I love a still-life painting when the depiction is a fantasy conjured in the artist’s mind. Deliberate choices are made; elements that might not share company in nature sit side by side on a candlelit table. A skillful, painterly hand brings disparate elements together, manipulates them for a moment in time, and captures the natural beauty of these living, vibrant things—and the result is authentic and timeless. So how do we achieve this alchemy with flowers and floral arrangements? By breaking down a floral still life the way a painter would. Color, composition, movement, shape, and texture are the five basic principles to consider when creating a floral still life.
Excerpt from Styling Nature: A Masterful Approach to Floral Arrangements by Lewis Miller with Irini Arakas, Rizzoli New York, 2016. All Photography © Don Freeman.