Tracy Wins Two Awards at 2011 AIFD Student Competition

Congratulations to the ultra-talented Tracy Lou, representing College of San Mateo, for winning not one, but two awards in the 2011 AIFD Student Design Competition.

Competing is a nerve-wracking experience. Each student is given materials they have not seen before they enter the venue. After a few minutes of planning and sketching, they are given approximately an hour to complete their design. They are judged on the strength of the design, the use of materials, and their workmanship.

In the Napkin Decor Design category, "the competitors are asked to make two identical napkin decorations with fresh floral/foliage accenting. Duplication accuracy is a part of the point structure for just this category"*. Tracy placed second with her napkin design featuring an intricate use of bear grass and deco wire:

...and third in Sweetheart Table Design:

College of San Mateo's capable coach was Wendy Pine AIFD, who won the top prize when she competed in the student competition. 

Tracy did not win in the bouquet category, but I thought her entry was impressive. I loved the beautiful lines she created by wiring the equisetum and how the tiny spray roses sheltered by the ti leaf invited closer inspection:

Other College of San  Mateo students turned in beautiful designs.

I thought Shannon's napkin design was beautifully balanced and airy:

Victor's dynamic, asymmetric bouquet was my favorite of his four entries:

...and I loved the dramatic lines in Kim's tall buffet design in monochromatic green:

There were other wonderful CSM student entries, but I regret that those photos did not turn out. 

Over fifty students competed and fifteen awards were given this year. See all results here.
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*Competition guidelines here. 

Macro Monday - Bouquets to Art 2011

As I mentioned in my previous posts about Bouquets to Art at the De Young Museum in San Francisco, this year's exhibition one of my favorites. One reason is that several floral artists have selected works of art that I don't recall being chosen before.

I have always adored this pair of small paintings by Thomas Waterman Wood and was delighted that Market Woman was tapped.

Fleur de Vie floral designer Talin Tascian created a spectacular floral twin using the king protea's petals for her shawl and its silver flower heads in her shopping basket. Her apron was composed of woven flax (hala) leaves and her skirt black ti leaves. 

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I have walked by this beautiful fireplace mantel countless times and never noticed that the legs were carved dogs, until Grace Street Floral  made it patently obvious.

I imagine that Rhonda Stoffel had a blast choosing the materials for this whimsical sculpture. Rust hypericum berries (St. John's Wort), white tallow berries, and succulents were great choices for the face. I will never look at the under side of a magnolia leaf again without thinking that it looks just like the velvety ear of a dog. In fact, I believe I will be hounded by this image. 

Update - Rhonda Stoffel wrote me and shared this:

Yes he WAS super fun to make — I’ve been wanting to do something with those crazy-amazing dogs for AGES and was excited to finally have the opportunity to do so ( as usually the person who chooses that piece highlights something with the TOP part of the mantel - with more of the deer motif) — The dogs finally got their proper 15 minutes of fame!

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The initial inspiration for David Regan's Cod Tureen dates all the way back to biblical times in the Gospel of James where the metaphor of big fish eating little fish was used to illustrate the rich exploiting the poor*. In the mid-sixteenth century, Pieter Breugel the Elder depicted this story in a painting. Pieter van der Heyden, in turn, created the companion engraving in 1557. David Regan formed the ceramic version in 1997.

Thierry Chantrel of La Follia created the most recent incarnation...

...nearly 400 years after tulip mania and using the marine currency of sand dollars .

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Though it is refreshing to see new works of art interpreted, it is still exciting to visit the perennial favorites. Some of you may recall the 2009 interpretation of James Bard's The Steamship Syracuse. This year, College of San Mateo's C. Diana Vigil and floristry students did an admirable job echoing the Mississippi steamboat with blue delphiniums, white roses, and phaleonopsis orchids.

In 2009, the window of Job Lots Cheap was the emphasis. This year, this trompe l'oeil was enhanced by Nancy Liu Chin's literary contribution:



Sunshine Flowers and Event Design literally weighs the question: "Why compare apples and oranges?" on a vintage scale...

... in response to William Rickarby Miller's Still Life -- Study of Apples, 1862 and William Joseph McCloskey's Oranges in Tissue Paper, ca. 1890.

I hope that Marisse Newell's fantastic interpretation of Winter Festival conjures up images from the distant past for you...

...and that instead, you are looking out your window to newly sprung blossoms, like these arranged by Ikebana International.

Paradise Flowers' amaryllis blossoms are a great red-headed representation for Robert Henri's "The Lady in Black with Spanish Scarf", 1910.

