Natasja Sadi at work on a sugar flower arrangement in her Amsterdam studio.
Photo: Brian Doben
Creative Mind: Natasja Sadi
The Amsterdam artist creates intricate renditions of flowers from sugar that she arranges Old Masters-style in beautiful Delft pottery
One of her faux peonies. Photo: Natasja Sadi
On display in two rare, towering Delft pyramid vases in the Kunstmuseum in The Hague, Natasja Sadi’s floral arrangement bursts with candy-colored peonies, daffodils, roses, and, of course, tulips. Yet the flowers are not plucked from any garden or greenhouse but meticulously crafted from sugar. “I combine blooms in the same way as the Dutch masters,” she says from her Amsterdam studio of her assemblages of handmade blossoms that wouldn’t traditionally be available during the same growing seasons. “I just wanted to bring back all-year beauty.”
Foundation piece: “I don’t want to limit myself, because I think for any creative that would be the end of the joy,” she says of the various Delft urns that hold her bouquets. “There is, however, always something blue. There’s something about that color that enhances every other color.”
A spring arrangement of fresh and sugar flowers in urn vase. Photo: Natasja Sadi
On view: She recently completed an arrangement formed from 100 individual pieces (her largest to date) to be featured alongside a rare depiction of sugarcane in an Old Master painting by Willem van Mieris in “Grand Dessert: The History of the Dessert,” an exhibition at the Kunstmuseum through April 6.
“These moments of creativity, sharing the art and sharing the history—it is absolutely the best”
Natasja Sadi
Favorite floral: “There is absolute perfection in the pompon dahlia; with all those chambers, there is no irregularity. For me, it’s almost like a meditation making that.”
Up next: In addition to an appearance at the Cincinnati Art Museum’s Art in Bloom event April 24 through 27, Sadi will lead hands-on workshops in the spring. “These moments of creativity, sharing the art and sharing the history—it is absolutely the best.”
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2025 Spring Issue under the headline “Creative Minds.” Subscribe to the magazine.
Natasja at work in her studio kitchen in Amsterdam. Photo: Natasja Sadi
A collection of sugar flowers, sugar hollyhock, tulips, wild hyacinth, morning glory and daffodils. Photo: Natasja Sadi
Cover: Natasja Sadi at work on a sugar flower arrangement in her Amsterdam studio.
Photo: Brian Doben
