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History

When it comes to looking at history for modern/contemporary floral designs, it perhaps isn't the history of wedding bouquets, arrangement or funeral designs we need to look at as contemporary floral design is current and therefore doesn't have much history. Yes we can research this to have a little bit of background information but instead we perhaps need to look at the history of the venue the design is to be staged or perhaps the history of the culture, religion or beliefs of the client.

By looking at the history of the venue, it may influence aspects of your design, incorporating historical factors into a design.

As I learnt from researching floristry within different cultures, by knowing the history of a religion and there beliefs, it can influence what flowers you may put into a design. For example, Buddhist have a great belief in the lotus flower. The different colours have different meanings. The pink lotus flower is seen as the best and given to people with the most authority and therefore you would perhaps use it if I design was to be given to an important person or to be staged in an important building.

Culture

In a highly diverse world full of different cultures, it is important as florist that we understand different cultures. Flowers have different meanings in different cultures and in different parts of the world and we need to have a good knowledge of this so we don’t offend anybody.

When dealing with a client it is important to be sensitive to their beliefs and feelings at all times. Whether it is a design for a funeral, wedding, venue, table centre or birthday bouquet you need to know about your clients’ beliefs, religion and culture to ensure that you don’t insult them or offend them. Knowing this sort of information about your client can also have a positive effect. If you get it right, using appropriate flowers and materials then your client will be very pleased with the results.

The table below shows the symbolism of popular flowers within different religions.

To find out more about culture within floristry, the following links are very useful.
Linkshttp://www.planetgast.net/symbols/plants/plants.html

http://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/miscellaneous/flowers-and-religion

http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/symbols/lotus.htm 

Woven Design

This week we were asked to create a woven design using beer grass. Again, the first thing I did after being told this was to look for inspiration.

Inspiration

Ragg, D. and Rowley, P. (phot.) (2011) David Ragg monograph. Oostkamp: Stichting Kunstboek.

Adcock, S. (2012) Commercial floristry: Designs and techniques. Wiltshire: Crowood Press

Using beer grass, or another similar material is an alternative way to cover up the oasis and stirs away from using a variety of bulky foliage, which can become expensive. It adds a more interesting aspect and texture to the design. Looking at these images helped me with the concept of using different materials for a base and help me with the different ways I could position the flowers within the design.

  Step by Step Journey of Creating the Design  

Sketches of potential designs

 

 

After doing these sketches and thinking about a design, I decided to run with the second sketch. I liked the idea of a front facing design and the way the beer grass sits over the oasis.

Materials Used

Gloriosa       x4
Anthurium      x5
Kermits        x2
Beer grass     1 bunch
Ornithogalum   x2
Oasis          1 block
Tray           x1
Copper Mesh    as much as appropriate

1. The first thing I did was prepare my oasis. Using a floristry knife I cut the oasis down until it fitted inside the tray. Once it was in the tray I had to cut some of the height away. I wanted the beer grass to sit fairly flat so I cut it so it sat just above the top of the tray.

 

 

2.  I then measured a lengeth of the copper mesh. I wanted it to overlap the tray.

1. I then began to weave the beer grass through the copper mesh. Once I had weaved the beer grass through, I cut the tips off and used the smaller lengths to weave through the corners of the mesh.

4. I continued to weave the beer grass through the mash. I weaved them in all directions and made sure that the ends of the beer grass weren’t all to one side. The more beer grass that was added the stronger the mesh became. I also weaved some of the beer grass through upside down to add a different colour and texture to the base.

5. Once the beer grass had almost covered the entire oasis, to secure the copper mesh to the oasis a little bit I created loops with the beer grass, attaching each end to the oasis. This also helped to cover up the oasis further. It added height and more texture to the design and I really like this.

6. It was then time to add the flowers. I started with the gloriosa. I decided earlier that I wanted a front facing design so it was a case of deciding on the height of the flowers and where I wanted to position them. I decided to stagger them in height and place them at diiferent angles.

7. Next I added the anthuriums. Again I staggered them, I used one of them right at the base of the design to cover up some of the oasis left showing. I wanted the top of the design to have voids and occupy negative space so I kept the stems fairly long.



At this point I decided that a front facing design didn’t really suit the woven base as the back of it looked too empty and incomplete. It left too much oasis exposed. I then decided to change my plan and I decided to rearrange the way I positions the anthuriums. I kept the height of them and changed the way in which they faced.

