Contemporary Cascade – Waterfall

Once again trying my hand at a contemporary cascade design – the difference between contemporary and traditional being the lack of wiring in a contemporary design. Click here for another design in this style.

This time I have used a section of banksia trunk as the support for the design with a small container of water and a kenzan (pinholder) for the fresh plant material. Most of the plant material will not require a water source for the duration of the show, although there are some Australian native plants I use that will need a small amount of water. These do not work in floral foam as the stems are too woody to take up water that way so using the kenzan is perfect.

I thought you might like to see how “organised” I am when staging a design. The box and other materials at the side of this image are for another design I was staging at this show – conveniently next to one another although different classes. All my competitions are a minimum of one hours drive away (this one was 4 hours) so I am very adept these days at packing structures for travel and having all the bits I might need allocated to containers so I can find them easily in the stress of staging a design for competition.

Back to the design. My idea was to have the plant material look as though it was naturally cascading down the “tree”. I have used casuarina (she-oak) as it drapes naturally with banksia foliage and seed heads that often grow in rounded rather than straight forms. I spent some time getting the basic cascade form correct before placing any more plant material on the top of the design.

The trick for me with this style of design is to keep focusing on a waterfall. Not too much at the top – short placements, minimally upright, keeping to the impression of it all falling downwards.

In addition to the banksia I have used kangaroo paw (anigozanthus), grevillea and a few agapanthus unopened flower spikes as these were soft enough to manipulate into a flowing shape with the bonus of the flower head looking like a large water drop about to fall….well that’s what it looked like to me!

This design placed first.

Judges comments: A well interpreted design showing good rhythm and form. Colours are well balanced and the dominance of the support is lessened by placements that draw the eye away from it but remain in the cascade shape.

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