Macro Monday: Bouquets to Art 2010, Part III

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.

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.

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

Next time, the lobby arrangements.

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

Bouquets to Art 2007

Next week, from March 17-21, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco will celebrate the 25th anniversary of their largest fundraiser, Bouquets to Art. The best floral designers all over the Bay Area are invited to design a floral creation to be paired with one of the museum's works of art. There will be nearly 150 floral exhibitions along with elegant teas and luncheons and even a formal gala night. Two of my favorite florists, Ron Morgan and Paula Pryke, will be giving demonstrations. If you are interested in floral design and you can only go to one event per year, this is the one to choose.

The remainder of this post is mostly recycled from a homework assignment I wrote in my floral design class in 2007. Our wonderful instructor, Wendy Pine, asked us to write about at least two of our favorite creations and one that we did not like. Thank you, Wendy, for making this post a breeze to publish!

I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been to Bouquets to Art. I remember going the very first year that it was offered back when it was at the old De Young Museum. I clicked my heels with delight and was awed at the brilliance of marrying fine art with floral art – two of my favorite passions. My excitement for this show never waned from year to year. Each year offered new ideas, new combinations, and new interpretations; and yes, each year offered misguided creations allowing me and my friends to feel smug about our impeccable taste. This year did not disappoint us. I had to miss last year’s debut of Bouquets to Art because I was traveling, so this was my first time seeing the exhibit in the new De Young Museum building.

I have to admit that I miss the fabulous winding drive up to Legion of Honor location with the spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I miss seeing the tent set up in the courtyard signaling a very special event before you even walk into the building. Arriving from the garage elevator at the De Young comes up short. The De Young is much more spread out; in some cases, you almost have to look for the bouquets. The Legion of Honor imparted a more intimate feeling and every room was filled with flowers. Nevertheless, the show at the De Young was fantastic again.

Some of the interpretations were very literal:

I know those braids were made of plant material, but they look so close to human hair that it gave me a bit of the willies.




Some arrangements were extensions of a painting. This “tree” could have been on the other end of the courtyard and echoed the feeling of the sunlight and shadow in Albert Bierstadt’s painting.

Other arrangements conveyed the spirit of the art:

Ron Morgan's design is wonderful as always. Only he would be bold enough to use a discolored leaf as a major design element.

Posing barbed wire like a lasso in this interpretation of Frederic Remington’s bronze sculpture "The Bronco Buster" created movement and is also representative of the cowboy’s political cry “Don’t Fence Me In”. The clever use of cut branches helped create a strong line but also appeared to defy the laws of physics.

It's easy to overdo the props, but the black satin was a great a prop here because it exudes the drama of this painting byRobert Henri, "Lady in Black with Spanish Scarf", 1910.

Some of the popular works are nearly impossible to photograph without admirers filling your frame. This one was so popular that I was unable to get a photo of the accompanying painting.

I believe it was one of Wayne Thiebaud’s paintings of the San Francisco hills like this one:

Wayne Thiebaud, Down Eighteenth Street, 1980 Oil and charcoal on canvas

This arrangements has some many wonderful textures, it looks like Joseph’s dream coat. The floral artist writes:

“My intention is to create a panorama as we see it in the painting and then ---
a reminder to really see and appreciate the infinite textures, shapes, and
subtle colors in a forest.”

Some arrangements looked good enough to eat:

This interpretations of Wayne Thiebaud’s wonderful work of pop art "Three Machines" (1963)  is called "Gumballs Gone Wild":

I hope you enjoyed coming along; I wish you could have smelled the fresh fragrance of these flowers. Which were your favorites?

Flickr set here.