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.