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Yellow Rose and Branch Hands | Tattoo Designs
Wooden roses allow one to use a large range of colours; arranging flowers is a bit like running the country. Barack Obama has to gather his supporters, arrange for them to be in the right place at the right time and have strong opinions expressed at important points in time. There are situations in which he has to use subtlety and quiet, clear thinking. His approach is designed to suit the task or the moment or the people at hand.
Floral art has similar demands on the practitioners. You need to assess what kind of an event it is for which you are designing an arrangement of flowers. What are the personalities of those involved, should it be quiet and calm, should it be conservative, should it be lively and energetic or should it be unusual and creative?
It can be truly breathtaking to create a swathe of flowers across a table that has a change of colour from say dark blue, moving to purple and changing through to deep red. Sometimes a strong contrasting accent of colour such as a bright yellow group somewhere in a colourful throng of flowers can really lift a display that you have created. It is important not to forget the supporting material that is always part of the floral artist's armoury, such as flax leaves and palm fronds and cedar branches and pine cones and all of the other natural and created accoutrements that can be used to contrast or complement the arrangement or tease the eye.
If you take note of how a consummate politician like Barack Obama deals with the national and international issues that arise, you will see some of the qualities of the conductor of an orchestra and of course the arranger of flowers and foliage, the floral artist. Didn't know you were a politician did you?
There are times when tactical decisions need to be made when creating a new arrangement for an event. Are any of the principal participants allergic to any types of flowers? If so, one solution is to use wooden roses or other created flowers. Are there particular types of flowers that have bad memories for the participants? Is there a particular flower that is wanted in the display? Do you need to be aware of any culturally significant aspects of flowers (good or bad). The type of event will also affect the mood you wish to create. A twenty first would give you different opportunities from a wedding or a fiftieth anniversary. You would go from light lively and great creative freedom to more traditional and conservative effects (depending on the individuals). See, you are a politician!
I enjoy creating a roomful of flowers, and I like the flexibility afforded by wooden roses or indeed many artificial flowers. My preference is for bunches or groups of roses that are close but not exactly the same colour. I like to place these arrangements in such a way that the room colour appears to change gradually across the space available. As I mentioned before I like to include an accent of contrasting colour occasionally appearing in some of the bunches. This intensifies the original colour and gives a visual anchor here and there as the eye crosses the room.
Often people are surprised to discover that the wooden roses are not in fact real and need to touch them to reassure themselves that they are made of wood. I am eagerly awaiting another box of wooden roses so that I can experiment with some new ideas I have.
I would encourage you to experiment with flowers, real or hand made, and be bold, don't be afraid to experiment. Go to other peoples' displays and see what is being created, but don't slavishly follow what seems to be the trend. Decide what you like and copy it at home. When you are invited to weddings have a look at what has been achieved with the flowers. Do you see anything that inspires ideas? Don't be afraid to write yourself notes and ideas as you see or are inspired by things around you.
I have seen some displays that show little feeling for design or creativity, but nonetheless still create a pleasant atmosphere. What you should aim to achieve is something people notice and love and are affected by. There are some very creative flower arrangers out there with great imaginations and a wonderfully original sense of colour. Flowers up high and down low use the room space with great aplomb. Huge bunches contrasting with single flowers and bright bursts of sunlight yellow vying with deep purple and dark blue accents.
I hope I have given you some ideas to play with when arranging flowers at home to brighten up your space or to create something more formal for friends or family.
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