Hello,
February Flower Thoughts
This month we're looking at the value of trends, a finely crafted floral heart and looking at what's ahead.
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Technology has increased our reach and awareness of what’s going on in the flower world globally - there is such amazing diversity and many different practices going on. This makes it increasingly difficult to identify a singular trend - the one trend. Thinking about this though did make me wonder more about where ‘trends’ come from, or how they evolve.
Personally, I think it is more important to follow the interests, practices and techniques that resonate with you, rather than to follow what is popular, or what is ‘on trend’. Commercially driven trends are designed to drive sales. From a purely creative perspective, following what interests you, popular or not, is more likely to result in more authentic designs and offer greater personal satisfaction.
Perhaps a trend can offer value and keep us fresh by pulling us beyond what we know or are already comfortable with. But how can we more actively stretch ourselves away from our comfort zones, and continue to enjoy being creative?
The new trend (if it can be defined that way?) of ‘linking’ espoused by Gregor Lersch provides an opportunity to take what we know and evolve it in new ways - taking existing floral concepts and connecting them together through design experimentation and exploration, to uncover possible new styles or even trends. Linking can produce innovative ideas - maybe it will be more a source of future trends, rather than a trend itself.
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A design linking the concepts ‘planted design’ and ‘cut flowers’.
What other trends are we seeing?
Displacement designs have been embraced as a valuable learning tool and a fantastic means of creative expression, so much so that they have become a trend by their sheer volume and ubiquity in our flower worlds. Which is great, since they are also challenging, fascinating and fun, and they offer extended possibilities for design exploration.
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Displacement design at the Boerma Instituut, The Netherlands
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Materials assembled to create substantial, monolithic forms are having a moment - particularly on Instagram. These mass forms favour volume and quantity, with a reduced focus on focal areas, linear materials and line directions, and negative space.
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A new take on still life designs, maybe better described as contemporary assemblages, is also beginning to emerge as a theme, perhaps soon to be a trend. Frédéric Dupré has created some thought provoking examples.
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Modern assemblages or contemporary interpretations of ‘still life’ designs by Frédéric Dupré.
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Design of the Month - February
February is a great month for heart-shape designs - a classic form that offers a lot of scope for personalisation and creativity.
This Design of the Month is plenteous in those qualities in spades, and was created by the renowned Belgian Designer Moniek Vanden Berghe. I have been very fortunate to witness firsthand Moniek’s tactile and sculptural approach to floral design (I am even luckier to call her a close friend).
Her designs are often infused with a delicacy that softens the clear outlines she frequently works within.
Moniek’s heart contains some of her signature materials - Vanda Orchids and fluffy Clematis seed heads. It also contains a most appropriately named ‘Love in a Puff’(Cardiospermum halicacabum). It's a meticulously conceived and detailed work that offers inspiration all year round.
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Heart design in white and blue.
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Refine Your Design with Flower Thinking Soon
This April, examine the elements of design with me, one at a time, and gain a stronger understanding of each, and the interplay of the elements as a whole.
At the start of One Container Five Elements we'll choose a vessel and then, after analysing its line, colour, form, texture and spatial qualities, use it in five different exercies. Each time we'll bring to the fore one element and gain better understanding of its value in the creative process. Some very instructive examples of designs created as part of One Container Five Elements can be found David Berger's Guest Designer Gallery at www.flowerthinking.com.
If you want to master proportion in design, Design Directions can help deepen your understanding of design styles while concentrating on how proportions are directed in floral compositions. Linear, long, low and leaning challenges will enrich how you apply the principles of design.
Both One Container Five Elements and Design Directions start in April, with classes offered in time zones for the Americas (on Mondays around 7:30pm Washington DC time) and for Australia and NZ (on Tuesdays around 6:00pm).
You can check the timetables and course details below .
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Thank you for reading.this edition of Flower Thoughts. Did you know you can read all the back issues? You'll find them at flowerthinking.com.
Enjoy the botanical bounties that these next mid-seasons, Autumn and Spring, bring us.
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