Guest designer Daniel Santamaria

At the Conscious Creativity Roundtable 

From the EMC Go Live event 2021

He is a master craftsman/artisan, and it shows in his skills, techniques and creativity which have been recognised internationally. In being given the chance to find out more about him, I was not surprised to learn that Floral handicraft is his great passion, a way of life with a high emotional content. Within designing, he can express feelings and sensations; he communicates through floral materials, and strongly believes he was born to be a florist! The combination and fusion between shapes and natural materials is his goal and through that fusion he gains new ideas and has discovered a wide range of floral concepts and the ability to create new craft possibilities.

To quote him: “For me, a floral space is where floral handicraft can be found in its most innovative and inspirational state, and creativity does not mean improvisation without method.” As he says, the strong contrasts in his homeland, the vast blue sky, the savage nature, the Mediterranean Sea, and the architecture of a city like Barcelona, with artists like Antoni Gaudí, Norman Foster and Antonio Tapies, are all elements that unite to form what has been, without doubt, a great, inexhaustible manual of creative inspiration for him. Daniel is known for the immaculate finish and clean lines in his floral designs. He worked with Gregor Lersch in Germany for a year, early on in his career, which guided and encouraged his innate creativity, and you can see many of those influences in his designs. However, he has taken them, tweaked them and produced his own signature style.

His creativity has continued to grow over the years fuelling a desire to pass on his knowledge, which has now resulted in him being invited to demonstrate and teach in thirty-five countries around the globe. A wide range of sources of inspiration have and continue to help him in his evolution as a commercial and artistic florist. Discovering and understanding different cultures and the history of art have become very inspirational paths in his own personal evolution. He feels that his main goal is to teach floral design techniques and to encourage others to learn how to use the available floral materials to express their own emotions.

Travelling with his students on such an expressive journey in colours and shapes is very rewarding to him. Now based in Germany, twice a year Daniel Santamaria together with partner Britta Ohirogge, hold an exhibition of their extraordinary designs in contemporary settings around Germany under the heading of Floristik Projekt, which they established in 2003, showing their innovative, contemporary work to large numbers of people. Especially when celebrating the festive season, his Christmas decor and flower arrangements are unique. They combine unexpected colours and materials without losing the traditional twinkle or the festive spirit of the holiday season. His style is tasteful, subdued, much admired and available for all to see in his book ‘Christmas Arrangements by Daniel Santamaria’.

A conscious creative, who can describe his love for floral design in English, German and Spanish, he is known internationally for his style, ability, techniques and desire to communicate his love for all things floral, it is not surprising to find this quote from him....

“Floral Art is my great passion... A way of life with a high emotional content. I express feelings and communicate sensations through the floral materials I choose to use".

^{blog by Sara Marie Andrews}