Be inspired by flowers

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WHEN American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson declared the “earth laughs in flowers” in the last century, no one seems to have objected to this day.

“It is very inspiring to play with flowers. Such little flowers, yet they have so much to tell. How they were created, their fragrance, their shapes, their unique colours — they are all inspirational!” enthused the first South East Asia (SEA)-qualified judge of American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD), Eunice Teo.

Speaking to TheEdgeProperty.com, Teo said she took an online test held by AIFD in 2013 to become an evaluator/judge for AIFD. She passed the online test and thereafter flew to Chicago to do the final practical test, which was to evaluate actual arrangements in a room.

When the results were announced in 2014, Teo emerged the first in SEA to qualify as an AIFD judge. Soon after the honour, she was invited to present her works in a symposium in California in July this year. She seized the opportunity to present pieces inspired by Malaysia’s multi-cultural facets.

“I presented 11 pieces, inspired by the wau, sarong, gasing, Chinese coins and others. I wanted to put them on the international stage. I wanted to spread the Malaysian name. It [the presentation] was not for me, I wanted to tell the world where I came from.

“In fact I have achieved beyond what I wanted to achieve. I started a flower arrangement business with RM40. All I did was to work at what I love. Passion is very important. It leads you further than you can imagine,” Teo stressed.

Also the founder of Amtrol Flower Designing, Teo said she started her journey with flowers 24 years ago when she was a music teacher.

“Music and flowers are both my passion. I can’t live without either one of them. You can ask my assistant, the minute I start working, the music is on,” said Teo, as her assistant made preparations for a do-it-yourself flower arrangement tutoring interview with TheEdgeProperty.com at The Edge Galleria.

“You don’t have to be talented or creative in doing flower arrangements, but you have to love flowers, and love to see how arrangements can make them prettier,” Teo emphasised.

This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on Dec 9, 2016, which comes with The Edge Financial Daily every Friday. Download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.