You’ll eventually hit a point in the beginning stages of your floral practice where each of your bouquets feels the same. It starts with the same overall shape, the same type of flower in the centre and the same finishing touches that happen almost subconsciously. At first, this repetition feels familiar and comfortable, as if you’ve got things under control. But later it can stifle your progress. Floristry needs repetition, but repetition you’re not paying attention to can be dangerous. Good repetition improves your technique. Unconscious repetition limits it. When every bouquet starts feeling like it was the same one, the trick isn’t to throw everything out. The answer is to give yourself a limitation during a floristry session, so your hand must deal with a fresh visual question.
A good strategy is to change one thing at a time. The flowers themselves can remain similar, and your vase, but change your shape. If your arrangements are mostly tight domes, try a more open one, with an exposed line that points outwards. If you’re placing your focal flower in the middle, shift it down or off-centre and feel how the whole design changes. This is important, because beginners will often try to be more creative by altering several things. It becomes difficult to tell what you’ve actually improved. By contrast, making one conscious change provides a clear counterpoint to your previous work and makes learning easier. Floristry becomes more learnable when one decision can be spotlighted.
Many beginners confuse complexity with density. When a design starts feeling repetitive, the first impulse is often to fill it with more stems, more texture, or more flowers. Instead, the design can just be cluttered. More often than not, the answer is less, not more. Take away any flowers that are doing the same job, and keep only the strongest. When there are three that are performing the same visual function, keep one and remove the other two. Another common habit is to fall back on a flower that you’ve had a lot of success with, just because it feels reliable. You can absolutely return to it, but try to balance it with something totally different. Round flowers next to something wispy or flat next to something spindly can really bring your design alive.
Start by taking your last two or three designs, either your original or pictures of them, out at the start of your 15-minute floristry session. In the first few minutes, pick one thing that seems to appear in each design, such as symmetry or full edges, or having a very heavy focal point. Then try to create a new design that does not incorporate that habit. Halfway through the session, pause and rotate the piece through the air to get a sense of how your design moves and whether or not it falls into any old habits. Finally, try removing one of your stems and putting it in a more interesting place. Try not to force it, but just a minor shift can help you improve flexibility, which is a skill that many repetitive designs are missing.
When you feel frustrated, instead of thinking, “Why isn’t my design pretty?,” instead try asking questions, such as: “Does this design have a point of view?” “Does it have movement to it?” “Is my eye led through it?” “Does anything feel too uniform?” This is much more productive than just saying “It’s nice,” or “It’s not good,” because the former points to where your design is being limited by habits. Self-critique is another good tool for improvement. Take your new design and compare it to one from last week and ask: Is the silhouette very different? The spacing? The focal point? If they feel pretty similar, you don’t necessarily need to be disappointed. Just know that for your next floristry session, the goal is to add another limitation to your design process. One of the best ways to grow is to become aware of what your hand does on an automatic basis.
Floristry doesn’t start with creativity, but it does start with an awareness of how to design intentionally. Designs become interesting when the designer can start dictating the repetitive elements, as opposed to being dictated by them. Your floral design will grow when you stretch your line length. When you start softening or opening up your middle. When you leave more negative space. When one standout stem can take a leading role, rather than being hidden. Eventually, your designs will start to show some range. Your designs will take on an air, and become more unique, without becoming less disciplined. It’s subtle, but it is a sign that your floral design practice is becoming more thoughtful, adaptable and alive.
