Like the beautiful and intricate botanical arrangements that she creates, Francoise Weeks is a wonderfully down to earth person.

This past weekend I attended the Koehler & Dramm Fall and Winter Classic design show featuring guest designer Francoise Weeks. Saturday evening was full of inspiring fall and holiday design ideas from local florists. Sunday was a day of demonstrations and discussion of Francoise's woodland style and the floral mechanics behind the arrangements, led by Francoise herself. After a weekend full of learning and inspiration, I feel absolutely privileged to have also had the opportunity to participate in a small group hands on masterclass with her on Monday afternoon.

Francoise's creations are described as botanical and woodland. Inspired by a childhood of summers spent in the Swiss Alps with her family, Francoise spent hours collecting berries, small flowers, twigs and moss to make little floral creations for her mother. Her experiences resonated with my own memories as a child making similar forages on the forest floor in the woods where I grew up and on family trips to the North Shore of Lake Superior. This carries through to today as my own cell phone photo gallery is loaded with images of mushrooms, moss, lichens, ferns and other forest ingredients that I snap while on hikes in the woods and daily wanderings closer to home. I am intrigued by the smallness of it all, the varied textures, nooks and crannies, and the feeling of childlike wonder I get when I find a little forest vignette.
Monday's masterclass wasn't so much a how-to, where Francoise stood in front of us and told us exactly how to place every element, but rather more of an opportunity to play with a wide assortment of florals, greens and plants and create our own versions of woodland. All the while with the opportunity to ask questions of Francoise to further our own creativity of what woodland means to us as designers.

One of the things I enjoyed most about working with Francoise Weeks is how down to earth she is. She made an effort to speak to each student in the masterclass individually, taking time to answer design as well as business questions, and in my case also talking about mushrooms, lichens and the north woods of Minnesota. She had a true interest in every conversation and asked me as many questions about my own floral interests and business as I did of her. This weekend's workshops and the masterclass have given me definition and direction to the woodland design style that I have been cultivating in my own designs and a whole new level to aspire to. The experience on Monday truly made my heart sing.