8. Once I’d changed the way the anthuriums faced, I added some kermits and ornithogalum to fill the voids around the base of the design as I wanted the lower part of the design to have positive space. I also added another gloriosa to the back of the design to make it less front facing. The design is still slightly front facing but less so than I orginally planned and I feel it works better that way.

Finished Design

 

 

 

Reflection

The positive features of the design include:
     ● how I changed my original plan of a front facing design to an 'all round' design because it suited it better.
     ● The positive and negative space within the design. I like the full base against the more open top.
     ● The lines created with the stems of the flowers.
     ● How the bear grass is bought up through the design
     ● The way the bear grass sits over the oasis.
     ● The complimentary colour scheme of green and red. 
            ● The base of the design were the bear grass has been looped, giving it some height.

If I was to do this design again I would make the bear grass neater and be more adventurous with it, perhaps weaving it through more. O would perhaps use less material at the base of the design to show more of the looped bear grass as this was on of my favourite parts of the design and it was hidden by the flower material.

 

Free Standing Design

 This week we were asked to create a Free Standing Design. The first thing I did after being told this was to look for inspiration.

Inspiration

Benjamin, P., van de Sluis, M. and De Bruyne, T. (2008) Arrangements - Creativity with flowers. Oostkamp: Stichting Kunstboek.



Benjamin, P., van de Sluis, M. and De Bruyne, T. (2008) Arrangements - Creativity with flowers. Oostkamp: Stichting Kunstboek

After looking at different free standing design, I then began to think about how I wanted to do my design. I need to think about the flowers/foliage that I could use. For the design to be 'free standing' I will need strong, thick stems. 

Step by Step Journey of Creating the Design

I decided to go with my third idea. I wanted to create a structure using equisetum (snake grass), adding flowers randomly, ensuring that they are evenly distributed.

Materials used

Craspedia                x5
Oncidiun                 x3
Ornithogalum             x2
Equisetum (snake grass)  1 Bunch
Cocktail Stick

1. The first I needed to do was to get the basic outline of the design. I started with 4 stems of equisetum. I connected them together using cocktail stick. This part was the hardest to do as the design at this point didn’t have much strength behind it and kept falling over. The strength of the design and making sure it stood up on its own was something I needed to focus on.

2. I continued to build up the design using the equisetum. I needed to ensure that the design would stand freely on its own, so every time I added another equisetum, I let go of the design to see if it stood. Actually balance is a very important factor of this design. The design can’t look like it is about to fall over, nor can it physically fall over. The more cocktail sticks that were added, the stronger and more stable the design became.

The third and final step was to add the flowers. I didn’t wasn’t just one focal point within this design so I placed the flowers equally around the whole design.I started with the oncidium. I randomly placed them around the design using a hot glue gun. I decided that I wanted to place them upside down on the design to look like they were hanging and I am pleased I did because I really like the way it looks.

Once I had added all the oncidiums, I then added single heads of ornithogalum and craspedia. Again I glued them on with a hot glue gun. I used these flowers to cover the ends of the oncidiuums and also to cover any glue that I had left exposed

 

Finished Design

 

 

Reflection

The positive features of the design include:
     ● The design stands freely.
     ● The shape of the design. I like how it bows outwards in the middle.
     ● How there isn't one focal point through the placement of the flowers. The eye focuses on all of the design and not just one area of it.
     ● How minimalistic and simple the design is. The design employs negative space and I like this.
     ● The different textures created from the flowers. I like how the equisetum and oncidiun projects a smooth, soft and gentle  texture that dominants the design. The craspedia adds a rough texture that is just enough to be notice.
    

If I was to do this design again I would perhaps use a different material to connect the equisetum together. The cocktail sticks work well but to add a different effect I could use something more dominant to make it a feature of the design. For this design, yellow midelino sticks could have been used to compliment the colour of the flowers I have used.

 

Corrugated Cardboard Design

This week we were asked to create a Corrugated Cardboard design. Just like in previous week, the first thing I did after being told this was to look for inspiration.

Inspiration

Ragg, D. and Rowley, P. (phot.) (2011) David Ragg monograph. Oostkamp: Stichting Kunstboek.

Vanden Berghe, M. and Dekeyzer, K. (phot.) (2011) Moniek Vanden Berghe. Oostkamp: Stichting Kunstboek.



 

After looking at inspiration, I had to decide how I wanted to incorrupt cardboard into my design. After some consideration I decided that I wanted a concentration of cardboard at the base of my design, to cover the oasis. There were certain things I had to consider:
     ● How I wanted the cardboard to sit on the container.
Did I want it to come over the container or did I want it to be a perfect fit?
     ● How I wanted to cardboard to look.
Did I want it to be its neutral colour or did I want to spray it a different colour?
     ● How I wanted to arrange the cardboard.
Did I want just one big spiral or several small spirals glued together?

