London Workshops

Written By Jenny Andry

Once upon a time, earlier this month, a threshold was crossed.

Straddling the final day of July and first of August, a long-awaited workshop at AESME STUDIO came to life. Sprinkles and a cherry were added to my two-day sundae with a two-hour Saturday workshop at MOS London.

Autumn 2024

Slated for Summer 2025, I saw a workshop by AESME STUDIO titled Flowers and Photography, a skill I have long sought to build muscle around. “Finally, a two-day course that will fix all my problems”, I thought, while simultaneously knowing full well that it’s never really been about the photos, but the desire to translate what is in my heart and mind with the help of flowers.

*inhale* *exhale* *inhale* Let’s take a quick detour and talk about sharing, shall we? It is frightening to willingly open yourself up to perceptions and judgments of others. With a creative force deep within that is begging to be expressed, it is our job to gestate an idea, birth it, and nurture it responsibly. A constant reminder, the only fair comparison we can ever make is to ourselves, never to others, for that is a forever losing game. *exhale*

And now, back to the point.

After eyeing the workshop for long enough, it was time to go for it. Over the last year I found myself returning to the “Learn” section of AESME STUDIO’s website only to discover the new title of the workshop was simply the dates: July 31 and August 1.

June 24, 2025

Thank you for your order!

Order No #888

July 22, 2025

A call

>>>>>>>>@mos.london

ONE SPOT LEFT - Monochrome Workshop Series in Pink — BOOK TODAY

Saturday 8/2, 11am – 1pm

A response

>>>>>>>>@junestreetfloral

I just did!

July 30, 2025

I arrived at St. Pancras from Garde du Norde around 5pm, among businessmen and Oasis fans, which, by the way, happens to have a large crossover population. The extent of my spatial orientation in London was that I was below the surface of the earth.  I surrendered to the fact that I was a rat rolling a humiliating suitcase on a quest to find my westward Airbnb cheese using offline directions fed to me by my benevolent overlord, GoogleMaps. Yo soy el punto azul.

The blue dot led me to Shepherd’s Bush. Jacqueline, the Airbnb hostess, welcomed me into our home. She showed me the light switch, how to turn on the BBC, and recommended spots in the neighborhood. I showed her how to save a file to her flash drive.

Terribly hungry and eager to enjoy the perfect summer evening, I walked to the nearest pub for a bite. Unsurprisingly, the coveted outdoor tables were accounted for. I settled on a table inside next to a window that looked out onto precious sidewalk flowers. As I lifted my phone to snap a picture of the view, two men leaned in and posed; we all smiled. With half a pint left, I decided to finish it in conversation with my muses. Innit, they bemoaned the inevitable changes the city has undergone since the halcyon days of the 80s and 90s, including but not limited to the very flower patch in the sidewalk– it contributed to slowing traffic and took up a valuable parking spot. Side note: I love the idea of flower patch speed bumps. “SLOW DOWN”, said the flowers. They asked what I had planned for my visit to London and recommended sunrise or sunset from Primrose Hill.

Flower patch speed control

My muses

July 31, 2025 – August 1, 2025

Located in Shepherd’s Bush, the AESME STUDIO is situated under the pink and yellow tube lines, where the intermittent rattle of the trains served as a tether to the reality, a reminder of our urban-ness. That fact completely fell away upon entering the interior of a studio whose ethos is rooted in the conscious use of materiality of place: the pace and quality aesthetic transport visitors to a more rural, slowed down part of ourselves. A flower speed bump in a city full of trains, if you will.

Attendees were warmly welcomed to a breakfast spread elevated by the flowers we would soon use for designs. Ally began with the history of the studio and overview of the workshop before moving into introductions and intentions. When the workshop’s name changed, my intention did, too. "I want to practice using air as a design element. I know how to make a dense, full arrangement beautiful, but how about some room to breathe?”, I shared. Ally then posed the question: “Where would you like to be in five years?”

What followed was two days of play using fresh, dried, and drying elements grown, harvested, and processed by the AESME team from their plot in the Hampshire countryside. We worked on vase arrangements at different scales and made hand-tied bouquets. More than anything, I learned the importance of specificity. Ally’s potent IRL presence clearly comes through in her design practice.

The breakfast and lunch corner

The first arrangement I made — this one featured the most delicious smelling rose I have ever tasted with my eyes: Desdemona.

This one honestly felt a little crazy to me, but I loved the browns and greens in the quince and long beans. The pops of red and light purple felt perfectly random among the neutral toned grasses and blooms.

Heavily textured, light and airy bouquet. No focal flowers were used.

A medium arrangement in an urn. The golden grasses and single mum complemented each other beautifully.

 I shared this expansive experience in the creative studio with like-minded ladies from across the world:

August 2, 2025

“My father always said that was the difference between an American and an Englishman. An Englishman thinks a hundred miles is a long way; an American thinks a hundred years is a long time.” -Drums of Autumn

As an American, who lives in Los Angeles and drives everywhere, distance is no deterrent. In fact, it is expected. Yo soy un carro. Pero in London, emerging from the tube is disorienting, especially when you start and end a journey at Westfield mall.

I budgeted an hour and forty-five to get lost from Shepherd’s Bush (West London) to Hackney (East London) for the MOS workshop. The physical and mental exhaustion of travel and a few late nights caught up to me and I crumbled in Queen Elizabeth Park. Lost in a nearby corner store, I cried for help to an Australian couple asking, “Why are there so many people at Westfield Mall at 10:30am on Saturday?” They generously shared their morning and walked their lost puppy (me) home (MOS studio).

Sasha of MOS and the other two attendees graciously greeted me five minutes late, assuring me of the shared confusion. The contemporary slant of Sasha’s designs is marked by Ikebana influence. She created a thoughtful presentation of reference photos and spoke to the Japanese art of flower arranging as well as how space makes monochromatic art impactful across mediums.

We put the learnings into practice with five ingredients and two exercises. The evolution of arranging was truly the art of editing down. It was fun to experiment and approach with a less is more attitude. It turned out, the “air and space” intention was best practiced here!

Our selection for the PINK workshop

My final composition of Nerine and Scabiosa pods

So, what do the next five years look like? From where I am standing today, more of this. A practice dedicated to learning, writing, sharing, traveling, and connecting, simply because of the truth flowers possess.

Jenny Andry
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Flowers & Diamonds