Macro Monday - Bouquets to Art 2011

We saw it from across the room, drawn to the billowing spheres of  baby's breath (gypsophila) puffing above the train. The cars rolling across the rust tracks...

... filled with exotic riches from around the world: leucadendron from Down Under, orchids from the Orient, roses from Europe, with purple artichokes, sunflowers (sans yellow petals), and fiddlehead ferns from our own West Coast. 

Pico Soriano submitted yet another whimsical arrangement for Bouquets to Art 2011. See his 2010 entry here and the one from 2009 here.

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While Pico's arrangement could be appreciated from afar, Fantasy Florals' understated piece invited closer attention...

 ...from all angles.

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I was convinced that De Voy Designs was interpreting a tiny red portion of  Richard Diebenkorn's Seawall...

...but Stephanie set me straight and told me that Kiwi DeVoy paired her pave arrangement with Jay DeFeo's Mountain No. 2

For all you Macro Monday lovers, here is a close-up of the red amaryllis, white odontoglossum orchids and  black aeonium succulents.

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It is difficult to decide whether Alena Jean Whiting's beautifully-proportioned abstract accessorizes Mark Rothko's Untitled (1949)...

...or whether it inhabits it. Remarkable.



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Splash Events' decision to use spider orchids was stellar.



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My mother's favorite entry was Pat Friday's rich interpretation of Surface of the Moon

The interplay of textures and the restrained palette had many of us in awe of Friday's work of art. See more of the impressive mechanics here.

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Michael Daigian interpreted a crater here on Planet Earth, specifically Michael Light's Mono Craters 07.17.06 #10, taken near Yosemite National Park.

I sat next to Michael and his lovely wife on the shuttle bus. He told me that they had just returned from Hawaii and was inspired by the volcanic lava on the Big Island. 

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I will close with the newest work of art I covered in this mini-series of Bouquets to Art 2011. Peggy O'Neill did an admirable job extending Rupert Garcia's Obama from Douglass, 2010.

Please visit Lisa's Chaos to view many beautiful Macro Monday photos. 

Bouquets to Art 2011 - Contemporary Art

Follow me downstairs to the Contemporary Art wing to view more Bouquets to Art submissions for 2011.

Judy Cochran Ward made a replica of Sono Osato's Meena with what I believe might be painted craftpaper with reclaimed objects wedged into the folds. Spring flowers and succulents burst as perfect counterpoints to the monochromatic diptych.

If you're wondering what these ladies are looking at...

... it is the back side of the arrangement.

Cochran dedicated her Bouquet to "the memory of those who lost their lives in the 9/11 tragedy, including my dear friend Lauren Grandcaulas, and represents the beauty and life of hope."

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I have often been intrigued by Al Farrow's black miniature cathedral in the same room. 

When Donnel Vicente chose it for Bouquet to Art this year, it commanded everyone's attention.

The unique box of nails and soft white ranunculus moved me to read the tag associated with the church.

The sculpture, named The Spine and Tooth of Santa Guerro, is a social commentary on war and religion . I had never noticed before that the church is made of bullets, pellets and deconstructed guns.The title tooth is encapsuled in the red reliquary above the transept door.

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Cheryl McGuire of Flair complemented Sean Scully's Wall of Light Horizon with a reflection back to Josiah McElheny's Model for Total Reflective Abstraction.

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While I appreciate the innovation and whimsy of the sculptural pieces in my previous post, Phoebe Kahl's and Diana Kennedy's dynamic contribution makes my heart sing.

They truly expressed the essence of Elmer Bischoff's Girl with Towel, 1960. I adore how the kangaroo paw branches float above the rust cymbidium and white phaleonopsis orchids, while a wave of orange ribbon and green broom branches dance upward to the sky. Kahl and Kennedy delivered the type of arrangement I long to see at Bouquets to Art.

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Paul Robertson Floral design cooked up a big pot of florals for Robert Colescott's A Taste of Gumbo,

...seasoned with a minor hint Mardi Gras beads.

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Regula's European Design created a three-dimensional version of Sam Francis' Helio...

...utilizing cobalt blue bottles, red netting, a sparse use of fresh calla lilies and gerbera daisies, with yellow plastic-covered wire dancing on a plexi-glass armature.

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Katherine Zhang turned Rupert Garcia's Untitled for Eyellende on end with black ti leaves and colored foam...

...while Laurel Winzler took a vertical approach to interpret Garcia's work.

Stay tuned for another Bouquets to Art 2011 post in the coming days. 

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