英语学习资料:She allows flowers to express themselves

Jul25

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Flowers have faces. Faces show expression.

Hence, a florist's job is like a co ... etologist's.

That is, to bring out the best of their countenance.

That's the philosophy international-award-winning floral artist Elly Lin articulated to a workshop she was holding at Park Hyatt Shanghai.

The floral artist from Taipei says she learned it from her parents.

The guru of blooms was showing hotel guests how to fashion a mini Christmas tree from cypress, cinnamon and fresh flowers.

"Fragrances leave a deep impression," Lin says.

"I hope that when they encounter cinnamon's aroma later, they remember the morning we made Christmas trees together."

She chose the festival as the theme for her first showcase on the Chinese mainland.

Her class was part of the hotel's annual Master of Food and Wine Passion Week in November, when celebrity chefs, wine masters and floral artists showcase their creations.

"The idea is to gather our modern Chinese ... artisans who've mastered their crafts over a lifetime, allowing the unparalleled service and facilities of our property to plement this extraordinary culinary, artistic and lifestyle experience," the hotel's general manager, Etienne Dalancon, says.

Lin was among the first Chinese florists to win Interflora's Florist Competition in the Netherlands, when she took third place in 1997.

She was the 2010 Taipei International Flower Exposition's opening and closing ceremonies' executive planner and has taught flower-arrangement classes in Germany, Spain, Greece, the United States and Japan.

Lin also judges international florist petitions.

The art form has transformed since her parents started the pany Taipei Florist in 1966, she says.

Her father and grandfather were florists. Her dad met her Japanese mom at an arrangement petition in Taiwan.

The couple opened their shop with the concept of offering a place for customers to sip tea while sitting among flowers.

"We used to use other materials like wires and ribbons to form arrangements' structures," she recalls.

"Now, we use botanical shapes to create the frames."

Arrangements have migrated toward simplicity.

Yet that makes originality more challenging.

Lin originally wanted to be an interior designer. Zen was trendy during her years in England.

Western interpretations of the art added a touch of restraint and depth.

But she discovered a simple decorative branch could soften marble's hardness.

She returned to Taipei in 1995 and bined what she learned about interior design with floral art.

Western flower arrangements often emphasize color coordination and structure, she says.

"Easterners pay attention to the life in the flowers," she says.

"My father used to say, every flower has different sides. Each reveals a different expression. My job is to ensure each flower displays the right expression."

Traveling the world has enabled her to work with exotic species.

"I feel lucky to touch and arrange flowers that only grow in particular places," she says.

Lin works with not only flowers but also with various botanic materials.

Sliced branches, dried vines and preserved leaves create murals, installations and even a chandelier that hangs in a conference hall.

"I see life in plants," she says.

"Sometimes my friends think I'm nuts to be so obsessed with a dry twig or floating wood. But I see the passage of time. To me, it's priceless."

But working with flowers isn't just about taking time to, well, ... ell the roses.

It can be exhausting. Time is tight.

Most flowers wither after five days.

Consider the scale of floral arrangements that decorate weddings. And then consider the rush to put them together within hours.

But her golden touch es from a bit of alchemic tinkering with the flora.

By tweaking lights and temperature, she has, for instance, awakened Sleeping Water Lilies, keeping them open all night.

"Our hard work pays off when the newlyweds bring us candy (a Chinese wedding tradition) and say we gave them dream weddings."