Thursday, April 2, 2009

Bouquets to Art 2009 – Wilsey Court


As we entered the De Young Museum from the underground garage, we were greeted by these gorgeous parrot tulips, giving us a hint of what was to come in this year’s Bouquets to Art exhibit. 

 

The grand centerpiece of Wilsey Court is a magnificent arrangement called “Elemental” by Waterlily Pond Studio. A copper sign nearby has the artists description:

Elemental, by Waterlily Pond Studio

Natasha Lisitsa, Daniel Schultz,Carla D’Agostino

Materials Used:

500 blossoming branches of Forsythia

30 Manzanita trees

200 trunks of Curly Willow

500 stems of Anthuriums

100 feet of copper tubing, inspired by the De Young architecture

Size: Diameter – 20 ft. Height – 15 ft. Weight – 800 lbs.

Dedicated to the Grand Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Bouquets to Art.

Suspended within the austere, angular space of the Wilsey Court, a vibrant infusion of color and dynamic form initiates a celebration of life and all things Elemental. A radiant central composition of yellow forsythia and red Manzanita branches alludes to the sun and earth, the combined vital energy common to us all. Orbiting this form is an ascending spiral, which presents allusions to the building blocks of nature: the earth orbiting the sun, the atom, DNA, and to the continuous path of life along which we travel.

Not only is the piece breathtaking, but it is a feat of structural engineering.


When my son saw this photo he said it looked like fire, which I believe is precisely what the artists had in mind. I thought it looked like dendrites of the central nervous system (my inner geek rearing her head again…)

 

Watch this video clip to see how the Waterlily team installed this 800 pound work of art:


***

Also in the Wilsey Court: Patricia Gibbons Floral Design of El Cerrito used all white materials for a stunning entry :



The row of topiaries in the lobby created quite a buzz. We studied them from afar,

 

and up close,

 

And even underneath. 


This whimsical structure is a nice homage to the copper exoskeleton of the De Young Museum:

 

I thought the orange ranunculus blossoms looked great in front of the green tree ferns.

 

My very talented ikebana instructor, Yoshiko Williams, made this arrangement:

 

 

The spirit of these two teapots were perfectly captured by Joan McLellan Taylor. The medallion on the signage designates that she has been an exhibitor at Bouquets to Arts for twenty years.

 


I especially like the newspaper roses and toy cow.


Even the ladies' room had a row of tulips in geometric vases:

 

If you look closely, you will see a tiny occupant, perfectly color coordinated of course.

This concludes the lobby portion of your tour. Next time we will finally enter the galleries. 


12 comments:

Midlife, menopause, mistakes and random stuff... said...

Oh beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!! I just can't choose a favorite. I think it's a toss up between the Parrot Tulips and the Orchid Topiary.
Thank you for sharing such grand beauty with us dutchbaby.
Please have a weekend filled with much love, joy and laughter and........

Steady On
Reggie Girl

Sherri said...

WoW! Those are amazing!!

Emily said...

My goodness. That first one blows me away!! Gorgeous!

Relyn Lawson said...

Look at those parrot tulips. Oh my!! And the ranunculus. They looked like tiny goldfish captured in their own little bowls. So intriguing.

Yoli said...

I come here and I am stunned by all this beauty but my blog roll did not show that you had any new posts!!! So I have been missing all this beauty!!!!

Ruth said...

The fiery Element blew me away too.

Polly said...

Hi Duchbaby, thank you for visiting my blog.

Wonderful photos and brilliant exhibition! What a great idea... and that's only the lobby? There is more?! I wish I could be there. I love the Elemental most as well.

I haven't read The Road Home yet but it sounds like something I should read. Thanks for recommendation.

Polly

paris parfait said...

Wow! These are just stunning! Thanks for taking all these images for those of us who can't be there in person!

robin laws said...

Oh! i see what you mean! this is really quite a show!! your header is a wonderful spring change :) i am taken aback by all that forethought and careful detail involved in these sculptures given the fact that they are completely ephemeral and will be gone in such a short time. some of the beauty lies in that fact for me.
xo looking forward to the next :)

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Everyone,
My goodness, I just realized that I fell down on the job here. I forgot to respond to all your kind comments.

Dear Reggie Girl,
I have the hardest time choosing also, that's why it's taking so many posts to complete this event. I love the parrot tulips too; that's why they got promoted to banner status.

Dear Postcards,
I'm so glad you enjoyed these!

Dear Jemm,
I bet those parrot tulips got snapped up by 1:00 a.m. at the flower mart.

Dear Relyn,
Goldfish in their own little bowls - perfect description! Thanks for that image!

Dear Yoli,
I'm glad you found the flowers here anyway.

Dear Ruth,
I can't imagine what it took to install the Element. Mind-boggling.

Dear Polly,
Welcome to Dutchbaby! Yes, there is so much more. There are more photos on my flickr account and there were even more in person. Such a great show --always.

Dear Paris,
You are most welcome! I am so happy to share all these.

Dear Robin,
You hit upon one of my favorite things about floral creations - the impermanence of it - emphasizing the process, leaving room to make more the next time.

Unknown said...

I came across your blog by accident, searching for one of the arrangements from Bouquets to Art this year I wanted to see again. And how amazing was to see our art piece Elemental so beautifully photographed and described. Here's a link to the film on youtube about the installation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfWlRUy--Uw

Thank you for being so diligent about the text of the sign and the credit. Beautiful blog!

Natasha Lisitsa, Studio Owner
WaterlilyPond.com

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Natasha,
I'm thrilled and honored you came to visit! I've incorporated the YouTube clip into the post. Thank you!

I found your design to be heel-clickingly gorgeous!

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