For me, if I think about floral design, if I start comparing the Difference between floral design, floral art, flower Arranging and floristry, there are a few things that come to Mind if I think about floral art. For me, the main focus is On artistic expression. First, of course, it works with the Elements and principles of design and a lot of other theory And guidelines.

But at the end, it's about expressing something, Whereas flower arranging, as was once explained to me very Clearly by a English friend, is more about working with Materials from the garden and showcasing what is available at That at that moment in time. So really showing off garden Materials or plant materials that are readily available to You. And if I think about floristry, then I think the Primary focus is on economics. It's about making money.

So in Floral art, you might look at a design and ask, what does it Express? If you are looking at a flower arrangement by a flower Arranger, the question might be, what beauty is it showcasing From the garden at this time? And if you're thinking about Floristry, the question might be, how much does it cost? Of Course, not exclusively. There are lots of overlaps between Those areas.

If I think more broadly simply about the Difference between art and design, then I like to explain It this way. It makes it easier for me to understand and Hopefully for you to understand as well. For me, art is about Asking questions, you create something that then invites the Viewer to ask a question about it, or provokes a feeling in Them, provokes them to feel something.

So if we are thinking Mostly about an artistic approach, then I think it Applies more to floral art, where you are making clear Design and artistic choices. If I'm thinking about design, Design exclusively for me or not exclusively, but is mostly about Answering questions, finding solutions for things, finding a Design that fits the context. You're always creating something For a reason.

So design usually fits into floristry, or the Broader category of floral design, and it's all about Making the right design choices for the context or for the Purpose of the design. That's a fairly broad overview. If we Look at this Venn diagram, you can see that there are those Three large wells there floral art, floristry and flower Arranging, and where they cross over in the very center, for me, Is where floral design lives.

Floral design is the overarching System of thinking about flowers and creativity that can be Applied to floral art, to floristry and to flower Arranging, and all of those worlds also share the use of Flowers and plant material and creativity in varying ways. But Of course, there's lots of overlap between them, as I said Earlier.

So floral design, for me is really a very broad Subject covering many different areas, and it has a broad Primary focus on the application of the elements and principles Of design. That is where its main goals lie. Of course, there Are many ways that it can be applied, but that is the very High level approach of floral design.

Of course, under that, Then it can have other focuses, such as expression or showcasing The harvest, or working with pricing or economics. And so Therefore floral design. For me is the umbrella that sits over Floral art, flower arranging and floristry. Of course, we could Also consider flower arranging, or the long tradition of flower Arranging that comes from Eastern cultures, things like Ikebana from Japan or kokoji from Korea or the like.

And in Those cases, there is also different focus, and that's Usually on the meaning or the philosophy. Whenever I have Delved very lightly into the worlds of ikebana or with Kokoji, there is always an explanation about the meaning Behind the placements or the combination of the material. So There is a philosophical aspect that we don't necessarily hold As a primary focus in floral art or floristry or flower Arranging.

Again, there can be overlap, and floral design or Floristry can look a lot like Ikebana, but I think. They Influence each other, but they are their own separate worlds, And they have each a different primary focus. So here again, I've just removed the focuses so that the diagram is a little bit Clearer.

You can see that the world of floral art, floristry And flower arranging, are all interconnected by the use of Flowers and creativity, and they all intersect at a place where The application of the elements and principles of design is a Common focus, and that is floral design in the middle. I think we All coming from those different worlds, have something to learn From each other.

And in my work with flower thinking, and the Classes that I do, and the newsletters that we write and The ebooks that we write, we're always focused on floral design Because it is valuable to all of those different worlds. There Are things that you can take from floral design and apply Directly into floral art, directly into forestry or Directly into flower arranging.

If you look at these three Pictures, then the question might be, are they art, or are They floristry, or are they maybe floral design? There is an Example from Michael Cordero on the left hand side, an example From Kerry Thompson at austinville florist in the Center there, and a bridal bouquet that I made for my best Friend on the right hand side there.

So I think each of these Examples could fit within each of the three worlds at the top. It really depends on what they have been designed for, or the Context of the design in the example on the right, the bridal Bouquet that I made in most examples, if I was working in my Floristry shop or a floristry context, I would be designing That okay to fit with the bride and to a price point.

So it Would be about floristry. In the case of my best friend, I was Not necessarily working with a budget. I was designing Something to work with her, so a solution to fit with her outfit And the theme of her day. So therefore, for me, that's an Example more of floral design than ease of floristry. An Example in the middle. It's a product that is sold in my shop At alstonville florist.

And so it's created to a price point. So it is definitely floristry. Of course, you have the Consideration of how it feels and what it expresses, and where It's suitable for, and what the customers might like, but at the End of the day, you are blending all of those other Considerations with an economic with economics, so that you are Producing something to a price point.

The example by Michael Cordero on the right hand side, which comes from, I think, an Online exhibition or an online contest by the, I think, New South Wales floral Art Association, or maybe the Australian floral Art Association.

I think the title Was something like a delicate balance, and so you can see it Probably fits more into the world of floral art because it Is interpreting a theme, or it is designed to express Something, rather than primarily being made to meet a price point Or to solve a particular problem or to meet a particular need. Here the need was the competition and to work to a Title.

But therefore, for me, that puts it firmly in the Realms of floral art, but it could fit into those other Worlds as well. A good analogy might be to think about fashion And whether fashion is art or whether it is design. It's not Necessarily forestry in this case, but I left the title in There, because I'll show you an example in a moment. But these Designs are outfits by iris of Anne herpan.

They are clearly Wearable because they're being worn by a model. But are they More art or design? Some of these outfits have been Exhibited in art galleries, in exhibitions of iris. Event Happens work around the world, but they're also presented on a On runways for commercial purchase through different Distributors. So they they fit bothly within the world of art And design.

For me, they are probably more about design, but I can see how they end up in the art world as well, because they Definitely express something or provoke feelings in the viewer. At the World Cup earlier this year in The Hague, each of the Competitors was allowed to choose an iris van hoop outfit. I think they had a selection of five different Iris van Herpen Designs.

One of them is this one on the left hand side there, and They were asked to create a head decoration to working with that Design. So here they were given a context and asked to work Within it, to us, to design something to go with it. So for Me, that is much more about floral design. They weren't Asked to price it or to make it to a price point. Point.

So it's Not necessarily about floristry, but it certainly delves into the World of art as well.

But here, I think it is primarily floral Design, and you can see that the three different views of the Head decoration created by the overall winner of the World Cup Thomas Max Kuczynski was very intricate, and contained all Sorts of extraordinary orchids and exotic materials with lots Of beading and sparkles as well, and had a fantastic sense of Movement, and also brought up some of the shapes and colors That you can see in the outfit.

So it went very well with the Outfit. Here you can see it against another outfit worn by a Model, so it is actually wearable, so it's fit for Purpose, different to the iris van Herpen dress, but bringing Some of the colors down from the head piece. And there you can See Max Thomas, Max himself with his assistant, zeg net from the Competition in front of the head decoration.