Author, Artist, Educator,
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The garden she envisioned would later perfectly suit her curriculum on the Theology of Mary at St. John's University
where she created the first Mary Garden on campus in 2012, and the Academic Service - Learning with students as cross-curricular gardeners.
Andrea applied all her knowledge of botanical symbolism and the inspiration of the Song of Songs
in which the Bridegroom speaks of his Beloved as an enclosed garden.
She delved back to her studies at Yale University Divinity School as a Research Fellow on Christian Iconography,
consulted rare books and illuminated manuscripts, borrowed ideas from the gardens she admired during her visits to England.
All those influences are translated into a Mary Garden's own unique dialect.
where she created the first Mary Garden on campus in 2012, and the Academic Service - Learning with students as cross-curricular gardeners.
Andrea applied all her knowledge of botanical symbolism and the inspiration of the Song of Songs
in which the Bridegroom speaks of his Beloved as an enclosed garden.
She delved back to her studies at Yale University Divinity School as a Research Fellow on Christian Iconography,
consulted rare books and illuminated manuscripts, borrowed ideas from the gardens she admired during her visits to England.
All those influences are translated into a Mary Garden's own unique dialect.
"We all need gardens," Andrea says, "to heal, find direction, refuge and consolation.
Cultivation comes from a meditative mind.
Once the poetic vision arises, we turn to the accessible material possible - the earth!
The soil, sun, water, rocks, plants, trees and structure can help achieve the balance.
Meditation becomes natural as the soul arrives at its center.
Thus, the garden becomes a living shrine."
Cultivation comes from a meditative mind.
Once the poetic vision arises, we turn to the accessible material possible - the earth!
The soil, sun, water, rocks, plants, trees and structure can help achieve the balance.
Meditation becomes natural as the soul arrives at its center.
Thus, the garden becomes a living shrine."
Florendo has a B.A. in English - Journalism,
DDA in Decorative Arts from the New York School of Interior Design,
and her M.A. in Theology and Religious Studies from St. John's University, New York.
DDA in Decorative Arts from the New York School of Interior Design,
and her M.A. in Theology and Religious Studies from St. John's University, New York.