New South Wales Floral Art Association ‘Flora Australis’

Congratulations to the committee of the New South Wales Floral Art Association on staging a wonderful event.

The NSW International Floral Spectacular titled ‘Flora Australis’ was a fantastic week of floral fun and fellowship with numerous workshops and demonstrations offered to those in attendance.  

Our own WA Floral Art Society members did our society very proud and although not everyone was awarded a place, their designs were a credit to each of them.  Special congratulations are extended to Jeannette Hudson on her stunning ‘Outback Bride’ Bouquet, which was awarded a 1st place – to Jean Shine for her 2nd place exhibit in the ‘Floral Australis Championship Class’ and 3rd place in the ‘Something Nasty in the Wood Shed’ exhibit – and to Eileen Wenn for her 3rd place in the ‘Glorious Confusion’ class.  All member’s contributions and their achievements are detailed below. 

It was also during this time that the Australian Floral Art Association (AFAA) held a meeting of all State Groups and where Western Australia became the Management Committee of our National Association for the next 3 years.

The Western Australian AFAA Management Committee members are: Eileen Wenn (President), Debbie Skroza (Vice President),  Dianne Buckles (Secretary), Valerie Roy (Treasurer), Jean Shine (Newseditor), Committee : Julia Wates, Joan Boorman, Betty Orr, Elaine Holden, Alison Tweedie, Denise Shelbourn & Sharon Cunningham.

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REPORT ON 'FLORA AUSTRALIS' by Eileen Wenn 

Flora Australis was a wonderful success - NSW did it very well with a fantastic team of helpers working tirelessly all weekend.  They attracted many international visitors to the show from South Africa, Pakistan, Oman, India, Ireland and New Zealand and probably more. Combined with the ABC Garden Expo thousands of people enjoyed the show every day.  West Australian Floral Art Society members did very well and staged very creative designs (see results and images above).   

Our state exhibit design done by Dianne and Betty certainly had the WOW factor. Congratulations to Jeanette Hudson for her success in the Outback bride and Jean Shine also for her lovely design in Flora Australis and Something nasty in the Wood Shed.   Other WAFAS Members Jan Steele, Alison Tweedie, Leonie Joss and myself also competed in several classes and can all be very proud of our State's work.  Its certainly a huge achievement to fly so far with all the preparation and props to stage, not to mention the excess luggage bill!

The workshops were fantastic, they kept us busy learning many new techniques and styles with Gregor Lersch and other designers while enjoying time with flower friends. 

I felt calm and comfortable during my demonstration ‘In a Contemporary Manner’ and my design worked as I had hoped.  The response and interest in my technique and design from the audience later was overwhelming. A fantastic week of flowers and friendships finished with the Australian Floral Art Association meeting on Monday (where WA officially took over as the Management Committee for our National Association)…bringing home the work for the next three years

Eileen accepts the 'AFAA President's Badge'  

from Past President Irene McIndoe

Report compiled for the WAFAS Newsletter by Eileen Wenn Sep 09  

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WA FLORAL ART SOCIETY INC 'State Exhibit'

NSW ‘Flora Australis’ International Floral Spectacular

The West Australian Floral Art Society ‘State Exhibit’  

'Non Competitive Design'

Staged on behalf of our Society by Dianne Buckles & Betty Orr  

As requested, I have put ‘pen to paper’ to record our time in creating the WA Floral Art Society’s exhibit staged in NSW. 

Not having a great deal of time to spend on this exhibit, it became essential that the title of ‘This Ancient Land’ provided immediate inspiration - and luckily gave rise to thoughts of the stunning Kimberly Region in the far north of our State – a pristine, unique and awe-inspiring place, where areas such as King George & Eagle Rock Falls create stunning displays and nearby the ‘Bradshaws’ - possibly the oldest aboriginal paintings known to man are found. 

So, embedded in the mind was an image of rock formations with cascades of water tumbling over rugged outcrops, with an abundance of plant materials oozing between cracks and caverns  -  and while one can hold these images in the mind, it becomes another thing to organise these images into a design capable of travelling from one side of Australia to the other.  Oh and if you’re wondering ….Yes, I did ask myself on occasions …. ’Why do we do this to ourselves – and no I don’t have an answer !’.     

