This design was for a national convention which involved a lot of travel for me – 40 minute drive, 2 hour train ride, 5 hour plane trip and another 30 minute drive to my accommodation ( which was a short drive away from the venue). All of that needs to be taken into consideration when you are competing away from your usual environment with the added complication of where to source plant material for your design.
The organisers had provided a list of flower suppliers which can be useful if you know exactly what you want and they are able to supply it. For me it is never that cut and dried (so to speak). I prefer to be able to see what is on offer that might work in the design and is looking as fresh as it can be – price, these days, is also a major consideration as we have seen incredible price increases.
That being said, I did prepare this design well ahead of time to ensure I knew how to construct it as well as how to pack it! Fortunately there was no stipulation regarding dried and fresh percentages of components so I opted for dried materials that I knew I already had on hand.
Suspended from a hook with fishing line and a swivel is a palm spathe to provide the structure for the remainder of the suspended design. From this is a spiral of plaited (braided) dried water hyacinth with two dried wreath shapes to balance to weight of the design. Interspersed are dried strelitzia leaves, dried sea grass and tatamied palm infloresence. I wanted the design to look at though everything had been blown together by the “sea breeze” of the title.
Judges Comments: Excellent balance both visual and actual in this design. It is too monochromatic – needs more variation in colour and texture.
My review comments: I am still very happy with the balance achieved with this design as a suspended design is always a challenge no matter how many times you practice it. There is a lack of textural contrast in the lower part of the design, I agree. However, I don’t agree with the colour comment as, in my experience, there is not usually much colour variation seen when you look at a collection of items blown together by a sea breeze. Perhaps then, my telling of my interpretation is what needs to be improved so that it was more obvious to the judges.
