Monday, November 14, 2016

The Ninth Moon Floral Design Showcase, 2016 version

Instead of sharing one of my Monday vase arrangements today how about we check out the work of some professionals? I timed my Mum-vember visit to Lan Su for the first day of their Ninth Moon Floral Design event. A lot of what I saw was over-the-top crazy business, but there were a few that I thought really stood out, showing amazing craftsmanship or maybe a simple detail that I thought I could someday replicate. Here's what I want to share, in the order their numbered entries appeared in.

Under the Translucent Moon, Erik Witcraft. As a whole this was way to busy for me, but I did appreciate the circular void with what then looked like a beautiful wreath. The simple color palette of red and yellow really stood out.

The Sound of Time, Lin Petrus. I was first drawn into that beautiful floral creation, but then sood back and realized I was looking at a floral gong, complete with a botanical mallet.

Dense and luxurious.

With Fatsia seeds making the seam.

Naamtog Thai Waterfall, Jo Lynn Farrer. I appreciated the complexity of this creation, although I wish the unlit votives had been left behind. They were jarring and took away from the composition.

The botanical detail was amazing.

Off Balance, Brenna Quan. A busy composition until you looked inside the Equisetum hyemale, then everything made sense with a simple floral yin and yang.

Hillside Teahouse Tapestry, Shane Parker

I appreciate it's break with what one expects, and it's detail.

Serendipity, Emily Farnworth

Euphorbia flanaganii!

Speaking of the unexpected, succulents nestled in carpet squares...

A side close-up of leaves tucked within leaves (foliage meets floral). This is somethig we'll see again later. I'm trying to wrap my head around the idea.

Reflection, Coree Ryan. This was the first of the floral arrangements I saw, it took me quite awhile to absorb its complexity.

Upside down flowers are kinda fun.

Especially when reflected by their right-side-up counterparts.

Fusion, Olga Strandberg. Horrid photo! So many of these things were put in front of windows which made photography nearly impossible.

Anyway...this is another where there were things stuck into flowers, here they were other flowers. What do you think?

And again...

Arrangement of Fall Mums, Hilary Horvath

I liked this one for its simplicity. A beautful arrangement just being a beautiful arrangement. And where the heck does one get Ranunculus in November?

The Power of the Moon, Greg C. Lum

Speaking of Ranunculus, that's what I thought these were! Wouldn't you? Then I asked an official looking lady nearby (she had a clipboard) if she knew what they were. Ha! Cones from an Atlas Cedar. Can you even imagine? I am in awe.

Shu & Hua, Michelle Koeppe. Speaking of awe...

This one threw me. So much detail which I wanted to study. Unfortunately there was a another person nearby who had other plans for me. She was the type who can only experience something by having another person back up their verbalized thoughts. I tried to support her but eventually had to walk away. Luckily I snapped several photos first.

A scroll with floral words?

And floral tipped writing instruments?

Beautiful.

Life Anew, Tamara Szarowski. One last arrangement to share...

It to was quite busy (and it's placement wasn't helping in that regard) but I loved the way each orchid bloom was lashed to the whole.

I hope you enjoyed this brief and biased look at the Ninth Moon Floral Showcase. I appreciate the hours of work and dedication it took for all of the creators to put together their entries. Thank you!

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

19 comments:

  1. I much prefer your arrangements. These look very contrived. I think yours display the beauty of the plants much better.

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    1. Thank you so much! I am humbled. But no doubt if these talented people were set with the task of assembling a vase from the garden they'd knock your socks off. I think this competition requires something a little contrived.

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  2. The creativity of floral designers who put things like these together always amazes me. So much to enjoy! Thanks for taking us along. I'll be going back to look at these pictures often.

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    1. I would love to watch them bringing these creations in and placing them. I would be a nervous wreck.

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  3. I appreciate the artistry that went into each of these creations but almost all were too busy and overwhelming for me to enjoy as a whole (despite my own predilection for cramming vases). I agree that there are nice touches in many of the compositions that could become focal points in simpler creations. I don't recall that the arrangements you photographed at this event last year were so densely constructed but perhaps that's the fault of my memory.

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    1. Artistry, that's it exactly. Another level than a normal vase of flowers. I do think last year's were of a similar construction, and in fact a lot of the same names were repeated in the credits.

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  4. Whew! Creative or crazy; hard to decide on many of them. The gong may be my favorite. I loved the mix of compacted blooms. Here it worked. I did think the yellow berries and flowers with the Bird of Paradise was inspired. But overall it was hard to think of these things as plants. They seemed very much like interchangeable products.

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    1. "plant material"...in Landscape Architect parlance?

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  5. All have a much different outlook on foliage and flowers than does the average gardener (me). Really interesting despite not evoking what the plants are in nature. Art using plant material as the medium. I admire the thought, work and design that went into all of those. Thanks for having the patience to take the photos!

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    1. It was a wonderful morning escaping for a but into a different world, I enjoyed the outing and I'm glad to be able to share.

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  6. damn, that was fun ! There were only a few I found extremely unattractive; perhaps cultural or philosophical ignorance on my part. But even those had take-away ideas.And I couldn't help but wonder how long the upside-down flowers will hold up ? There must be an interesting infrastructure deep inside for hydration?

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    1. The exhibit was only up for 3 days, so a water vial firmly attached could have kept them hydrated don't you think?

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  7. Oh, jeepers...the creativity of it all! I love, love, love the teahouse tapestry! Awesome stuff.

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  8. The only one I really liked was the one where you were interrupted by a loquacious fellow viewer. Of course it was the simplest, so easier to get my head around. I liked the way they had manipulated the fern fronds. The others were certainly impressive, even if not exactly my cup of tea.

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    1. Those fern frond curls will stick with me. Funny one of the most "natural" elements of all these arrangements would feel overtly artistic in one of my vases.

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  9. I grew up in Pasadena and we would occasionally find Atlas cedar cones on the ground when walking through older neighborhoods. We always called them wood roses and it was very special to find one.

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    1. Thank you for commenting and sharing this memory Jennie, wood rose is a perfect description. Oh to grow up in Pasadena (for many reasons).

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  10. Sorry I'm a day late coming to look at this post. I really enjoyed these, thanks for sharing your photos. I'm wondering if you'll try incorporating any of their tricks into your own vases in the future.

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