Once again at an agricultural show for this competition with the class title of “Beauty of Colour at the Show”. I wanted to combine the relative monotone of agricultural displays with something that is seen as a colourful highlight (by visitors) of the fireworks displays in the evenings. This is also a show based in what is referred to as the “bush capital” so I needed to incorporate Australian native floral in the design.
At the time I was challenging my design safety by trying new techniques and contemporary designing…….
The base is a slice of banksia on which rests a couple of gourds and wheat. Some textured timber supports the uprights and arms made with xanthorrhoea stems and flower spikes. The arms have holes drilled into them either for placement of the craspedia or vials for the plant material needing a water source.
All the “colour” of the design is in the depiction of the fireworks by the upright plant material.
This design placed third.
Judges comments: A very different interpretation of the title with good mechanics. The design needs more flowers.
My review: This is a judge who definitely prefers traditional designs and I was stewarding for the judge in this competition so I couldn’t say anything whilst the comments were being made. I conceded that the design looks quite sparse, however I am happy with it as my interpretation. Perhaps I could have made the “fireworks” more of a feature by colouring the agapanthus seeds or having more of them to emphasise the firework interpretation.
