August brings the OFAD Organization of Floral Art Designers symposium and I am honored to be part of a team of talented floral design presenters. Each of us prepares and presents a two-hour demonstration and a series of workshops are also available.
My part in the OFAD symposium will be a demonstration titled “Art Nouveau—Inspiration from the Natural World” and also a workshop which will instruct a non-floral foam technique to make garlands and cascade designs.
The Art Nouveau movement emerged as a reaction from the strict academic art and architecture of the Victorian Era. This break-through art movement lasted until the beginning of World War 1 in 1914 and spanned the European continent as well as America.
You can find more about Art Nouveau and see more designs in “My Adventures” October 2020.
Kiwi branch with its curve and winding ends is the perfect branch for Art Nouveau designs. I will be using lots and lots of kiwi at OFAD.
The cascade design is an example of Art Nouveau with asymmetric balance and winding placement of branches, leaves, and flowers. Using a series of tubes in winding wire garland, the cascading flowers may be placed without the use of floral foam.
Trade opened up with Japan and Japanese and woodcut prints became very popular. They were affordable because the printing process allowed for multiple copies to me made relatively inexpensively. The above vase holds a wave inspired structure waiting for flowers in the OFAD demonstration.
On a walk through Paris you will find metro station entrances which were constructed for the Exposition Universelle of 1900. Hector Guimard created a series of entrances to the newly built metro system. Going underground for transportation was a totally new idea and even a bit scary and the entrances are thought to resemble the “mouth of the beast.” How brave for travelers to venture in!!
A spiral of green twig dogwood cornus serica looks a bit like Guimard’s metro entrance.
The newly renovated Paris department store, Sanmaritaine, gives the Art Nouveau peacock motif an updated look. Curving arches and the popular peacock motif abound with intricate metal work and a delightful combination of curving lines and vibrant colors. The metal work continues with wonderful orange palm trees over the escalators.
It’s such fun to plan some Art Nouveau inspired designs using winding lines and whiplash curves. I hope to see some of you in San Francisco and will share more designs with you in August.
Happy summer!
