Being with Flowers
Anthony on Weddings | Choosing The Right Florist | Wedding Photogallery | All Photogalleries | Testimonials
Floral Sculptor Anthony Ward Creates Spaces of Exceptional Beauty
Flowers are the manifestation of love itself - like the deep love the Earth feels when clean cool waters run deep inside her and gentle rains fall upon her. It is with this same deep love and all my heart and soul that I do this work. I have found my calling and I am constantly reminded my journey with the Flowers is one of many blessings.
In this work, I have on several occasions stood with His Holiness The Dalai Lama - sharing a moment with work I created in his honor. The first time I met him I gave him a sunflower, and he held my hands in a very sweet and gentle way. I have created seven spaces for him since 1997. It has been my honor to do my work for many people I admire. Once, I was preparing a bouquet for Madonna and I watched her do a sound check. It is very helpful to be inspired by another's art as I am creating for them. When I create for the amazing pianist of the romantic masters Katya Grineva at Carnegie Hall every spring, I am often in the wings. I have also created at that space for Sweet Honey In The Rock.
Perhaps some of my deepest work is work in honor of sheroes in my life. Dr. Maya Angelou's book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings came into my life like a life raft. I have known the JOY! of placing flowers around her NYC apartment in places only she would see as well as all of the usual places. To be able to thank her with my work has been a great JOY! This work has also connected me with my favorite writer Alice Walker. Knowing her deepens my life with each breath.
Through my work with The Omega Institute, where I led my first workshop Being With Flowers: Floral Art As Spiritual Practice, I have connected with many others I feel connected to. Each summer, I also look forward to visiting with people that this magical place has brought into my life, including Gurmukh and Gurushabd Khalsa (who are so very dear to me), Ram Dass, and Alex and Allyson Grey (who's Sacred Mirrors has recently opened at his gallery in Chelsea, New York). Please visit www.goldenbridgeyoga.com and www.alexgrey.com.
Click on thumbnails to open enlarged
picture in new window. Don't forget to browse our
complete list of photogalleries.
Some of the other amazing beings I see every year at the Omega Institute are Iyanla Vanzant, Deepak Chopra, Rah Goddess, Eve Ensler, Jon Perkins, Ysaye Barnwell, and many more. Check out www.eomega.org for a listing of other workshops and offerings.
Besides teaching my workshops at Omega, I have the honor of creating for all other workshops held at Omega during the Summer. But I am really looking forward to next Summer: I will have again the joy of creating with Bobby Mc Ferrin (I created my first onstage floral sculpture as he sang at the San Francisco Jazz Festival in 2002).
This experience created a whole new way for me to share my work. With my ballet and modern dance background (besides being an old school raver), combining dance and floral sculpting comes very naturally to me. At that performance, my dear friend - the wise and loving Michael Franti asked me to join him and his band Spearhead on stage. Since then, we have co-created many many times, most recently as opening for Ziggy Marley. Please visit www.spearheadvibration.com for more information.
I also have the great fortune of calling the gentlemen of Sound Tribe Sector Nine friends, and we co-create on stage whenever possible. Sound Tribe is my favorite instrumental soundscape on this planet. Please see www.sts9.com for more information and tour dates.
I am doing my work mostly in NYC and the bay area and look forward to more travel and sharing of my floral art, which is a deep practice for me as well as much much JOY!
"...and people are drawn like bees to his bouquets, which some folks have described as orgasms in vases."