Two Christmas Designs
Both these designs were for the same competition but in different classes.
A Christmas Song (to be named)
I decided to go for a less well known Christmas song as I suspected that many of the exhibitors would opt for the commonly heard ones. My choice was Jingle Bell rock.
Using a round glass vase placed on a rough cut marble ashtray with a white rock to hold the music/title in place, I have placed a shape of sheet music covered chicken wire as the structure. The chicken wire allowed for water tubes to be inserted should I need them for the plant material.
As it turned out all bar one placement used the water in the base vase.
The chicken wire shape wouldn’t stay in place despite the rocks and pebbles in the vase so I have placed it in a tall drinking glass filled with pebbles inside the larger vase. This kept it in place.
Red and white roses with narrow strelitzia foliage are placed to mirror the shape of the chicken wire with small gold bells wired together into the chicken wire as highlights.
Judges Comments: The plant material does not dominate in this design, instead the eye is drawn to the white of the structure and the stones/base. Not enough contrast of textures although an interesting interpretation of the class title.
Christmas Wreath
Yet again I am thinking of a “different” approach to the class title. I certainly didn’t want to just create a repetition of the Christmas wreaths we see every year, so I went in search of traditions in other countries.
This wreath is based on the Himmelli technique which you can see by clicking here.
Using paper drinking straws as the wreath base with sisal strands to cover the external corners, I have placed three banksia cones and some conifer foliage. The sticks at the back are simply a stand to display the wreath on the show bench rather than have it lay flat on the bench.
This design placed second.
Judges comments: Innovative interpretation of the class title with a technique not seen here in competition before. The foliage/banksia placement is too heavy for this design – much lighter or delicate material would enhance the lightness of the wreath.
