GUEST DESIGNER: Julie Drago AIFD, CFD
Submitted by: Marianne Suess AIFD, CAFA, Seneca College Program Coordinator & Professor
The SAIFD Trillium Chapter hosted the annual Air Program in the Spring of this year with Guest Designer Julie Drago, AIFD, CAFA.
Julie has been a member of the floral industry in Canada for over 30 years. She has been involved in numerous Floral Design shows and panels and is hosting workshops at various institutions throughout the city and throughout the country. Her design skills are displayed in many floral industry showrooms, on catalogue covers, and in publications.
Designer, teacher and mentor – Julie has designed for celebrities with the same flair she uses in consultation at many of Toronto’s finest floral shops and event studios.
Her workshop focused on the creation of dynamic, visually exciting floral arrangements by creating a basic armature structure with branches which provided the base for a contemporary floral Design in a low dish. Before starting with foliage and florals the structure was interwoven with thin Bamboo sticks.
Julie stressed that using traditional greens and foliages in non-traditional ways challenges the designer to expand his/her notions of what constitutes an “arrangement”. She also stated that foliages and other items such as branches, seed pods, and grasses were often less expensive than conventional flowers and their exclusive use in arrangements could result in savings for the florist.
The second part of her presentation included a hands-on workshop with the SAIFD members who were so excited to experiment with the techniques Julie was demonstrating.
Julie’s workshop was a great success, challenging students to the next level of design and every student was filled with new inspiration.
April 10th our Chapter is participating in a Floral Exhibit which takes place at Seneca College’s Innovation Centre and is part of our Department’s Year End Show. And very soon we are going to start preparations for the Student Competition in Las Vegas which promises to be another exciting Event.
