Muller, a floral designer from France, will teach in Seoul in September. [JoongAng Ilbo]
On occasions like these, a basket or bouquet of delicately arranged flowers is the preferred gift of choice for many people.
And they sell like hotcakes.
Though most people simply choose to buy the flowers in a store, those with the time, and the ambition, may opt to make the arrangements on their own.
That’s where Catherine Muller, a florist from France, comes in. She is scheduled to teach in Seoul in September.
Muller strictly abides by the principle that “Mother Nature does things much better than we do,” something she learned from her 16-year career as a floral designer.
Behind the youthful face and small physique, Muller is rather uncompromising when it comes to that philosophy.
“Think of it as bringing a part of the forest to your home,” Muller suggested in a recent interview.
She says she tries not to remove the leaves and uses ivy stems or tea grass to bind the flowers.
“I studied for more than a decade to learn how not to use wires. I wanted that to set me apart from other florists,” she says.
Her conservative use of artificial decorations doesn’t mean that Muller’s arrangements are any less sumptuous than others. For her, the flowers are the decorative element.
One of her signature works uses dark, blackish red flowers, which seems to illustrate her belief that Mother Nature can provide plenty of inspiration for her designs.
Another of Muller’s specialties is emphasizing the balance that already exists in nature.
“It’s important to achieve a balance. For instance, if you pack one side with a lot of callas, you can place one or two large orchids on the other side,” she said.
People who want to learn more about Muller’s principles of floral design will no longer have to fly to France, New York or Japan, where she has held classes in the past. Muller will be teaching at the CASA School in Seocho District, southern Seoul, beginning in September.
For more information about the classes, visit www.casaschool.com or call (02) 3442-1504~5.
By Kim Hyo-eun [hkim@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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