High Stye in the High Desert



Chieko Fukushima, AIFD

As a professor Fukushima said it's important for her to keep current on trends. She traveled to Kyoto, Japan, to take classes in ikebana. She also is a member of the American Institute of Floral Designers.

Today she teaches Ikebana at the college in Summerlin outskirts of Las Vegas.  

Each year the floral design students participate in the American Institute of Floral Designers student competition.

"This is a good education," said Fukushima. "It's not an extension of a hobby."

Fukushima said she loves training the next generation of floral designers because she feels it is a positive profession.

"It gives you a smile," she said. "No one will say, 'I hate this.' I like to see the people smile and see their softer side."

For more information on the floral design program at CSN, visit csn.edu or call 651-4900.

This shoka style design is the basis of the Formal Linear style favored by western designers in contemporary settings.
This design was one she makes each week, she says, mostly to please her husband who loves flowers.
















Another shoka style design, this one, seasonal based with the fall colored maple leaf spray with johnson grass rising majestically in a sweeping gesture and based with crysenthemum buds.
Container is in Chieko's collection and frequently used in this most favorite of her styles.








This unusual glass decanter was the client's. An expensive one of a kind, this container could only support a permanent botanical so as not be water damaged. notice the sweeping orchid sprays accented with gloriosa lily.