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David Bell-Booth
A horn of Plenty," says David," means a harvest bounty, something of everything available at the time, a fullness of nature, with things falling out to give the illusion of so much, that it has fallen out onto the base.
David Bell-Booth is a florist in Auckland New Zealand. He has competed in the World Show in Japan, and was commissioned to design the flowers for the formal banquet when former President Clinton of the USA visited New Zealand.
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David Bell-Booth gave a workshop in April 2002, for the New Wave group of floral artists in Auckland New Zealand. A cornucopia, horn of plenty, with foundations of wire mesh and sphagnum moss was the result. Try David's florist techniques in whatever size you feel comfortable with, here. Every month floral design magazine invites florists from all over the world to inspire and share their current projects. Learn more here.

A cornucopia or horn of plenty


The completed design.

 David chose a colour scheme of blue/purple and orange  for the richness of the colours, from the colour wheel as the contrast will make the design more striking.

David set a copper pipe into  the base, He rolled wire mesh into a cone, secured and attached it to the pipe. He wet sphagnum moss and stuffed the cone with this  right from the bottom up into the top. "Push the moss firmly into the wire and into the shape"
.Attach the  sphagnum to the wire netting with long "stitches" of florist wire at intervals,

Cut a piece of wet floral foam to fit in the top opening and push it down into the mass.
(to see how Tricia followed this click here) 
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Now add  texture to the cone, with leaves and flowers. To give the cone a smart look he  used purple statice, camellia leaves and hydrangea florets. Each  leaf was attached one over the other to hide the pins, "in a slight sweep to make it more graceful like a horn". Straight lines down wouldn't have added to it's form. The hydrangea head was cut into small florets and each floret was wired and pushed firmly into the moss, keeping the head flat, again duplicating the sweep of the camellia leaves. David used statice as the third section as it is cheap, has an intense blue and goes a long way.
These textural contrasts of shiny and smooth, rough and dull give maximum value to the cone. "You can work to good effect with very little, you can do it with foliage, which is more dramatic than a container full of flowers. If there is a simple way of doing it, do it as long as the finish is good, you can't see any workings and the basics are firm."
With the cone finished, now the top opening can be filled. David started by creating a flat, closely packed carpet of red/pink carnations, close into the floral foam so he didn't have to worry about the base. They also highlight any other forms above them.
A double line of pink roses were added beside the carnations higher and stepped one  slightly up on the one beside it. Orange lilies and their buds were placed beside the roses, and a few small red gerbera and solacia below that. Orange calla lilies added height at the apex of the cone.
"Solid forms in an art piece with group placement," said David," make the work look rich. Shorter roses last longer as the flowers are nearer the water source."
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He added a cactus to the base with lichen and flat rocks, " to anchor it  and to take the interest down to the bottom, and to hide the ends" he said. "The base is included in an art piece," he said, "It is not alien to it."
He then bound the cone in decorative wire and thread,  added an leaf at the top and it was done.		 David  now started to "overflow" the design to give the illusion of there being too much in this horn of plenty so it is falling out. He added  idesia  polycarpa berries, bells of Ireland, long reeds, asparagus plant and aspidistra, all flowing down the design.



Tricia's cornucopia under construction, attached to a spike on a heavy base, and leaves pinned on.

 
Jill Smith used yellow tulips with bear grass to  give the illusion of flowing out. the Sunflowers defined the start of the flowers in contrast to the  cone "container":

 
Lois Haydon used  roses, grapes and succulents. She used a matching ribbon tucked around to define the cornucopia boundary.

You will have noticed  David  Bell-Booth uses colour theory to maximum advantage. Click here to go to the colour theory in the design pages and below for excellent books to help you.

Interaction of Color 
by Josef Albers

"I just kept wanting to read on and on, Alber's thoughts were simply amazing. This book has opened my eyes to a whole new world of how I precieve color. Buy it! You will miss out if you don't!" (reviewer)

More...
Pantone Guide to Communicating With Color
"The book covers color theory very  basically. However, it does an excellent job of covering the more important topics of the meaning and psychology of colors and color  combinations. The author uses good examples for each section and the book can be used as a learning tool or a resource you can use again and again. My students found the many pantone color combination swatches very useful in helping setup the color schemes for their designs."(reviewer)
More...