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Internationally renowned floral designer Craig Bullock visited Western Australia and provided 3 workshops and a floral demonstration in August 2004. A truly wonderful week of floral fund and friendship working under the direction of talented floral designer Craig Bullock. The following reports have been compiled by members of this Society. -----------
To
President Dianne and Committee WA Floral Art Society Congratulations
to you all on a fantastic, wonderful week of sharing our friendships and the
love and joy of flower arranging in such a very, very special way. Thank you for
your dedication, commitment and passion to reach for the top and achieve. All
your hard work and time is so appreciated. Its on occasions like this that I
wished I could live in Perth to share the workload. You
all deserve gold! Gold! Gold!.
The demo was just fantastic - Wow! stunning! inspiring! incredible!
inspirational! Craig's enjoyment, lovely personality and humour with his love of
nature just shone through and I would hope touched everyone's senses and heart
with
the joy that our beautiful medium can and that they will be inspired to go on
from this fantastic week and all work together in harmony with a growing love of
flower arranging and friendship that come from this. I
am a very proud member of our Floral Art Society and its outstanding
achievements. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Written
by Eileen
Wenn -----------------------
....... 'What a wonderful afternoon on Saturday - I don't think I have laughed so much and appreciated floral art so much all in one hit. Those who did not attend missed a rare treat. Thanks to all the committee - they deserve a huge pat on the back.... Written by Julia Wates -----------------------
........
The West Australian Floral Art Society was once again fortunate to experience
the magnificent Demonstrations and workshops conducted by Internationally
renowned UK Floral Designer
“Craig
Bullock”.
The workshop brought the best out of the ‘Participants’ and delighted
the ‘Observers’ –
as Craig encourages everyone to extend their floral
skills with his constructive comments, and is always
appreciative of each exhibitors creative designs. The
Demonstrations - Well how fantastic was that! Craig
overwhelmed all of us, as he normally does so easily with his unique approach to
Floral Design; he delighted those
in attendance with several stunning creations. Craig’s talent to
show nature at its best and extending it to the limit was quite inspiring.
Included in his selection of scrumptious designs was a tall arrangement titled: “Cascade”.
In this design, Craig incorporated several large dried palm flowers and a long
cascading piece of green sheoak attached to the side of a large frame.
A wonderful piece of driftwood was secured to the top of this frame creating
rhythm and movement (just like a large wave). Plant materials including
red anthuriums, red kangaroo paws and red gerberas were threaded through the
cascading materials to complete this display - What a Stunner !! As
Craig would say ‘it was just Gooorgeooous!’ Throughout the demonstration, Craig entertained us with his witty sense of Humour. Overall, it was a fantastic day of learning and feeling nature at its best under the spell of a great conductor “Craig Bullock”. At the end of the demonstrations, Craig was duly presented with a standing ovation in recognition of his excellent talent as an Artist and Demonstrator. Written by Chris Gray (Senior Vice President) -----------------------
Last
weekend we were again entertained and treated to a demonstration of interest and
humour
by a true artist in Craig Bullock. His
theme of nature and what it provides was wonderfully portrayed. As floral
artists we can learn from this and use materials we
call commonplace
to greater effect as it is not the material that is commonplace but the limited
ways we use it. We need to increase our creativity with
what is readily available to us. From
the onset of the demonstration we were shown how to relax and not get too
focused on sticking to one plan of attack when creating. The monsteria leaf
Craig used looked great whether pinned or not.
Many wonderful ideas can get lost when stress and nervousness take over. There
were two main features of Craig’s demonstration that stuck in my mind. He
showed how to use subtle contrast of colour within one monochromatic field. The
various shades of orange, reds and purples gave a wonderful effect. I
was so pleased to see him use a banksia branch with a mutation…. An
imperfection of nature… something nature has provided. We are always looking
for the perfect flower, leaf or branch overlooking the beauty of nature’s
imperfections. The Japanese stage skit was a delight to see. Well done
Dianne! I’m sure we all went away feeling great after an afternoon
of flowers, fun and laughter. A
big thank you to the committee for all the hard work involved in setting up for such a wonderful event. Written by Joyce VanKleef -----------------------
WORKSHOPS WITH CRAIG BULLOCK (Reports written by Coralie Shattock) ‘PLATEAU’ 18/8/04 What
a day of fun, flowers and fellowship! Craig was in fine form, witty,
knowledgeable and generous. On
arriving at St. Patrick’s Hall (a really suitable venue, even the lime green
doors provided good backdrops for photographs) we all laid out our varied
materials as Craig had been purposefully vague about exact requirements to
encourage creativity. Cuppas and bikkies flowed all day and a sumptuous shared
lunch kept our stomachs in check. Craig
entertained us, encouraged us to challenge ourselves (as well as the judges) by
being creative and stressed to always have fun and enjoy our floral work. He
then constructed a tepee (using plastic zip ties) on which he hung on
overflowing circle of sheoak branch (with the Olympics in mind) then threaded
native flowers on one side. It was a very simple but effective design which he
balanced by its placement on one end of the table. Then
it was our turn, 18 people set to work with another 20 moving around the room
gleaning ideas. We
had to make a construction on which we could attach a platform or plateau which
held our flowers. Many
people followed Craig’s example of threading materials together and not always
using tubes to keep the flowers alive, great for working quickly. Following
lunch Craig moved around the designs, highlighting the positives of each one,
with an occasional suggestion for improving or developing the design. Craig’s
imaginative descriptions, for example earthy, ethereal, chicks in a nest, Eiffel
Tower etc left us all looking with fresh eyes. Our final creative challenge for the day was transporting our 4 foot plus arrangements home!!
