Thursday, May 29, 2008

Review: Advanced Flower Arranging at IUPUI

Like most of the flower-arranging classes in the IUPUI Community Learning Network, the advanced flower-arranging class is a five-week course of study. I wish it were forever. What am I going to do now?

Seriously, though, I have the highest respect for instructor Sara Thompson, who also manages the wedding department at McNamara. She has impeccable taste, and the class projects are more than just pretty; they're also meant to teach specific floral design skills.

Thompson assumes that students in the advanced class know how to prep flowers, how to use floral foam, and other basics. Instead, the class focuses on types of designs and schools of flower-arranging thought (such as Japanese ikebana). The goal is to develop students into floral designers, not just flower arrangers.

Another great thing about Thompson's classes is the atmosphere. We always had fun as we learned, and questions were always welcome.

If you'd like to start your own track of floral design courses at IUPUI, sign up right away for Thompson's "Fundamentals of Flower Arranging" class, which meets on Monday evenings in June. The next step, "Intermediate Flower Arranging," meets on Mondays and Wednesdays in July.

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