Sketches of potential cardboard designs

 

After doing these sketches, I decided that I was going to create several spirals with the cardboard and sticking them together. I decided to create different sizes, both in width and height.

Step by Step Journey of Creating the Design

Sketches of potential designs

 

Materials Used

Longiflorum Lily  x5
Viburnum          x4
Twigs             as many as appropriate
Pot/Container     x1
Oasis             x1
Cardboard         as much as appropriate

1. The first thing I did was prepare my oasis and my container that I was using. I lined the container with cellophane to ensure that any water that escaped from the oasis didn’t leak. I then cut the oasis down to size. I cut it a fraction shorter than the container because I didn’t want the cardboard to sit on the oasis because it would have made the oasis go ‘soggy’.

 

 

2. I then put the container to one side and concentrated on creating the cardboard. I cut a length off the roll and then cut it into strips of different widths.

3. It was then a case of rolling the cardboard up, gluing it at random intervals to ensure that it was secure. To glue it I used a hot glue gun.

 

4. I repeated the process several times. Once I felt I had created enough, I began to stick them all together. When I was sticking them together, I kept in mind the size and shape of the container I was using.

 

5.   To attach the cardboard, and to create a frame and a structure to the design, I added narrow sticks. I began with the base. Firstly, I ensured that the sticks where all at the same level. When placing them into the oasis, I had to consider what proportions I wanted to use. I made the container become one third of the height and the flowers and materials two thirds of the height.

I placed the cardboard on top of the container in the position that I wanted it to be. I then placed the sticks though gaps in the cardboard. I added 5 sticks in total to create a circular structure.

 

6. To strengthen the design and add more structure to it, I created thinner, wider spiral with the cardboard and placed it half way down the sticks, making sure that they kept the circular shape already created.

 

7. The same process was repeated to create a smaller spiral to go at the top of the design. I ensured that the same amount of space was kept between the base and the middle spiral and the top and middle spiral. This added harmony to the design. It also added rhythm as the eye moves freely around the design as everything links together.

 

 

 

8. Now the frame was created, I was then able to add some flowers. I started with the Longiflorum Lilies. When I was creating the frame I had to take into consideration the length of the lilies. If the frame was a lot higher than the length of the lilies then there would have been an area of my design where there wasn’t any flowers, and for this design, this is something I didn’t want to happen. Perhaps this is something I could explore in another design in the future.

When it came to adding the first lily, I kept it long, cutting the stem at an angle so it entered the oasis easily. My idea was to cut each lily shorter than the last one so I could spiral the around the design so they looked evenly distributed, keeping the circular shape I had created with the sticks.

Adding the lilies was a challenge. Each stem had to go through the cardboard at least once and forcing them through, without breaking them was hard. The longest stem went through all three sections of cardboard. Two of the stems went through the first two sections of the cardboard and then the last two, shorter stemmed lilies went through just the base.

At this stage, my design looked ‘wonky’ and this was due to the placement of the lilies and the weight of them. To solve this I needed to be careful as to where I placed the Viburnum.

 

9. I added the viburnum to the design and didn’t look ‘wonky’. I placed them into the oasis in the same way I did the lilies, sliding them through the cardboard. Although it was still challenging to get the viburnums into the design, they were easier to do than the lilies as the stems are smaller. I used the viburnums to fill in any voids in the design and to also soften the harsh shapes of the lilies.

10. Finally, cut two narrow lengths of the corrugated cardboard and spiralled it around the design, using a hot glue gun

 

Finished Design

 

Reflection

The positive features of the design include:
     ● The way the flowers are arranged. I wanted to keep a circular shape and I feel this has been achieved.
     ● The colour scheme. The green flowers suit the neutral colours of the corrugated cardboard.
     ● The placement of the corrugated cardboard throughout the design. I personally like the base I have created with different heights and different widths of cardboard. I also really like the placement of the cardboard spiralling around all of the design.

If I was to do this design again I would perhaps spray paint the corrugated cardboard a different colour to make it more of a 'stand out' feature however, with the flowers I have chosen within this design, the neutral cardboard colour really suits it. Another thing I would perhaps do next time, would be to use less material. The design occupies positive space and this is a feature of my design that I like but it would be interesting to see what it would look like with more voids in the design. By doing this, the cardboard would become a more dominant feature.