Monday, June 7, 2010

Macro Monday: Bouquets to Art 2010, Part III


DSC06490_1448 Alena Jean

Now that we finished touring the Upper Galleries of the 2010 Bouquets to Artin the of the De Young Museum, please follow me downstairs to the Concourse Level to see the 20th Century Contemporary collection. Bouquets to Artis the San Francisco Fine Art Museum's biggest fundraiser where floral designers from the San Francisco Bay Area are annually invited to interpret the art in the permanent collection. The first couple of interpretations were decidedly literal but each adds a trans-formative element. For example, Heather Dunne and Mari Tischenko matched William T. Wiley's witty art when they replicated the blue palette and then created an unexpected explosion of splattered "paint" using Giant Onion (allium schubertii).  Read what the floral designers wrote here.

DSC06452_1410 Heather Dunne and Mari Tischenko

Gail Emmons of Orinda carefully, and literally, duplicated the black and white walking stick, Japanese wooden shoes, and wizard hat, but then added a wonderful dynamic element to her work by featuring the S-shaped Hala leaf to convey the bent figure in a more abstract way.

DSC06457_1415 Gail Emmons - Orinda

For a closer look of artwork, click here.

Even in all its complexity, Sue Morford's arrangement worked well with the simplicity of Edward Hopper's depiction of Main Street, USA in "Portrait of Orleans". Floral artist Sue Morford writes:
"When I found a photograph of the location depicted in the painting I was struck by the unchanging quality of the location 60 years after the date of the painting. Some of the details had changed (the name of the gas sstation, the addition of a second station, different building, etd.) but the character of the scene remains. The place has retained the same sense of a quiet crossroads on the to Someplace."

--Sue Morford, AIFD
See the photograph Morford referenced here and Hopper's painting here

The tall stature of the yellow heliconias provided a great line while their green stems and tinge of red aptly implied "traffic light". The black calla lilies were a great choice to complete the line of the rubber tire. The esso sign on this side of the arrangement was a nod to its faded past...

DSC06467_1425 Edward Hopper - Sue Morford

...whereas the Mobil sign on its reverse side depicted the present:

DSC06470_1428 Sue Morford AIFD

Read a wonderful blog post about the donor of this painting here.

The next room is normally only black and white...

DSC03519 De Young Museum

...but during Bouquets to Art it was splashed with of understated color, like this green and white grouping by City College of San Francisco

DSC06462_1420 City College of San Francisco

The intricate pave design made effective use of the bright green button chrysanthemums that many in the business call "Kermit mums" but are officially called "Yoko Ono" chrysanthemum.

DSC06463_1421 City College of San Francisco

DSC06464_1422 City College of San Francisco

On the opposite wall was a stark study in texture that looked like plant life emerging after a volcanic explosion.




DSC06459_1417 Bouquets to Art 2010

Or maybe this is what we would find if we flipped over the canvas of the original artwork.

In the adjacent rooms, we are greeted with more color. The urban painting of skateboarders was matched with the urban arrangement using what looks like concrete blocks.

DSC06458_1416 Bouquets to Art skateboard

Hats off to first-time exhibitor Marian LeBrun of S
Savage Rose Florals for her beautifully-balanced entry.

DSC06471_1429 Bouquets to Art 2010 - Hats

Pico Soriano's entry lampshade of yellow Billy Balls (craspedia) is filled with whimsy and sparkle

DSC06476_1434 Pico Design yellow lampshade

Continuing the whimsical theme are these bathing beauties frolicking in a swirl of Contorted Filbert branches (Harry Lauder Walking Stick -corylus avellana)...

DSC06479_1437 Bouquets to Art bathing beauties

.. in contrast to the abstract interpretation of this bathing beauty.

DSC06480_1438 bathing abstract

Speaking of abstracts, the Orinda Garden Club's creation, by Diana R. Kennedy and Phoebe Kahl, is geometric bliss.

DSC06483_1441 Orinda Garden Club - Geometric bliss

Mrs. Lurline R. Coonan's perfectly-matched tropical arrangement of proteas and birds of paradise straddles beautifully between these two paintings.

DSC06485_1443 Woodside Atherton Garden Club

Richard Diebenkorn's "Seawall" (1957) is a favorite amongst the Bouquets to Art designers. Pomegranate's idea to use materials found at the seawall was great.

DSC06481_1439 Diebenkorn Seawall

The last rooms we will visit today feature fine art photographs. Ron Morgan's designs never disappoint. His turban of ti leaves, flax leaves and dark purple mini calla lilies was a work of art.

DSC06487_1445 Ron Morgan turban

Alena Jean's sunflowers brought bright sunshine to the poignant portraits they accompany.

DSC06489_1447 Alena Jean Whiting

Svenja Brotz of Chestnut and Vine Floral Design in Berkeley created an artful urban garden in this sepia setting. 

DSC06491_1449 Svenja Brotz - Chestnut & Vine

Next time, the lobby arrangements.

For more Macro Mondays, visit Lisa at Lisa's Chaos.

41 comments:

Carletta said...

How utterly fascinating!
Thank you for a wonderful post. :)

I also love the 'gumballs' below.

A 2 Z said...

Hi,

Thanks for visiting my blog. These pictures and exhibits are absolutely stunning. Its just amazing to see the results of marrying creativity and flowers. You were lucky to actually see these arrangements. Thanks for sharing. I'm a follower!

Anne-Marie

Kala said...

Creative, unique and colorful displays.

Jientje said...

Wow. These are amazing. The second one is my favorite, but the whole exhibition is fantastic!

