Behind the Design - event flowers

17 Feb

Much as a painter creates a different work of art each time they sit down to paint

so I create something different each time I work with flowers.

A couple of summers ago I created multiple designs for tables.

I photographed each design, front and back, in the same place to demonstrate just how different each was and to highlight the interaction of the ingredients within each design.

Each piece entirely different, not only from each other, but also whichever way it was viewed.

floral-artist-designer — It was July so the flowers are all locally grown

summer flowers

Photographing them in this way demonstrates my process perfectly.

All designs were created by the same person (me!), from the same selection of flowers, in the same vessel on the same day. The only variables were the time of day and how I was feeling at the time.

Each design is an individual piece of art, not made to a recipe or to match each other, but to be a single representation of that one moment in time, whilst still being cohesive.

As I designed, I was drawn to different flowers for each piece.

Sometimes the first stem picked up dictated the style or shape; very often it would dictate the rest of the colours used. I’m very selective with my colour combinations and blends, this is where a lot of the magic happens.

Having worked previously as an out-and-out wedding and event floral designer, I know first hand what it is to create multiple versions of the same design.

The same flowers are used in the same quantity in every piece and, to ensure even more consistency, each design would be created approximately in thirds, ensuring a similar view from all sides.

To me, that way of designing is missing an opportunity to showcase and elevate the utter, unique beauty of all the individual ingredients, no matter how delicate.

Flowers growing in a garden don’t match each other

neither do trees in a park.

They each grow in their own beautiful way, reacting splendidly to their individual location and interacting uniquely with their neighbours.

I strongly believe that florals are works of art and should match no more than artworks commissioned from an artist or painter.

All these designs are pieces created for a real-life wedding.

The choice of flowers and colours were left to me, to be a true representation of the summer flowers available on that day. Whether I have a limited colour palette or a wide one like this, I work in exactly the same way

By treating them as individual pieces, each is allowed to be as unique and beautiful as it can be.

Each having its own little focal point, flourish, twiddle or gesture that makes it fabulous in its own right.

Each of these designs is completely different from wherever they are viewed. That, to me, is a good thing. I can’t EVER imagine any guest at an event complaining because they have a different view of the flowers from someone else??