Top 10 Filipino artists create floral art to make you swoon

This book “Decorating with Flowers” (Tuttle Publishing) should come with a warning: Read slowly. You cannot speed-read a book that details the many ways flowers can be used to beautify a home. You have to take in each page slowly, committing the images to your mind one picture at a time.

Otherwise, you would find yourself like that first-timer at a buffet, eager to sample every morsel on his plate, only to discover that he no longer has room to swallow anything else.

“Decorating with Flowers” is a handsome book.

Authors Roberto Caballero and Elizabeth V. Reyes, with photographer Luca Invernizzi Tettoni, gathered the country’s best floral artists in celebration of the newfound craft of “floristry,” a portmanteau on the words floral artistry; surely it requires a keen eye and vivid imagination to realize the arrangements in this book.

The dust jacket does not tell you what exactly is inside. The stylish arrangement of hydrangeas, burgundy calla lilies and pink snapdragons hews closely to anybody’s idea of tasteful flower arrangement. The back of the dust jacket is a simple layout of yellow and lime-green cymbidiums alongside some ox blood vessels on a chinoiserie cabinet.

The first few pages show beautiful blooms in a variety of presentations—on champagne flutes, out of the bowl—and then Pico Soriano’s massed arrangement of roses, dendrobium orchids, Casablanca lilies, lime pom-poms, anthuriums, ferns and cypress greens.

This is followed by a kaleidoscopic presentation of flowers arranged into balls and teddy bears, on vases, lying on plates, hanging from the ceiling. You marvel not only at the inventive arrangement, but that it could be done at all.

As the authors say in their opening: “This book demonstrates how the vast palette of flowers and foliage and organic materials available in the Philippines can be used to create fabulous floral arrangement that elevate flowers beyond simple and mundane displays to sensational and memorable works of art that cannot fail to impress. At the same time, the book shows that these works of art are not impossible to achieve, that they are within the reach of those interested in replicating them.”

“Decorating with Flowers” follows around 10 world-class Filipino floral artists as they transform some of the most distinct homes in Metro Manila into stunning displays of floral art. By art, we mean that which pertains to an object that evokes a response leading to stimulating thought and conversation. Like a painter contemplating the brush strokes on his canvas or a potter the pressure he exerts on clay, these floral artists create displays of blooms that also bring out the best in the home.

Artists

The floral artists are Cynthia Almario, Leo Almeria, Nathaniel Aranda, Anton Barretto, Margarita Fores, Antonio Garcia, Roberto Gopiao, Rosabella Ongpin, Eric Paras and Pico Soriano.

But much more than the floral displays is the conscious use of native blooms and other materials that reflects the global philosophy toward renewable sources.

Two artists mixed local blooms with imported ones to provide contrast, and maybe even perfume. Fores’ arrangement for Gianna Montinola’s dinner table combines rosal, azucena, sampaguita and magnolia blooms. She also constructs a vegetal luncheon table of cauliflower, broccoli, yellow and red capsicum, bird’s eye chili, squash, long beans and chive stalks.

For the home of Wendell and May Ty, Jim Tan combines yellow bell, statice and baby’s breath for a charming arrangement in the receiving area. For the dinner table, he fashions a vegetal display of parsley, shiitake mushrooms and quail eggs.

Junie Rodriguez goes green for the home of Fred and Ina Ayala. Centerpieces abound with creeping Charlie, asparagus ferns, Afro grass and tillandsias creating arrangements that are quiet and sedate.

To contrast with the black-and-white theme of Tanya Lara’s home, Leo Almeria brings in lots of green to vivify the spare space. He uses cinamono foliage, rainbow tricolor tree, green lantern pods, green Malaysian button mums and twigs.

Simply marvelous are the huge fuchsia and green leaf roses by Nathaniel Aranda for the home of Lizette Banzon Cojuangco. Each rose was fashioned from 50-100 cordyline leaves to provide a splendid break from traditional red roses.

Each floral artist shares ideas and insights behind their creations. These provide tips on how to best mount an arrangement in a home without overpowering the setting. The flowers simply serve as focal point, without taking away from the beauty of the dwelling.

Italian photographer Luca Tettoni captures the vivid colors and dazzling displays of floral art to perfection. He has transformed this work from eye candy to a bible for homemakers and professional flower arrangers. His keen eye for detail will really help you duplicate some floral masterpieces in your own home.

One unique feature the book has is a floral directory. It lists down all the blooms used in the book, with cross-references to the pages where they are used. It is reader-friendly and makes it easier to follow the design.

“Decorating with Flowers” is exclusively available  at National Book Store.