Charlotte about her career so far: “After my graduation, I decided to become a florist. To realize this dream, I have worked for three years at a florist in Mons. During my education, I did an internship at a flower shop in my area. And in the third year, I attended the course of Green Academy (Floral Demy). To get more experience, I have worked for one year for Lieve Buysse in Lokeren. This was also an very instructive year.”

Currently, Charlotte is working at Van Dionant in Halle and at ‘Net even anders’ in Dilbeek. In addition, last year she was one of the competitors in the Belgian championship. “It is always fascinating to show your skills during demonstrations, to compose floral arrangements for an exhibition or to participate in a competition. It is a challenging way to create something special and to learn more.”

Charlotte is very pleased with colours. “Colours are important in our society. We need colours in our daily life to feel good about ourselves and to develop our personality. A life without colours is sad and depressing. Nature offers many colours that surprised us, and it gives us inspiration to mix colours.” According to Charlotte, everyone has their own perception of colours. “The way colours are used can show the personality and emotions of someone. Personally, I never mix all colours in my creations. I like to work in degrees.”

The theme of Alden Biesen was ‘Fleuramour’. Charlotte tells us what she thought about the theme. “At first, we thought the theme was easy because of its wide range of possibilities. But the difficulty is to ensure not to be cliché. It is obvious that red in a heart is about love. But the difficulty is to find something to express your inner feelings. My project didn’t really have a name, but it does have a meaning. With the colours and the shape of this project, I would like to show the feelings of love, a sun in a heart.”

Charlotte has chosen to create different types of carpets. The best way to get the flowers in the spotlights, she thinks. “I’ve used different measures of Oasis cakes. The largest circle came from an ‘Oasis sheet’. When we think about the Chrysanthemums, the focus is more on the branch full of flowers than on the flower itself. To strengthen the round shapes of the flower, I chose a material I like to work with, namely wicker.” For Charlotte this project was a nice opportunity to work with Chrysanthemums. “It’s a flower I don’t use a lot. So, it was an unique challenge to discover the new face of the flower. With my creation, I hope the public will now perceive the Chrysanthemum in an other way.”