I've attended a number of hands on classes with Hitomi, and have had various staff come along for the experience.
She is a totally cool lady, very down to earth and in touch with what it takes to produce an amazing product, while respecting profits. She has a great ability to connect with each student, find your strengths and weaknesses, and point them out without making you feel somehow deficient....yes I agree she is an amazing teacher and artist.
I took two of my key designers to one of her hands on sessions not long ago, and we still talk about the enormous benefits from attending, and are still incorproating her ideas into our design portfolios.
Yep, it's easy to get star struck, but when you see that she had a flower shop, just like the rest of us, it all melts away, and then you just see a woman who has a kid to raise, with great knowledge, and a unique approach to marketing your own gift of floral design.
In the late seventies, I travelled to Mission, BC to see her shop, with the hope that she might be working that week, and I might visit, and talk about floral design, and shop ownership.
Her shop was a mess, with Christmas lights tangeled into a dust bowl in the corner. Here it was, in mid June,, and the place was a disaster. The floor was unswept, the displays were terrible, it was a dirty, filthy disappointment.
I was devestated. I asked if she was available to speak with me, but she was out of town, working on a new book. Her staff was amiable, but not really intersted in meeting with an Ontario florist coming for a visit.
Somehow, I had assumed that if you are a great designer, that your shop would be a reflection of your creative genius. This was a huge mistake on my part...In my youth, I didn't understand the difference between a great designer and a great flower shop owner.
This proved to be a enormous revelation for me...previously I had assumed that if you were an acclaimed designer, that your flower shop would be an awe inspiring shop, filled with incredible examples of the worlds finest examples of advancecd floral design.
It was then that I learned the difference between a great flower shop, and a world renowned floral designer. The two do not always co-exist under the same roof.
I totally respect and admire Hitomi for the gifts that she has to create beautiful peices of art , however, through experience, I have learned that there are many unsung heros in this industry, who consistantly deliver creative, beautiful, and price sensitive arrangements for our clients every day.
In fact, often the people giving us the amazing stage shows don't have any idea how to run a profiatable flower shop.
I have worked, and have had conversations with lots of them... incredible designers all.
But let's all remember... working and running a flower shop for profit is very different than producing a stage show for an admiring audience....
I rhink that Hitomi, Cathy, and Phil would all prefer that we become successful florists, strong with our own informed styles and products, rather than become bancrupt copy cat wannabees...
Don't get me wrong here. I admire Hitomi, and am greatful for all the things she has taught me over the years...and that is HUGE. Hitomi was the first designer who inspired me to become something other than a good designer. She showed me that it was possible to interperet nature in a way no one else had even suggested it was possible. If not for Hitomi and Else, I doubt I ever would have realized that floral design could be floral art.
However, I think it is important to remember that being an amazing designer is only part of what it takes to be a great flower shop owner.
Don't get me wrong here...I have learned more from Hitomi than most of you will forget...I am that old!
But I think it is important to recognise that there are an enormous number of young designers who are in ranks, who demonstrate incredible gifts every day but who do not have the tenure, or thr PR machine working in their favor.
I am greatful to each of them for the lessons the give me every day.
JMHO
JP
We get knocked a lot, but we're very serious about supporting great education and do our best to maintain relationships with stellar designers like Hitomi because of it. Congrats to you and the unit, Sue, for hosting such a great event!