Emil Yanos thought out of the box when he complemented The Blue Veil with a striking abstract sculpture.

See more Macro Monday images here and stay tuned for more stunning images from the 2011 Bouquets to Art in upcoming posts.
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* Source: Wiki and The Met

European Floral Design Class

Yesterday was the first day in a long time that I was feeling well enough to sit at the computer for any length of time. Thank you for your kind well wishes - they made me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.

The portfolio for my European Floral Design class is due tomorrow. You've already seen the sushi flowers and the pumpkin arrangement, and you've seen my midterm, here's a sampling of other designs we did. The design you see above was one of my favorites. We made an armature of salt cedar branches for the base of this bouquet. Here's a closer look at the "skeleton" of this design:

I still have the armature and I can use it over and over again.

Here is a wreath we made. It is meant to feel like a bird's nest, created with found items.

Here is our class listening to our instructor's critique:

This one is mine:

This fan design is a quick and easy design that requires only a few flowers.

I would like to thank our wonderful instructor, Wendy Pine, for another great class. The College of San Mateo is suffering horrendous budget cuts and the floristry program is in grave danger of being eliminated. It would be a huge loss to the community if we lose this important program that gives students practical, professional training.

Pumpkin Arrangements

I saw in our syllabus for European Floristry class at College of San Mateo that we were to bring a large hollowed-out pumpkin to class. I bought my pumpkin for a pumpkin display on my front porch before our instructor, Wendy Pine, told us that we should bring a medium-sized pumpkin instead a large one.  Due to an e-mail mix-up, I did not get the message that we were also to bring branches and bark to class. Fortunately Tracy, my floral partner-in-crime, tipped me off and I rustled up some just outside our classroom. Though my arrangement turned out okay…

Tracy suggested that I add more floral materials to bring. The arrangement was a little short, given the optical weight of the pumpkin, and the back did not have as much visual interest as the front:

Since I was hosting book club the next evening, and I needed an arrangement with all-around visual interest, I decided to follow her advice. The taller filbert branch from my yard added a more proper height and millet grass with pheasant feathers left over from here added width.

I am overjoyed to report that the very shy Michael Jackson just gave me permission to let you know that he resurrected himself just to come to book club at my house. Here's proof:

Eat your heart out, National Enquirer!

Since everyone at book club enjoyed the pumpkin so much, I decided to make more for gifts. This one had a more ikebana feel to it:

I planned to make one more using a green ironbark pumpkin, but some kids stole it from our front porch on Halloween night. I looked for its remains alongside the other smashed pumpkins on our street, but there was no trace of it. Note to self: bring pumpkins inside next Halloween night.

Sushi Flowers

I'm enrolled in the European Floristry Class at College of San Mateo this semester. Wednesday we made an wedging armature and sushi flowers.

Instructor: Wendy Pine
Assignment: Wedging Armature. Use branches to wedge inside the container in order to create an armature.

Floral Materials Provided

• Red Dogwood branches
• 4 Aspidistra leaves
• 15 stems Alstroemeria
• 1 stem Japanese Pittosporum
• 2 stems Red River Chrysanthemums
• 1 stem Chinese Pistache berries
• Spanish moss

Supplies

• Suiban container (a shallow dish without drainage holes)
• 1 brick floral foam
• Paper-wrapped binding wire
• Double-pointed picks

Armature Notes

1. Think of a horizontal structure when designing this. Think about or draw your design up front. For this assignment, keep structure inside the container.
2. Cut branches to size where it can wedge into the container.
3. A little height is nice. (I failed on this front)
4. Okay to use binding wire to hold branches in place.
5. Flower Sushis should not more around; insert as many branches as required to hold the flowers in place.
6. Keep turning container to view arrangement from all directions.
7. Keep negative space in mind.

Flower Sushi Notes

1. Provided enough materials to make at least eight sushi wraps.
2. Slice aspidistra leaf along vein to cut the “seaweed” wrap.
3. Alternate wrapping materials that can be used:
• Hala leaf
• Magnolia leaf, both sides
• Ti leaf
• Galex leaf
• fabric
4. Cut floral foam into sushi shape. I created a cone for the handwrap.
5. Use toothpick to “stitch” Aspidistra leaf around foam.
6. Insert floral materials into foam. Looks better when you only use one material per sushi.
7. Work slowly.
8. Components should not move around container; wedge into armature.
9. Make sure that armature structure is not covered up by floral materials.
10. Cut  flowers short in order to cover as much foam as possible.