‘EPHEMERAL’
19./8.04 Packing
up again but with no trepidation having already experienced Craig’s laid back
style on Wednesday! We
only had 2 hours but it was power packed, Craig quickly put everyone at ease and
then started working on his own demonstration piece based on a rusty metal stand
draped with old chicken wire.(wouldn’t we all love access to Debbie’s shed.)
Just one placement of a branch of sheoak looked terrific. A minimum of materials
were used, roses and tulips with drippings of Spanish moss. An ephemeral look
achieved in no time. Then
it was our turn for the dozen who had “moods” to produce. Others observed,
served us with coffee and cake and watched our designs emerge.
Craig was once again ever helpful with suggestions, even producing the microwave glass plate to use as a base, and making sure we were enjoying our work. On
completion of our designs Craig asked each participant to explain their piece of
work. (One of the judges commented on how interesting it was to hear the reasons
behind each person’s interpretation, something they don’t hear when work is
on the benches!) Craig then constructively critiqued each piece- his imaginative
and evocative words helped add to each design, some titles being “cool heads
over hot heads”, “cinnamon sugar”, “thoughts”, “masked anger ”and
“dreams”. Time passed so quickly but so much was achieved. Thanks again to all who helped organize Craig’s time with us, a truly exciting, enriching and fun time!
WEST AUSTRALIAN FLORAL ART SOCIETY INC Workshops conducted by Internationally renowned Floral Designer CRAIG BULLOCK August 2003
The West Australian Floral Art Society Inc in conjunction with the Tasmanian Floral Art Society were very pleased to have Internationally renowned UK floral designer Craig Bullock conduct two workshops on contemporary floral design on Saturday the 2nd August 2003.
Members and floral designers from affiliated clubs came from around the state to attend and were inspired by designs presented by Craig. Both subjects created much interest and floral artists were very appreciative of the subject materials and found the workshops to be stimulating and informative and were very appreciative of the helpful 'tips' offered by Craig.
'Strata' was the title of a challenging morning workshop followed by the afternoon session titled 'Hedging'. Craig provided comprehensive talks on both designs, affording members an insight into his contemporary designs and it was apparent that his work is guided by observations of nature and wishing to give more integrity to his materials.
Members thoroughly enjoyed these workshops further enhancing their floral skills in contemporary floral design and having the opportunity to work and learn from such an admired and talented floral designer. Compiled by Dianne Buckles CRAIG BULLOCK (extracted from the Tasmanian Floral Art Society Inc Programme where Craig
was invited to Demonstrate at their Seminar) He
works as National Demonstrator and Teacher through NAFAS (National Association
of Flower Arrangement Societies) UK and internationally. With Carol
Firmstone, runs a quality-learning centre in creative studies at The Studio,
Montford Cottage where City and Guilds garden and contemporary design workdays
and master classes are offered on a regular basis. Craig is an external
verifier for City & Guilds. He
has gained many major awards including – 1996 First and Special Award for
Texture at WAFA (World Association of Flower Arrangers) Wellington NZ Show; 2002
First prize WAFA (World Association of Flower Arrangers) Glasgow Show; NAFAS
National Competitions, 2 “Best In Show” awards (is one of only a few
competitors to hold the Gold Ribbon Award for consistent competitive
excellence); 1992 Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal team leader. Founder
Chairman of Club in the Park – Britain’s first Contemporary Floral Design
Group. Has featured on television in UK, NZ, Hong Kong and Barbados as
well as many radio interviews. He has written many articles for “The
Flower Arranger” and “Floral” magazines and others, including the chapter
on show work in the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Flower Arranging. Craig
does significant voluntary work for NAFAS and opens his garden under the
National Garden Scheme. Craig’s
philosophy is that floral design is an art form, just as in the 18th century
there were no bounds between mainstream art and horticultural art. His work is
guided by observations of nature and wishing to giver more integrity to his
materials. He wises greater accessibility to Art, and to raise the profile of
plant life as an Art Medium. Conversely he is also attracted to floral
humour. His mission is to “Cut Loose” from old images, but still be inspired by the classics. He recently has returned to full time study on a foundation Art in Design course which will lead to a Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from September 2003.
To view designs staged at this seminar please follow this link.
Letters from Members of the West Australian Floral Art Society Inc regarding workshops conducted by Craig Bullock
Letter from Joyce Van Kleef
I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to be able to attend the recent Craig Bullock workshops. It was a day to remember. From the onset of the workshop we were all put at ease by Craig’s unique style and his easy manner .We knew we were in for a relaxing, enjoyable and informative day. The two sessions gave priority to originality and creativity. These two factors are of the utmost importance if we as a club are to advance our skills and be competitive on any stage As a student for the day I found Craig to be very supportive and encouraging. He had his own style but allowed us a lot of variation on the theme that he demonstrated. The rigidity that often dictates a style was absent. As a consequence, the participants created a variety of wonderful floral pieces. Stan’s strata piece, for example, was a work of art! As a teacher I found Craig to be very innovative. He didn’t dictate his ideas but instead became the catalyst from which we could further expand our knowledge and skills. Art cannot be taught but develops from within with the right direction and encouragement from our contemporaries. Craig gave individual constructive advice on each participant’s piece constructed in the workshops. He was very quick to point out effective uses for our Australian plant materials. He talked to us as equals and we loved his humour and spontaneity Lastly, as a judge, I found Craig to be extremely quick in identifying all the positives in each participants work. I admired the way he was able to sincerely appreciate each persons creation. His quote, “everything is right” gave freedom of expression to all, yet kept the principles and elements of design intact. He was a true artist. WA Floral Art Society Website 'Site Map'
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Website developed and managed for the West Australian Floral Art Society Inc by Dianne Buckles.For any problems or questions regarding this website please contact Dianne on email : dbuckles@bigfoot.com.auLast updated: November 13, 2006. |
