Taking inspiration from her surroundings
The first of February marked the first day of a new month and with it the celebration of St Brigid’s Day.
The pupils from 2nd class in the Holy Family National School made the short trip to Tubbercurry Community Library on St Brigid’s day.
They gathered to take part in a craft activity centring on the annual old tradition of cross making with rushes ( pictured).
Eilish Whelan from the Community Library was at hand to guide the young students through the process.
The event was arranged by Community Library worker Ultan Mc Nasser and proved to be a huge success with the students. Originally from Germany, Martina Kilian has spent the last 35 years as a full- time florist. From 1993 up until 2015, Martina worked with Guns and Roses Flower Shop in Tubbercurry.
Living in Corsallagh a town close to Cloonacool for the past 24 years, she has been surrounded by bog land and an un- spoiled environment with a rich diversity keeping her inspired from day to day.
Her family maintain a small farm with goats, geese, ducks, hens and the usual pets like cats, dogs and not to forget Moses the tortoise!
“I also grow a wide range of vegetables and herbs for personal use and a small amount of flowers” adds Martina.
After leaving school in 1980 she decided to become a florist due to the creative aspect and its huge variety of daily tasks.
“If I get asked the question what is my dream job, I would still answer with Florist!” says Martina.
Her parents were both from a farming background and were very much into gardening and foraging.
Martina’s grandmother was ‘ fixing’ a lot of health problems with herbs and from a young age brought her grand- daughters collecting herbs.
“The smell of certain herbs initializes the memory of her straight away” says Martina.
Under the guide of a Master Florist, Martina visited the Flower Academy in Weihenstephan near Munich to get an insight into the botanical fascination of flower arranging allowing her to think outside all common trends and regulations of common Flower arranging.
“That has kept me inspired for over 35 years and it still does.” said Martina.
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Martina hopes to set up a Valentines Flower arranging workshop for men in Sligo.
Starting the workshop with a talk she will put on a demonstration and the participants should then attempt an arrangement using a basket or even a container they bring themselves, something that the receiving person would recognize as personal object. Last year, she set up a business’s called ‘ Nature Inspire’ and through this has worked with many different groups in Sligo.
“Before Christmas I was invited to many women- groups, but also did workshops at Shell’s in Strandhill, Pudding Row in Easkey, Cloonamahon, Nazareth House and I often do flower demonstrations as a fundraiser for charities.” said Martina.
But despite taking orders for any event, what sets Martina aside for your typical florist is that she does not have flowers for sale like an ordinary flower shop.
“I do ( wild) weddings, anniversaries, even funerals, but they always have a bit of ‘ wilderness’ in it. I welcome people to bring their own containers, recycle and make them beautiful again.
“I also let them bring some of their own foliage or even flowers - which can be especially nice for a funeral, if the deceased loved their garden and spent happy times in it.”
Her clientele can range from those as young as 10 years of age and up.
“In a world full of frightening and shocking news and so much uncertainty, gardening is a great healing act.
“I go out into my ‘ little parallel- world’ dig, pull weeds and listen to the sound of the marshy land.” says Martina.
“After working for 35 years in a flower shop environment I decided to preach what I learned from my very first Master Florist; ‘ Nature is the best florist - go out, ramble around and learn from it!” adds Martina. You can check our Martina’s blog www. natureisbestflorist. blogspot. com to find out more.