Festive Wreaths with Miranda Hackett Flowers
By Juliet Cornell
Miranda Hackett Flowers
Day courses are a fantastic way to get a taste of a new creative interest. A good course is one that builds on the initial interest and gives attendees the opportunity to take home a competently produced finished product. The very best, enable you to not only create something lovely on the day, but also equips you with the skills to reproduce beautiful items in your own home, building and developing a new talent with confidence.
Festive wreath making with Miranda Hackett is definitely the latter of those options. Meeting Miranda is like meeting a force of nature; creativity and confidence crackle in the air as she talks about her passion for Artisanal Floristry. She moved to the South West from Berkshire a year ago and brought her creative floristry business with her. With a portfolio of London and Home Counties commissions, she has also spent three years creating floral beauty in Slovakia, the universal Latin language of flowers helped enormously with the inevitable language difficulties.
Miranda has already done a turn at The Makers Table at Ocean Studios and loves the beautiful, historic buildings and the fantastic creative buzz the Ocean Studios generates. On 8th December she will return to Ocean to teach Festive Wreathing, this time in the light filled Making Spaces; rooms designed specifically for creative courses.
Miranda Hackett Flowers
Miranda Hackett Flowers
What I personally loved about Miranda’s attitude to floristry was her adaptive approach. She was as enthusiastic about foraging for materials as she was about producing large, highly prestigious commissions. Enthusiasm for her craft just bubbles out of every conversation.
Miranda’s style is loose and flowing, organic in development with seasonality in the locally produced blooms and foliage at the heart of her creations. In her new home here in Devon she now has the space to develop her own nursery to grow native blooms for her future work. Since her arrival in the west country, she has developed a great working relationship with many local producers and growers and has found suppliers from Devon and Cornwall far more open, flexible and innovative in business dealings than she has previously experienced – a little of the west country friendliness we’re so famous for.
If you need any more convincing then last years Festive Wreathing course was held at Heston Blumenthal’s Michelin Starred Restaurant in Bray and a review from that event says everything.
“ I just wanted to say a big thank you for the superb wreath making…it was a wonderfully inspiring day, your ideas were incredible and the quality of your greenery and products were really top class. It was so enjoyable to be in your workshop with like-minded people. Your instruction was so good, I will be enrolling again on your next course”
Booking for the upcoming Ocean Studio event can be made direct with Miranda via her website or by telephoning 07789553921, the workshop cost is £55 and runs from 10.30am.
If the 8th December doesn’t suit but you’re eager to get your hands on a little of Miranda’s enthusiasm then there are two more workshops before Christmas held at The Oyster Shack, Bigbury on Wed 6th and Saturday 9th December, again starting at 10:30am, the course fee of £90 includes a two course lunch and a glass of wine. Booking for these two dates is via The Oyster Shack 01548 810876 bigbury@oystershack.co.uk.
Brixton East is a fabulous multi-use creative space. Currently South London Women Artists are curating their latest exhibition there.
Yesterday the stylehounds of theoldmortuary. design went to the new extension at Daylesford Organics in Moreton- on-the-marsh. For me and the hounds it was a first although I regularly visited the Marylebone branch. However whilst working in Cheltenham and living in Gloucestershire Hannah had hunted down the rural base in search of coffee and decided we should all visit. 
What a feast for the eyes. Daylesford Farm Shop takes pretty to a whole new level. There was texture and colour, perfume and chatter. We came away inspired and happy.
The stylehounds are in Cheltenham today seeking out the best design and style that Cheltenham has for theoldmortuary.design.
Early June is the perfect time to hunt for contemporary art. Art Schools and Universities showcase the best that their art students have to offer. Usually held over a week or so the Graduation exhibitions are vibrant , eclectic events. Last night I went to Plymouth College of Art and Designs Graduation Showcase, Breaking Through., Plymouth is one of the few remaining independent art schools. It teaches an eye watering number of creative courses and the end of year show reflects the huge diversity of subjects. The standard of these shows is always high . Proud parents, tutors and graduates rub shoulders with interested art lovers and talent scouts from the creative industries. Bargains can also be found and I’ve bought some lovely pieces from Degree shows around the country. One or two pieces have turned out to be a great investment as their creators become well respected and successful as their careers progress.
theoldmortuary website and blog is a little over a month old. This was the first person to want to follow us but he has only just got here. Follow us to see all the cool stuff that thrills a snail and a few other people who love the stuff we love.
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Our Real Interior Design page is just being constructed, this old picture frame gets a mention early on.
Gorgeous candles from Rome, look amazing against centuries old Cornish slate flooring.
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