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This
theatre was undertaken by Howard before a full house of floral artists
who had gathered for the Designer of the Year competition in Northland,
New Zealand.
His message
to everyone was,"Do your own thing and if you need to, then ask someone
who knows more than you.
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For most of his designs, Howard chose a large container that blended with the design, so it became very much in the background in the finished arrangement. Each container was filled with green floral foam, well soaked, and above the rim by at least 2 inches (5cms) Each design was usually much taller than he was, as you can see from the photos, and therefore the containers were very stable and heavy, and put on top of a pedestal, which was later hidden with the drapes.
The drapes he used were all chosen to complement the design, with plain colours and he often used two drapes against each other, one shinier or a slightly different shade than the other.They were all 13 feet (4 metres) long .
Plant Material:
Howard used the exotic, the tropical, the roadside and the artificial in his eclectic choices. He seemed to use the bought flowers as the focal points with all choices based on the floral art principles of texture, form, colour and rhythm.
He said," I don't just buy or pick something because it is gorgeous and I have to find a place for it. I always know how the design is going to look before I start and how each piece of plant material is going to be used.This way you only have to put the foliage or flower in the oasis once!"
Anthuriums from Madagascar, carnations, gerberas, delphiniums, chrysanthemums, strylitzia, geraniums were all used and passionfruit flowers and vine in silk.
Click here for a larger picture |
The design:
A low design to look down into Howard used a black planter with a hole in the bottom, which he plugged with oasis fix, and then filled with green oasis.A bunch of vine he found on a beach was put over the side of the container with skewers stabbed into the oasis to hold it in place. " One was so fussy and the other so smooth, they help each other," he said. He then added burgundy bromeliad flowers cut on a slant on the stems. "Hold them where you want them and then add a skewer at that angle,"Howard advised. He also used palm flowers, red/brown azalea foliage, red/orange gerberas, and red anthuriums. |
"The leaf gives texture and movement, as opposed to the straight line of the container," he said.
He then added
moss to pick out the colour in the centre of the Anthuriums, adding more
flowers through it, as well as covering the oasis with it.
Little baby
calla lilies were wired together and the stalks flowed down the container,"
to give a feeling of pouring out of the design."
A black drape
was laid and Howard added considerable drama, by lighting the design
from the floor, up into the large top leaf, with a red light.
Click here for a larger picture |
The
design:
This design was in a gold ornate urn,filled with oasis and set on a pedestal. Large strelitzia
leaves and reeds were centered in the back of the oasis and then the design
built from there.
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orchids, Twirls of dried reeds, white lilies then were added with
orange roses, gerberas and oranges in the central area.
"Don't spread the materials around too much, and keep the same materials together. This gives a more contemporary and modern look. Keep the plant material close for impact" Work the gold drapes into the design so they are part of it in a seamless way, and gather loosely around the base of the pedestal, with large ropes or tassels placed informally on top. To add to the drama of the piece light it up from the floor with a yellow or gold light set about 2 metres from it, shining upwards. |
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After filling it with oasis, and placing it on a pedestal, he added bamboo he had cut from the side of the road. The bamboo was in groupings horizontally and vertically in a three dimensional way. Vines had been woven into two circles and these were laid casually amongst the bamboo. |
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Two large
and long leaves were stroked into casual bends and inserted into the design
to add to the sense of space and rhythm.A small amount of smaller leaved
foliage was added for contrast.
Finally he added bright orange clyvia flowers in groupings back and front to complete this simple and striking modern design. The beauty of this piece is that it can be made small enough for a table design or large enough for a huge space, as long as the materials used remain in proportion. It is a great design for a beginner to try too, requiring material from around your garden or on the road as Howard did, with a few bought flowers to give it zing! |
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"Don't be afraid of colour," said Howard in this design called "Colourburst" .He used bird of paradise looking down on groupings on delphiniums, red carnations, pink heliconias, and lime green chrysanthemums, and then he draped it in gold and red. To learn about colour in floral design, there is an eductaional CD available exclusive to floralartmall.com. More about this fabulous CD here |
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An International Collection of Ideas and Inspirations for All Seasons by Judith Blacklock From an email we received : "I recently received Judith's book and have read it with a fine tooth comb checking for anything that I can fault. You see, I have so many floral art books that I can afford to be critical. Well, there is absolutely nothing that I can fault in this book. It is a gem of information and as far as I am concerned one of the most important books to include in a Floral Art library. What is so nice is the fact that she has included works of Floral Art from around the world for us to appreciate too. This has not been done, as far as I know, in any other book and so opens up new horizons as well." Click here to buy in USA, Canada and the Pacific, Click here to buy in Europe and Asia in association with Amazon.com |
Another book that I would thoroughly recommend is Flora Domestica. This is a history of English Floral Art compiled by the Trust in England and good reading too Keep up the good work. Sincerely Mary (South Africa)" Flora Domestica: the History
of Flower Arranging by Mary Rose Blacker
Click here to buy in USA, Canada and the Pacific |
