Although I live in an area that has heavy frosts during winter, we do not have snow. My idea for this design was to use plant material that resembled snowflakes (the jonquils) and enhance some drooping plant material with wax to depict the icicles.
Pigface (Carpobrotus glaucescens) is a fast growing ground cover that we use on the farm to keep weeds down to a minimum. It is also a favourite treat for the goats my brother has on the farm. The shape of the foliage suggest a drooping icicle so I tested a few pieces to get the right coverage of the wax. Three dips, at most, to leave some transparency and also have some “run” marks of the wax “dripping”.
We are fortunate to have clumps of Erlicheer jonquils appear in spring in the garden beds. The flower heads of these remind me of snowflakes. In order to keep the design minimal I have dipped the base of the stem in wax. This will keep them hydrated with the water already in the stem as well as provide some repetition of the waxing techniques used on the other plant material.
Two metal and wood candlesticks are used as the structure. The timber top section of each (originally blue) has been dipped in the wax whilst the metal uprights and wood base have been covered in white textured wool and lightly coated with wax.
The jonquils are secured to the base with wire which was then covered with wool. The pigface placements are glued to the top of the structure – they do not need a water source.
This design placed third. The competition was judged on a photo of the design.
Judges comments: Strong interpretation of the title. The top placement of upright plant material distracts from the remainder of the design. Bottom plant material placements could extend higher in the design for the taller part of the structure.
