FLORAL DESIGN / DRAWING: a practice of noticing
FLORAL DESIGN / DRAWING: a practice of noticing
To arrange flowers or to draw them is to practice acute ATTENTION!
Monday June 29 - Sunday July 5, 2026
Worlds End School | Esperance, NY
Price for the week: $1,400-$1,904 (depending on lodging choice)
Instructors: Sarah Ryhanen & Anjali Shankar
In this week-long high summer investigation of beauty and interpretation we’ll get good at noticing.
We’ll be paying close attention to characteristics of line, light, color but also to perception in general. Why do we see some things and not others? Why do we interpret reality differently than the person sitting next to us?
Mornings will be spent in the cutting gardens and flower studio led by Sarah. Afternoons will be spent in conversations about ‘noticing’ and practicing sketching with Anjali.
This course is designed for flower novices and professional florists alike. Gardeners, lovers of beauty, those who have always wanted to practice sketching and drawing but have been intimidated, this is for you!
learning through iteration
we will learn to try things in the vase and on paper quickly and intuitively without being attached to a pre-conceived outcomes! through many iterations we hone our attention and ultimately our skillset expands: we become more adept at making exactly what our minds-eye wants to see manifested in front of us. come and practice in paradise!
SCHEDULE
Day 1 ✴︎ Arrival
Students arrive after noon on Monday, are settled in and are then asked to be at dinner at 7:30pm. We typically eat together in the large breezeway of the barn. This first meal is prepared by the teachers for the students. Intention setting and organizing meals/schedule. General getting acquainted.
Day 2-6 ✴︎ Instruction
The week will be structured around garden walks and spending the mornings translating the season into floral arrangements in the studio. Coffee/Breakfast on your own; class begins promptly at 9am. Break for lunch at noon. Afternoon session (generally 2-4pm) will be spent working on translating the flowers and garden into compositions on the page. Free time to revisit the lesson of the day, dissociate in the hammock, schedule time with a farmer, drive to town, request a cocktail from Susan, etc followed by dinner either together with the cohort or on your own in the communal kitchen.
Day 7 ✴︎ Departure
Students are welcome to end the week with lunch at coyotecafe, the farm’s monthly drop-in cafe, leaving by 4pm. Extra credit will be given to students who participate in designing the florals for the days cafe experience :)
WHAT TO EXPECT
Worlds End School’s campus is nestled within a diversified, handscale working farm. We raise Icelandic sheep and chickens in addition to growing vegetables and flowers.
If you reserve a bedroom in the communal barn we will provide all the bedding and blankets you need.
Class is limited to 6 students.
LODGING
LODGING OPTIONS ARE FIRST COME/FIRST SERVED
1) COMMUNAL BARN - with three shared bathrooms and full electricity. There are 4 private bedrooms each with a queen or double bed.
2) CAMPING - there is a flat camping area in a field 5 minute walk from the COMMUNAL BARN. Bring your own tents, tarps, gear.
3) Stay OFFSITE and COMMUTE to Worlds End Farm. There is a Quality Inn & Suites 10 minutes away in Central Bridge, NY or a handful of airBnB rentals within 30min driving time.
All students will have access to shared bathrooms and our communal kitchen. There is wifi and excellent cell phone service for most networks.
COST
$1,904 includes instruction, access to the communal kitchen and lodging in a private bedroom, shared bathrooms, and NY state sales tax.
$1,400 includes instruction, access to the communal kitchen and students will camp or arrange their own lodging offsite
Payment plans available upon request; please write admin@saipua.com.
MEALS
This course is self-catered meaning that students are responsible for their own meals within our communal kitchen and vegetable gardens. Ingredients change week to week, and part of the joy of these long courses is participating in a cohort of students living communally with our full time residents and staff! Typically students bring dairy, coffee, and any treats or things they know they like to eat. Meals always miraculously and deliciously emerge from the group. More information on what is stocked in our pantry will be delivered in the welcome information sent before class 2 weeks prior.
Instructors
Anjali Shankar
Anjali is a Brooklyn-based multimedia artist whose practice consists of painting, sewing, tattooing and metalworking. She believes the process of play is key in how we make. To play is to experiment, and to experiment is to learn without the pressure of a destination. The more that is learned, the more enjoyment comes out of the physical and emotional act of making. Anjali’s artistic journey has been shaped by her commitment to experimentation, reflection and education. Through her work, she seeks to challenge perceptions and encourage a deeper understanding of different artistic mediums. Anjali holds a BFA in Painting and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Outside the studio she enjoys writing, caring for her plants and aquarium, and taking long walks in the sun.
Sarah Ryhanen
Sarah Ryhanen is a farmer, florist, and educator working at the intersection of beauty and utility. In 2006, she opened the first Saipua studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn, selling her mother’s olive oil soap and developing a self-taught floral practice.
Over the following decade, Saipua became internationally known for its event design, helping inspire a generation of florists to work with seasonal, local, and foraged materials in asymmetrical forms.
In 2011, Ryhanen purchased Worlds End Farm to grow flowers for Saipua and to house her floristry teaching programs. By 2022, the farm had evolved into a campus supporting students engaged in land-based work, from shepherding to soapmaking.
Ryhanen now lives and works primarily at Worlds End alongside her parents and an evolving cohort of artists and farmers.