Shane Connolly

‘[Emily Thompson] changed floristry in New York.’ – Martha Stewart An extraordinary first book celebrating contemporary floral designer Emily Thompson, known for her unique and dramatic artistry For the first time, innovative floral designer Emily Thompson showcases her 15-year body of work, which reveres the raw and wondrous beauty of flowers, plants, and trees. With an inspirational and transportive journey, this new book demonstrates Thompson’s signature style of infusing a sense of the exotic and mysterious into her stunning compositions by using wild, unruly materials from the forest, field, and beyond. Featuring nearly 200 vivid images of her spectacular floral design work, the book includes projects ranging from indoor studio and outdoor in situ photography, to high-profile public and private commissions for restaurants including The Grill and The Modern in New York, fashion designers Jason Wu and Ulla Johnson, cultural institutions like the MAD Museum, New York, and Sotheby’s, and editorial work for T Magazine and AD China. Organized by theme, the book features chapters evocatively named and inspired by the life forces and organisms that influence and make up her work. In her own words, she walks the reader through her creative process, explaining the visceral and intellectual approach for generating and germinating the seeds of her ideas for her lush and kaleidoscopic floral arrangements. In addition to her own text, the book includes a foreword by esteemed floral designer and florist to the British Royal Family, Shane Connolly, and an introduction by lauded design writer Nancy Hass.

Even now, when modern technology has made information so easy to exchange, some words are still hard to say. In this book, Shane Connolly examines the language of flowers in the context of love - that most tricky and subtle of emotions. Using a selection of over fifty gorgeous plants, Shane demonstrates how flowers, whether as single stems or as part of an arrangement, can reveal what our lovestruck, lovelorn or love-renewed selves are too wary or tongue-tied to express. Over eight practical projects, including simple wild strawberry wedding buttonholes and a biodegradable funeral arrangement, communicate their own exclusive and personal message.