Customer Reviews

Paula Pryke's Flower School: Mastering the Art of Floral Design

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought the book as a present for my wife who has an interest and talent in floral arranging, but no formal training. She loves the book. It has numerous wonderful color photos and discusses colors and texture in floral arranging. The book covers design ideas for shape and form; balance; harmony; scale and proportion; texture and contrast; movement; dominance; rhythm; repetition; massing flowers; grouping; bunching and bundling; carpeting; layering; manipulating plant material; structural designing; and season. It also has an excellent and informative section on color concepts. A key feature of the book is the step by step instructions for making decorative arrangements, along with photos of the arrangement as described in the steps. I cannot speak for what professional florists would like, but for my wife it was a perfect book. It would have been worth it just to see the beautiful pictures of floral arrangements, but the lessons really make the book what it is.

I would never contest the beauty of this book, but I found the lessons section to be lacking in terms of specificity. After all, this book is meant to be instructive. The instructions were often much too general for someone actually trying to learn floral design. Sometimes the generality is along the lines of 'put the twigs in the vase, put the roses in the vase,' while at other times it is more specific. In essence, the real process of placement is sometimes excluded.

Also, many of the arrangements are of a similar style, round and mouned, and though this is a particular style, I would have appreciated fewer examples of this type of bouquet, which I consider to be less complicated to make. As a florist, I would recommend this book to other florists looking for interesting ideas for using alternative floral materials such as food. I would also recommend this book for beginners needing very basic informatioin, such how to use greeneries and basic floral tools.

I would not, however, recommend this book for beginners or florists hoping to make commercial sorts of arrangements. After all, her book is the "art" of floral design, not the "economics" of floral design. Many commercial floral arrangements make more economical use of stem length and amount of flowers. This is not universal, but it is something to keep in mind when deciding who to buy this book for.

The step-by-step instructions in the book are extrememly helpful -- but she still allows for the reader to think creatively in their review of her information. It is a beautiful book with many, many photos, including step-by-step photos for the instructions.

As a budding floral arranger I thought this book was a bit limited from
an educational standpoint. The pictures are beautiful but there weren't
many creative designs. I was hoping for an instructional book on how
to do designs and was dissapointed.

This book is amazing! Detailed, gorgeous photos and instructions to create the best floral arrangements of your life. New ideas on every page, lots of suggestions for supplies and techniques.

Great pictures and ideas, but not for the beginning florist. If your just starting out, have no experience and trying to learn the art of floral design, this is not the book for you to learn.

I chose this book to help me get ready for a State Flower show. I found the photos and designs inspirational to me. Paula Pryke's material selection is outstanding and she's thinking outside the box. The content is not too textbook, technical or preachy, but simply laid out. There is limited information about the mechanics of creating a design which is why I give it a 4.
I'm happy to say my design won a blue ribbon.

This book is being used as a text book for an advanced floral design class I am taking. Very useful for the advanced or beginning floral designer. Pictures are very detailed.

This book is a joy to open. Magnificently photographed, Paula Pryke's unique style of floral design shows her love for the beauty and colour of flowers. A very worthwhile purchase.

Beautiful book on fresh flower arranging. Lots of information and lovely photographs. There is good technical information regarding the basics of arranging flowers in general. Her designs are beautiful but personally, not something I would want to reproduce. They are too edgy. She is obviously very talented. If you are looking for a book on silk flower arranging, try Decorating With Silk & Dried Flowers by The Home Decorating Institute. Even if you are more interested in silk flower arranging, there is still a lot of good information about color, line, texture, etc. in this one.