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Lorraine McMillan
lives in Wellington, New Zealand . She is a teacher and demonstrator for
the Floral Art Society of New Zealand and has won the designer of the year
for the Wellington region on numerous occasions.
She won the Helen Hull
trophy from the National Council of Garden Clubs in the United States as
a International Affiliate for their 2002 Diary. In 2000 she was a judge
for the Australian Floral Art Competitions in Brisbane.
The design she shares with
you here, called "Show stopper" she constructed for the May 2001 annual
conference of FASNZ, in Tauranga New Zealand.
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Free lesson with contemporary
design for flower arrangers, florists, floral artists and beginners. To see more recent floral arrangements by top designers around the world, buy the exclusive collections of CDs packed full of photographs here
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Lorraine
wanted the theme "Show stopper" to be shown by the colours she chose
for this stunning piece.
Bamboo
Poles brought height to the design and integrates with the whole design,
making it fully 3D .
She
had three placements using red and pink anthirriums, mauve phaleanopsis orchids, heliconias, cycad
leaves, carnations , statice, stalks and wide, flat leaves. |
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.The
Bamboo has three layers of red paint to cover the natural green of the
fresh bamboo, and Lorraine advises you to use an undercoat first if you
are painting bamboo, as the green is very hard to cover.
Bamboo
lengths were individually drilled and attached to their own bases
and then each base was then attached to the bigger base, with gravel coveringit all.
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Lorraine
loved using the Cycad leaves, which give space and rhythm to the design.
They
had to be trimmed, curved and tied back with wire string and put under
the mats for 5 weeks before the exhibition, so they dried in the right
shape
They
were then painted by hand with 3 coats of flat purple paint. As she couldn't
find the right colour in floral spray paint she went to the local paint
shop instead!. |
A
close up of one of Lorraine's placements shows how she has used all the
design elements and principles to achieve impact. The colours of her plant
material are all from the cool side of the colour wheel, in various tints,
shades and tones, with the complementary colours of green to make the colours
dazzle. Texture has been used with the smooth of the red and pink anthirriums
and the phaleanopsis orchids contrasting with the rough of the cerise carnations
and purple statice. The line of the grasses, red bamboo and purple
cycad contrast with the rounds of the flowers.
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