A Cuban In London said...

Not only are the pieces on display wonderful but the way you took those photos, you gave us a very powerful perspective of the exhibition.

Greetings from London.

Ruth said...

These are just stunning!

The yellow "lampshade", and "swimsuits" are humorously gorgeous. My favorite is the green and white. I am partial to chartreuse, and the arrangements in silver just fill me up, with all the variations in texture. I love when a design has multiple elements in a monochromatic theme like that.

Great photographs!

Susan said...

Goodness! How did you take all this in on one day? I would have been on sensory overload. Such stunning works of art are the arrangements.

My favorite is the portrait one by Alena Jean.

Susan said...

I sounded a bit like Yoda there! hehe

Unknown said...

So many! Such beauty! I especially love the lamp and the busts! Pretty!

ramblingwoods said...

I enjoyed your post..what an interesting place to visit..also thank you for explaining that my photo was of the 'fruit' of the flower. I didn't know that.... Michelle

Marilyn Miller said...

Just beautiful and amazing! Such talented florist.

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

Wow, so many interesting things to see, and all are so wonderful.

My Castle in Spain said...

I so enjoyed this flowery tour! My favorite is the green composition...so pleasing and refreshing to the eye!
You're lucky to grow your own tomatoes. It's the best isn't it?
:-)

Christine said...

Wow, how did I not know this was going on? Funny how it takes paradisexpress.blogspot in France to tell me what's happening in SF! Absolutely enchanting and an inspiring idea!

Vagabonde said...

These are so creative – such beautiful compositions. I am not surprised that this exhibit was in San Francisco – to me it is the Paris of the US where so many talented people live, and so many artists. I like the blue palette with the orange fireworks – it is simple in a way, but simplicity is difficult. I also like the skateboarders urban arrangement. It is a perfect rendition, the coldness of the steely grey goes well with the warm sienna and terra cotta colors. What a pleasure for the eyes this exhibit must have been and with your love of flowers and colors it was a treat for you, wasn’t it?.

luluvillage said...

That is really amazing!
THank you for showing all these!

kath said...

Thank you for sharing this. I am overwhelmed by how wonderful they are.

Relyn Lawson said...

In this post, I find the volcano-ish display and the yellow lamp the most intriguing.

Ginnie Hart said...

This is pure delight to the visual senses, DB. Yesterday we were at the castle-gardens in Arcen where I thought of you. One of the "shows" was put on by a delicious gay guy who is a floral designer in Horst: http://www.floralevormgevers.nl/. You would have loved him. One day I'll show a collage of him and Astrid because he pulled her from the audience to help him with one of his bouquets. :)

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Carletta,
Welcome to Dutchbaby! I'm glad you enjoyed these flowers.

Nature Lover said...

wow these are amazing work of art!

Euroangel said...

i can't say anything but wow! these are very fantastic..love them all..thanks for sharing!

Dutchbaby said...

Dear A 2 Z,
I do feel very fortunate to be able to see this exhibit year after year. It never gets old.

Welcome to Dutchbaby and thanks for becoming a follower!

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Kala,
Thanks for visiting!

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Jientje,
So hard to choose favorites; the second one is fantastic though!

I hope you're enjoying your vacation in Provence.

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Cuban,
Thanks so much for the very kind compliment!

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Ruth,
What I love about this exhibit is the range of expression between the florists. I appreciate the whimsical as much as the abstract interpretations.

You and I aren't the only ones who loved the green textures design. My patience was tested to the limit because it was nearly impossible to take photos of the arrangement without a swarm of people in the frame.

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Susan,
Believe or not, this is only a small sampling. There are over 150 arrangements each year. I like to go to the opening night celebration and then another time to see the collection in the daytime. I think if I went every day, I would see something new all week long.

Yoda, yes, but also a bit Dutch :) In fact, Dutch sounds highly "Yodafied" because verbs so often appear at the very end of the sentence.

Dutchbaby said...

Dear lisaschaos,
Aren't they fun?

Thanks for hosting Macro Monday, Lisa!

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Michelle at ramblingwoods,
I'm happy you enjoyed the tour.

It was my pleasure to tell you about the fruit of the flower. My mind is filled with tons of useless information.

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Marilyn,
We are very blessed here in the Bay Area.

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Mumsy,
Yes, so many - over 150 floral displays.

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Castle,
I loved the green textures too. That's why I posted so many photos of this arrangement. I wanted to share the variety of textures and all those shades of green.

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Christine,
Ah, the power of the internet. Thanks for "traveling" the globe to arrive here.

I hope you have a chance to visit Bouquets to Art next year. It's normally held in March; this year it was postponed until April.

Welcome to Dutchbaby!

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Vagabonde,
You know me well. Yes, it is always a treat every year to see this exhibit. It's funny how I never grow tired of it.

I agree that simplicity is the most difficult. Wasn't it Mark Twain who apologized to a friend for writing a long letter because he didn't have time to write a short one?

Dutchbaby said...

Dear luluvillage,
Welcome to Dutchbaby!
I'm so happy you enjoyed your visit.

Dutchbaby said...

Dear kath,
The show can definitely be overwhelming because there are so many designs.

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Relyn,
I like how you like the avant garde pieces but can still appreciate the whimsical ones too. :)

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Ginnie,
Thank you for sending that marvelous link. I wish I could have seen Astrid on stage with all those flowers. What an honor!

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Nature Lover,
Indeed, they are works of art.

Dutchbaby said...

Dear Eurangel,
The pleasure in mine!

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