THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 16, 1994 TAG: 9410180525
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARCIA MANGUM, HOME & GARDEN EDITOR
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
You may never own a Monet, but Chris Giftos can teach you how to create a floral masterpiece worthy of gallery display.
Most Monday mornings Giftos climbs a ladder to arrange up to 600 blooms in the four two-tiered urns that grace the Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where he is master floral designer and director of special events.
On Nov. 2, Giftos will be at The Founders Inn and Conference Center in Virginia Beach to give demonstrations and share flower-arranging tips at the Gallery of Flowers, a standard flower show sponsored by the Federated Garden Clubs of The Council of Garden Clubs of Virginia Beach.
``I have a great feeling for Virginia, because in 1960-61 I was stationed at Fort Monroe as a bandsman in the U.S. Army Continental Band,'' Giftos said. ``I was the French horn player and each week we gave one of those concerts at the Chamberlin Hotel. Fort Monroe was beautiful when I was there.''
Indeed, Giftos didn't follow a straight path into the floral arranging business. Although he got his start as a teenager delivering flowers on his bike in Queens, N.Y., he later went to City College of New York to earn an accounting degree and then got a job with an insurance firm.
After four years of crunching numbers, he realized he'd rather be manipulating flowers and walked into his boss' office and quit. A friend hired him to work in a small, New York florist and from there he moved on to Christatos & Koster florist, where he says he received eight years of rigorous on-the-job training.
The exclusive Madison Avenue floral shop did arrangements for celebrities ranging from Greta Garbo to Pat Nixon. One day the Metropolitan Museum of Art called to order 100 centerpieces, and Giftos convinced them to hire him as floral designer.
Giftos has been at the Met for 24 years and now is in charge of making all arrangements for special events, from invitations and table settings to wines and desserts.
``I just finished with President Clinton,'' he said calmly, a few weeks after a cocktail reception for 700 in connection with the United Nations opening.
Flowers, however, remain his first love. Each week he selects and orders fresh flowers from Holland - the more unusual the better - and each Monday he works his art, carefully placing each stem in one of the giant urns.
Giftos has learned a lot through the years, but he still wanders the museum for inspiration and tries to make his arrangements match the mood of the exhibits. He will share many of his tips with Hampton Roads residents during his Gallery of Flowers demonstration.
``My purpose is to show them not to have fear in arranging flowers,'' he said in a phone interview. ``I re-create a Great Hall arrangement to show them the mechanics of how an arrangement of that size is done. And then I jump down and show them how to do things that they can do for the home.
``I explain it as if they'd never held a flower before. Even though these are garden club members and such, they like to learn more, and they're not afraid to learn.''
Giftos emphasizes that arrangements should be light and airy. ``Make each flower show independence and shine for the remaining few days it has living,'' he said.
He also stresses the need to recut stems that you use in arrangements. ``Flowers are 90 percent water, so that's very important,'' he said. Likewise, it's important to change the water frequently and always use clean containers.
Giftos throws in tips for table settings, too. ``I'll tell them not to put fragrant flowers on the table, because they do overpower the meal,'' he said.
Giftos, who came to Norfolk for a demonstration at the Chrysler Museum several years ago, said he always orders flowers from Holland and has them shipped ahead to where he's doing demonstrations. He carries his containers on the plane with him.
For the Virginia Beach event, he'll probably order more than 1,000 stems. ``It's things people don't normally see,'' he said. But those attending will have a chance to take home one of Giftos' arrangements when they are auctioned off.
Glenda H. Knowles, flower show chairperson, said Giftos was invited after the council selected its theme. ``It seemed to work so well, because he works with the decorative arts galleries,'' she said.
Though Giftos won't have the grand Metropolitan as a backdrop for his work here, the Founders Inn is allowing the show to make use of its reproductions and antique furnishings, Knowles noted.
The show will feature hundreds of judged specimens of varied horticulture including herbs, container grown-plants, berried branches, broad-leaved and needled evergreens and artistic designs using primarily fresh plant material, Knowles said. Divisions for competition are design, horticulture and youth.
``Our main thrust for doing something like that is to give amateur gardeners an opportunity to learn to exhibit horticulture as well as floral designs,'' Knowles said.
Exhibits and information will be available from such groups as the Master Tree Stewardship, Clean Community Commission, Water Quality, Virginia Beach Audubon Society, the Native Plant Society, Virginia Dare Soil and Conservation Commission and Orchid Alley.
In addition, the show will include a fashion show, awards presentation and luncheon, Knowles said.
Registration for the luncheon and artistic design competition is required by Thursday. No preregistration is required for the horticulture competition. Amateur gardeners can sign up from 3 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 31 at the Founders Inn. Judging will be conducted the following day and awards presented at the flower show, Knowles said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Master floral designer Chris Giftos will show how he works his art.
Graphic
GALLERY OF FLOWERS
WHAT: A standard flower show sponsored by the Federated Garden
Clubs of The Council of Garden Clubs of Virginia Beach
SPEAKER: Chris Giftos, master floral designer with the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
WHERE: The Founders Inn and Conference Center, 5641 Indian River
Road, Virginia Beach
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; demonstrations by Giftos from 10 a.m. to
3 p.m.; luncheon, fashion show and awards presentation begin at
12:15 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $15 for exhibits, luncheon and fashion show; additional
$15 for each flower-arranging demonstration
INFO: 340-8889; lunch reservations required by Thursday
by CNB