Floral art enthusiasts and anyone interested in creating their own intriguing flower arrangements will want to attend the Mid Island Floral Art Club’s (MIFAC) next meeting, featuring demonstrations from locally renowned floral artist Helen Mussio.
In the past Mussio has owned and operated her own successful flower shop, worked providing floral designs for large hotels, restaurants, weddings and events in Whistler for a number of years, and she has done custom designing and teaching. She holds a number of certificates in floral design and this year some of designs were published in the May edition of a leading New Zealand Design Magazine called Floral Design. Today she continues to run her own business Goldleaf Designs out of Errington and is a member of MIFAC.
The demonstration Mussio will do at MIFAC’s upcoming meeting on Sept. 8 is called Beyond the Basics and will focus on one of the four sections of contemporary floral design, abstract. Mussio will talk about new materials that can be used in floral design, and new mechanics and techniques that can be applied. These include building structures, creating shapes and splicing.
Mussio will demonstrate how to do a three dimensional grid, a circular line and a low angle structure, among other designs. She’ll then demonstrate the use of trendy new products on the market involving bright colored wire, aluminum wire and “bling.” She’ll also reveal unconventional water sources for the flowers.
“This is so that you can place the flowers in different locations to enhance the design but still give them a water source, because they have to live,” she said.
Although Mussio has worked as a teacher, a financial accountant, a business assessment officer and as a project consultant for the government she couldn’t stay away from her passion in floristry.
“My love of art and nature was greater than my love of working for the government,” she said.
She especially enjoys doing these floral art demonstrations, she said, because she loves to share the excitement of this art medium with others.
Beyond the Basics demonstration happens at 2 p.m.on Sept. 8 at St. Stephens Church Hall in Qualicum Beach. The guest fee for the event is $5 which can also be used toward a fall membership with the MIFAC.
For more information call 250-752-2179 or email cjvanbev@hotmail.com. For more on the MIFAC visit www.mifac.org.
reporter@pqbnews.com