As a result of so many Covid lockdowns during 2020-2022, as floral artists we found ways to be involved in competitions that we might not have heard about in previous years. This particular one (completed and judged online) was hosted by the Gardens Club of Argentina to celebrate their centenary. Each class had a single word title under the theme of “Time and Tide Waits For No Man”.
This class was “Acceleration”.
My idea was based on a game we played as children where you placed glass marbles at the top of a spiral structure to see whose would get to the base first.
Here I have used a section of a fallen banksia tree as the central structure, placed on a slice of the same tree with a deconstructed placemat made from dried water hyacinth as the spiral channel for the “marbles”. The spiral path is secured to the centre with wooden skewers and joined together with paper covered wire.
Oranges are the “marbles” running down the spiral to the base. Small amounts of gumnuts and statice have been interspersed along the spiral for visual and textural contrast.
Judging was completed by an international panel looking at three submitted images – one from the front and one from each side.
Judges comments: Great structure to showcase the acceleration of objects running down a spiral path. More oranges at the base of the design would have balanced the dominance of the central support. Well executed mechanics and use of all plant material in the design.
