Class title: Captured
Staging: Bench, space allowed 70cm width, height unrestricted, judged from front and sides
Another interpretive design. This time the title suggested to me both things that get captured by the elements of nature as well as birds being captured in cages. Rather than try and separate the two ideas, I have combined them in this design.
The base stand is one of those “must have” pieces of floral art equipment. It is actually an old counterweight from a telescope, solid heavy metal round base with a short straight metal arm. For this design it is painted brown but it is one of those items that seems to have a myriad of uses and lives in different colours.
The main plant material in this design is a spent inflorescence (flower head) from a bangalow palm that has been conveniently weathered into a windswept shape. I rethreaded some of it amongst itself to give a very tangled look. It has a fleshy stem into which I have drilled a small hole so that it balances on the metal arm of the stand, keeping the whole design just above the bench – for this particular competition you must not have any plant material touching the bench.
Three green cane spheres have been part filled with moss and a single strelitzia flower pushed into each at different angles. The spheres have then been placed randomly in the tangles as though they have been “captured” by it. The added bonus is having a flower known as a “bird of paradise” captured in the spheres.
To add some green to the design I have threaded typha reeds in different directions through the tangles. For judging I placed the design at an angle of 45 degrees to the front of the bench to give the design some depth and enhance the windswept feel of the piece.
Judging feedback: Even the other competitors commented on how well it interpreted the title “Captured”. The judge felt it was an excellent example of combining different interpretations of the “captured” theme.