So the ‘rock’ idea became the basis of this design and with only weeks to try and get a form into shape, it was a quick stop at the polystyrene shop where I purchased 2 x 5 ½ feet tall pieces of foam blocks (about 12” thick) and started the ‘add on’ (glued on smaller pieces to create ‘outcrops’) and sculpturing process to try and capture ‘This Ancient Land’.    With images of the strata formations the ‘rock’ quickly took on its own shape and after a day of sculpturing the ‘end’ was in sight.  The painting of the rock took numerous coats to achieve the desired effect and once complete, they were ‘packed and wrapped’ to form 2 perfect looking ‘mummies’’ (most public comment at the airports pertained to some sort of ‘carcass’ under transportation!) weighing approx 3.5 kg each. Mark Skroza kindly created a base and stand for us (each part screwing into the other) which supported and bound the pieces together.   Unfortunately, with a multitude of other tasks requiring attention the ‘rock’ was then ‘shelved’ until time permitted more thought into what plant materials and accessories would complement this design.  As we have all experienced on occasions – sadly ‘time did get away from us’, and it wasn’t until the week before staging this exhibit, that time permitted any thought as to what plant materials would be used - and knowing that we would not be able to source materials native to that region, decided to use ‘COLOUR & FORM’ of the PLANT MATERIALS to mimic the ancient Kimberley Region.   Colours of ochre, orange, gold, brown and green would be a consideration.   A frantic call to wholesalers in NSW initially reported that we had missed the cut off time to order the ‘strata’ coloured anthiriums, but after several calls, eventually found a wholesaler sympathetic to our cause and we were able to confirm an order – at least we had made a start!. 

The ‘rocks’ travelled very well and made an impressive entrance at Sydney airport, and we can report if anyone is looking for some attention or comments, then we can recommend travelling with such pieces – ‘talk about a chic magnet’..  Although the ‘check in’ staff at Perth Airport did seem a little disappointed there were no ‘weight’ issues with the ‘rocks’.

The day before staging was dedicated to collecting plant materials and with a pick up time of 4.15am (to visit the incredible Sydney Flower Markets) it was a relief to know the anthiriums had arrived, and we were then able to source a variety of other plant materials from the hundreds of wholesalers located onsite. It was certainly worth the early rise to visit these bustling flower markets. 

Competitors and exhibitors were permitted staging times from 7.00am till 4.00pm, and so commencing at 9.00am Betty and I simply enjoyed playing with flowers and creating the WA Floral Art Society State exhibit.  As this exhibit was to be viewed all around the ‘rock’ had 12 placements of flowers that were placed at the bases, sides and on top of the design and with the final structure being over 10 feet tall, became easily recognised.  Plant materials included the ‘strata’ anthiriums, orange sim carnations, rust coloured roses, ‘sunburst’ leucospermums, nandina, umbrella fern and various other foliages including monsterea, aspidistra and xanadu leaves.  To create the waterfall effect, the palm flower stems ‘sprouted’ from the top design and cascaded over the front and back of the rocks. Moss, large pieces of wood and other materials completed the WA Floral Art Society State exhibit, and Cecily Rogers from NSW (and her husband) must be thanked for offering to supply a base, wood and nandina – your support was very much appreciated and made our task so much easier.  The ‘Rock’ certainly created much interest and delighted many who had experienced the wonders of the Kimberly Region, and who could relate to the use of Colour and Form to ‘mimic’ ‘THIS ANCIENT LAND’.  

Thanks Betty for your patience and assistance– to Joan and Glenys who helped clean the plant materials and to Deb for the use of her wonderful shed, where we cut, chiselled and made one hell of a mess, but had an enjoyable time.

To all the members who staged designs at these competitions, a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ALL on creating some fantastic designs (see images above) –your efforts were very much admired by a huge number of visitors to this wonderful event.

Hopefully members were pleased with the exhibit we staged on their behalf      

Report compiled for the WAFAS Newsletter by Dianne Buckles Sep 09  

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STEP BY STEP PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD OF CREATING THE 'ROCK'

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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.au

Last updated: August 26, 2011.