Friends, I am so excited to bring you an interview with one of my cherished friends, Françoise Weeks. Over the years of blogging we’ve featured Françoise and her unique floral designs often, although it occurred to me recently that it has been awhile since we last shared a chat here on the blog. So here goes — hope you are equally inspired as I am by this amazing botanical artist!
~Alicia
Hi Françoise, Thank you for sitting down with us for a chat! I know our readers would love to learn more about you and your flower business! Can you share with us how many years you’ve been a floral designer?
I started my business in 1996
How did your career in the floral industry start?
Starting a business was beyond daunting so I put that dream on a shelf for many years. When there was talk that the medical lab where I worked might close it’s doors, I made the leap. The learning curve – especially the business aspect – was huge. For 2.5 years I kept working at the lab part time while growing the business, focusing on weddings and events. My husband remodeled part of the basement; 5 years later we had a wonderful small studio built in the back yard.
Many floral designers that I speak with seem to experience a bout of burnout somewhere along their path, is this something you’ve faced at any point in your career?
Like most designers I have…
How did/do you work through burn-out and how did you move on to the next stage of your career?
In 2003 I had started to teach some evening classes in the studio at the encouragement of my sister. It wasn’t until 6 years later, when I started to teach workshops in the studio (at the request of one of the wholesalers) that I made it a goal that teaching would become my main source of income. Little did I know at the time that when I would have the courage to take the workshops on the road in 2013 (there are so many logistics involved and it took 2 years to override that fear of failing and finally give it a try) that this dream would become a reality. I still do some events, very few weddings and some freelancing.
I love sharing mechanics and techniques, as well as how to look at botanical materials through different eyes. Watching how students interpret the information, which flowers and textures they choose to design with to make their gorgeous creations, makes my heart sing every single time. Looking back, teaching has come full circle, even though I only taught in schools for a couple of years after graduating from college. I must say that teaching adults, who are passionate about flowers, is way more fun and rewarding than teaching middle schoolers math and science…
How do you stay inspired and keep fresh at 20+ years in the floral industry?
In my book curiosity and perseverance are key as well as making the time to explore new ideas and different products – unusual flowers, textures and supplies alike.
Nature always has been my biggest inspiration. In this day and age of social media we have access to be inspired by the work of so many brilliant designers from all over the world, run with new ideas and mold them into our own. It is always fun and often challenging, to come up with different concepts and figure out how to implement them. But it always opens new doors for more experimenting and thinking outside the box….
We’d love to hear about some of the highlight moments in your career, an event of experience that you’ll never forget!
Traveling to teach workshops has opened a whole new world for me. Meeting so many flower enthusiasts in person from all over the US and in many other countries, sharing information and learning from so many in the meantime, visiting flower farms in places I never thought I would go, has enriched my life immeasurably. Last year I had the opportunity to volunteer for 4 days at Fleuramour. It was the 22nd year that this extraordinary flower show took place at an old castle in Alden Biesen, a small town in Belgium. I witnessed the progression of large installations and connected with so many incredibly talented designers. It was simply brilliant.
Françoise, Can you please share with our readers what workshops you have coming up that they might like to sign-up for including online and in-person workshops?
Yes! I have an online class about designing Botanical Jewelry Design.
Plus, two in-person workshops coming up – A workshop in San Francisco, CA on March 3 & 4 where we will create botanical jewelry and dresses. Plus, a workshop scheduled at my studio in Portland March 12-14th which will focus on woodland and botanical couture designs.
Thank you, Françoise, for the chat, so good to visit with you!! Friends, you can follow Françoise’s flower journey here on her:
Website: http://francoiseweeks.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/francoiseweeks/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/francoise.weeks
Oh, and I should mention that I have studied with Françoise and thoroughly enjoyed learning from her while taking a woodland workshop. You can read my re-cap here.
All images in this post provided to Flirty Fleurs by Françoise Weeks for use in this interview.
Thank you so much Alicia!