When you are tasked with a design to be staged on the bench but no particular design style has been nominated (Still Life, Pave, Landscape etc) it’s a good design exercise to think about what design style might best represent the class title.
For this class title, Colours of Sunset, there was a number of possibilities for me. I could do a Pave design with the plant material showcasing the colours of sunset in concentric placements, a horizontal design would work well to enhance the horizon line of sunset, a modern mass or asymmetrical design would also work, but for me, no surprise, I went to an extension of a “painting” of a sunset…….
Using a perspex square already set up with wooden pins around the perimeter (click here for another design using this), I have strung the backing with twine in some of the colours seen in a sunset. A single strelitzia flower is placed in a vial covered with the twine along with craspedia and a silver/blue dried grass. To provide some depth to the design (since you can see through it) there are two strelitzia and more of the grass placed behind the perspex. The square is resting on the same base used in a previous design (click here for details), conveniently representing the sky by being blue.
This design placed second.
Judges comments: An innovative interpretation and presentation showing understanding of the class title. Another strelitzia placed on the front of the design would have enhanced the colour interpretation.
My review comments: Looking at this design almost a year later I am still happy with the way it presents for the class title. Given that it was to be benched where there is no solid wall behind the design (which I knew), I should have had a backdrop for it or put the brighter colours at the back to really make the design “pop”. This is an easy trap to fall into when you design/plan at home with walls behind your work space. Always think about the actual benching area and how the judge will view your design in isolation.
