Arranging flowers a work of art and architecture

Richard Go will be showing his skills at Ellerslie.

Floral designer Richard Go is in Auckland for the Ellerslie Flower Show to share his brilliance with blooms. The award-winning international designer, floral consultant, and wedding and functions co-ordinator, is also a botanical architect.

Based in Sydney, he discovered his calling as a floral artist 20 years ago in the Philippines while at university studying veterinary medicine, and has since become known as the Floral MacGyver for his demonstrations of how to make floral displays from what you've got in the backyard.

Go switched his career from animals to flowers and now spends most of his time sharing his floristry knowledge and skills throughout the world.

He has held workshops in New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, the United States, Japan and Germany.

He fits his busy international travel schedule around his fulltime job teaching commercial floristry at the Western Sydney Institute of Technology and Further Education.

What is the best thing about your job?

Working with a God-given gift to mankind - nature.

What's your idea of perfect floral art?

Utilising unwanted plant materials and transforming them into an artform. A matter of botanical architecture made simple.

Who is your floral art idol?

Gregor Lersch, a German master florist considered to be the "father of modern European floristry". He opened my eyes to the world of possibilities - to think laterally and find the hidden beauty of plant materials, not to be afraid to experiment, and to express your emotions through flower arranging.

What is your favourite flower?

Lily of the valley. Small flowers with such fragrance, Unassuming yet dignified.

What do you do with a bunch of blooms when you decide to do something a little less formal?

Cut them short, place the stems horizontally on top of the vase to create a raft-like structure, then insert the shortened flower stems of blooms among them. A bunch of blooms can be arranged in the same time as just plonking them in a vase of water.

What's always in your garden?

Chain of hearts - I adore them.

Is there anything you would never use in floral art?

Manufactured embellishments. I prefer to do natural art as much as possible.

What's the next hot thing in floral art?

Natural designs, less embellishment, and more interpretative designing representation like analogies of life. The simpler the better.