The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts  Ruth A Wallack Fund presents A Floral Journey from Afar with Francine Thomas, award winning designer and teacher, on Tuesday, April 24 at 10 am at the Regis College Fine Arts Center in Weston.  Tickets are $20. Send a stamped, self-addressed envelope and check made out to GCFM to Patti Jenkins, 241 Elm Street, Walpole, MA 02081, or email Diane Bullock at dbull29441@aol.com, or Sue Kaplan at suekflowers@yahoo.com.

Francine Thomas, from Tauranga in the North Island of New Zealand, is the Featured Designer at the 2018 lecture. Francine’s passion for flowers and Floral Art has taken her to many different heights. In 2010 Francine decided to start her own business called “A Floral Affair by Francine.” She joined the Tauranga Floral Art Group and became a qualified Teacher, Judge, Demonstrator, and Lecturer for the Floral Art Society and Consultant for florists. Since joining Floral Art, Francine has been Stage Hand for many well known designers; Irene Brockwell of Australia, Rob Platel from Holland, Gregor Lersch from Germany, Mark Pampling from Australia, Tomoki and Suri from Japan and many others.

In 2016 Francine won New Zealand National Floral Art Designer of the Year, and was the National Demonstrator representing New Zealand at the WAFA World Show in Dublin, Ireland in 2014. She was Designer of the Year in the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Bay of Plenty Art Festival. Francine has the Floral Art Society of New Zealand (FASNZ) diploma in Teaching, Judging and Demonstrating from the New Zealand Professional Florist Inc. (NZPF). Francine has an energetic sense of humor which can be contagious and which is evident in her shows. She is inspired by what she sees and feels inside, to come up with her ideas. She loves sharing those ideas to inspire other people to do the same.