A lifetime dedicated to art

Floral Art and Mariuccia Micallef Grimaud go hand in hand. "For many of my generation it is hard to distinguish between the two." she says. Having been born into an artistic family and married an artist and tenor, it was inevitable."

Although she only started flower arranging when her younger daughter was five, it is now half a lifetime that she has been totally immersed in her art. Yet, it is not just the flair with which she approaches flower arranging that is awe-inspiring.

It is also the training she underwent at great personal sacrifice in Malta and abroad, and her steely determination to continue to transmit her art to others, her hundreds of students over the years, and the public who have witnessed her creations in their various guises.

I visited Mrs Micallef Grimaud at her Valletta residence to record the main contents of this interview and over several meetings I have always found her impeccably turned out. Her art, and that of her family, surrounds her, along with several trophies, medals, photographs and paintings, most notable among them a portrait of her when still a teenager, holding a bunch of flowers, executed by her husband Aldo when she was still at the School of Art.

Her lifetime involvement with the arts began at the tender age of five when she started to study piano with Amy Parnis England, LRSM. It continued throughout her secondary education, at St Joseph High School, where she took part in several concerts and operettas in the school choir.

This was where, she recalls, "they chose me to sing an operetta in French - because French was my favourite subject - with Magda Delia". She also sang in a choir with Bice Bisazza, and in another conducted by Mro Anton Nani at the Manoel Theatre.

"The arts are like five fingers on one hand," she affirmed. "The elements and principles of design should be practised no matter the art form." And she agreed that to this one has to add flair, whatever the genre.

When she left school she first worked as a scriptwriter in the Education Department in Valletta. Then the late Margaret Mortimer recruited her to teach Standard 2 children in Tarxien, where one of her contemporaries was Mariella Refalo. "I was happy there and Mariella was so close to me I asked her to be one of my five bridesmaids."

After school hours, she continued to study, an ongoing lifetime experience, taking up dress designing and winning a prize in International Women's Year for her designs. "Nadine (her elder daughter) modelled her creations at the show at the National Museum of Archaeology."

She started flower arranging following encouragement from her friends: "They were always telling me, 'You are so artistic! Why don't you join us at the Malta Floral Club?'"

She did just that - and never looked back. Meetings were then held at the Imperial Hotel in Sliema. "I took it very seriously. Later, with other members, I went abroad and attended Duffryn Centre in Wales and Chichester College in Sussex. UK.

"I obtained certificates in teaching, demonstrating and judging. My daughters joined me as well because both of them eventually became members of the Malta Floral Club."

An initiative that was much talked about even years later was the biennial May Inspirations, held over a decade between 1980 and 1990. "I am always on the go, improvising. This event was a marriage of the Arts, in which my two daughters and myself created a floral exhibit of large dimensions.

"The evening dresses, specially created for the show, had to do with the arrangement in colour and texture according to the floral arrangement exhibited, with the music and stage props in the able hands of my son and husband, respectively.

"For example, if it's a Flemish painting, the dress has to be painted with Flemish painting. And even the dance, with Mary Jane Bellia or Tanya Bayona, had to do with the compositions."

The proceeds went to the Malta Community Chest Fund and the venues were also conducive: the Manoel Theatre, the Mediterranean Conference Centre, the Ballroom of the Hotel Phoenicia and the National Museum of Archaeology.

"The show at the museum was my pride because shows like these in Florence are held at the Palazzo Pitti, the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Vecchio. So that is something to be proud of and I am grateful to the minister of the time and the director of museums."

Mrs Micallef Grimaud also displayed paintings and floral art in a number of solo exhibitions. One was held at the Public Library, one at the Annex of St John's and another at Palazzo Ferreria. The whole family then came together in 1997 in a joint exhibition, sponsored by the Unesco Club Malta under the chairmanship of Albert Rutter, at the Hotel Phoenicia.

One of the most prestigious locations for her floral demonstrations was the Palais de Congres in Brussels, assisted on stage by her daughter Nadine. "I demonstrated in French and did not need an interpreter!"

She has given other demonstrations abroad, including at Ashford and Shorne in Kent and in Lambeth church, London, where she sat for an exam for her NAFAS (National Association of Flower Arranging Societies of Great Britain) L&O diploma.

"It's a big church, with qualified people as judges. You have to be ready in a set time, and you have to be an entertainer and a conservationist. You have to be close to your audience and afterwards you have to sit for a plant identification test, which is very difficult for an overseas member because their weather and climate are not like ours. You have to choose, touch, smell and write whatever they are - so that's not easy, either."

Having obtained this qualification, Mrs Micallef Grimaud then trained her two daughters and also took them abroad to obtain qualifications. "Modesty apart, we are the only three in Malta to hold a NAFAS Demonstrator's diploma in Malta."

Mrs Micallef Grimaud was a judge at two major occasions abroad in the mid-Nineties: Princess Caroline of Monaco invited her to judge the international Concours de Bouquets in Monaco and the World Association of Flower Arrangers asked her to sit on the International panel of judges at the sixth WAFA show in New Zealand - a personal 'sacrifice' since she is afraid of flying. She was accompanied by Glorian, who did the Honorary Exhibit representing Malta.

Among her many honours, she received one of the highest national honours, the Gieh ir-Repubblika, in 1997, with a citation signed by Prime Minister Alfred Sant and President Ugo Mifsud Bonnici.

Two gold medals were awarded by the Horticultural Society for presenting 100 students every year in the main lane at San Anton Gardens, facing the Palace, at the horticultural show. "My daughters received a medal as well - and two plaques from the society for services rendered. We also received the Daily Mail trophy, the most prestigious cup in the horticultural show, on 11 occasions. We are very proud of it and feel very privileged."

She also received a gold medal from French Agriculture Minister Michel Cointat, a medal from Prince Gianfranco Alliata for her May Inspirations and a silver medal from the Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce for making a name for Malta and abroad.

Throughout her years as a floral designer she has decorated countless public places, including St Barbara's church in Valletta on Maundy Thursday for 17 years, hotels, banks and government buildings for both local and foreign dignitaries, and participated in festivals too numerous to mention.

Her latest venture was her book on Floral Art. "My dream was fulfilled. I have spent three years working on it, waking up in the middle of the night, thinking and writing down my thoughts. It required research, dedication and patience

"It's a lovely publication and I thank PEG Publications, Manwel Debattista, Pierre Portelli and my family, who worked so much to help me."

Does she intend to continue working at the same pace? "I don't know. I can never give 'no' for an answer. I always look for new challenges. I wish to slow down a bit but I can't - as long as I am healthy and have the energy to do so."