Jenny Tabarracci: Bouquets to Art

Showing posts with label Bouquets to Art. Show all posts

Sunday, April 6, 2014

"Bouquets to Art" Celebrates 30 Years

This year Bouquets to Art celebrated their 30th Anniversary. The design above by Dominique Pfahl owner of Floreal in San Francisco captured the essence of the exhibition. Her design displayed the heart and soul of so many who are part of this premier event in San Francisco. Dominique wrote the following about her design " I thought it would be fitting to create a tree that started as a little sprig in the ground, grew as a beautiful blossoming tree, every year, thanks to the indefatigable hard work of the hundreds of volunteers, the creativity of the floral community of the Bay Area and beyond".......

The exhibition included a one-night showing of Floral Fashions designed by the City College of San Francisco Floristry Students. These talented students were the talk of the town after the Opening Night Gala on Monday, March 17, 2014. Above City College of San Francisco Student Hee Joo models the creations she made with Young Pak. Six other student design teams created floral fashions inspired by artwork in the museum's collection. The guests were captivated by the live models and designs.

Floral Fashion Inspired by the Artwork of Louis Comfort Tiffany

Floral Fashion by CCSF Student Ariel Ermatinger Inspired by the Artwork of Arthur Dove

Floral Fashion by CCSF Student Fiona Li

Drawing by CCSF Student Mia Pettyjohn

Floral Fashion by CCSF Student Mia Pettyjohn Inspired by the Artwork of George De Forest Brush

Floral Fashions for Bouquets to Art 2014. CCSF Student Designers: Nicole Kastle, Oxana Sanukova, Imelda Iraeta, Hee Joo, Young Pak, Carolyn Manan, Takhmina Akramova, Fiona Li, Maria Pettyjohn and Ariel Ermatinger

The exhibit is a great way to visit and catch up with your floral friends. I enjoyed viewing the displays and sharing design experiences with the above Floral Designer Emil Yanos AIFD. He chose the artist Otis Oldfield and was inspired by the Artwork from his series "Building the Bay Bridge". I loved his interpretation.

The exhibit allows me to try new techniques and expand on what I know. The challenges are coming up with a new idea, logistics, selection of appropriate/acceptable material and working the exhibit into your schedule. There are limitations with materials you can and cannot use in the museum. This year the show was extended one more day. The designs need to last for seven days. One of my goals was to come up with a design that would not require a water source and to select materials that dry well. I also like to use new materials in the industry and include trends into the design.

Above are the beginnings of the designs leaf work. I found the metal frame at the department store Ross a few years back. The frame was cemented in a plastic bucket for stability. The leaves on the body are dusty miller glued on their backside and the same was done with the lemon leaves glued on the plastic bucket. Tack 2000 was used for all leaf gluing.

Above is the completion of the gluing process. The square pedestal is made out of plywood. The lemon leaves were glued both front and back sides for this part of the design. The gallery is very dark and small. So I wanted to keep everything light, bright and a manageable size to accommodate the large crowds in the gallery. I focused on clean detail for this design.

This is the completed design displayed in the gallery. I was happy the lighting crew could spot light it! I used a double coil technique with bullion and decorative wire for the smaller necklace. Tiny succulents were sprayed Gold and glued on with clear floral glue. Fresh Floral Jewelry is a popular trend in our industry and I learned many tips in Wendy Andrades book on this topic. The medallion was made out of craspedia accented with a massed bullion lace coil technique. The larger jewelry garland was sculpted with Mega Aluminum Wire a newer product to our industry. I sculpted this with my hands and pliers. I was able to make the shape without any additional mechanics, it holds itself together. I then wired Gold succulents onto the garland frame and glued craspedia for the finishing touches. Gold Chain is used in the design. Another new product to our industry. The Oasis company supplies it. The jewels were given to me from Steven Brown a few years ago and I was happy to make use of them in this design. Some of the artwork was made with Gold thread so I focused on this element for my floral design and also because Gold is a trend now.

Photo provided by Greg A. Lato/latoga photography http://www.latogaphoto.com/

It's always a thrill to see how everything you imagined and planned turns out. Above is the artwork I chose for inspiration. The title is "Athena with Medusa and Gold Snakes" by Marilyn Pappas. I hope you got a chance to see this fabulous show. If not, there's always next year. You can view this beautiful piece of artwork that was hand-embroidered on linen at the de Young museum in San Francisco. Jenny Tabarracci AIFD

For more information about the show go to: http://deyoung.famsf.org/deyoung/exhibitions/bouquets-to-art

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Bouquets to Art 2013 - "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue"

BOUQUETS TO ART 2013

Exhibitor: Jenny Tabarracci AIFD, City College of San Francisco

Assistants: Imelda Iraeta, Sungmum Ryu, David Cushing

Artist: Richard Diebenkorn

Artwork: Miller 22, 1951


"Something Old"

These garlands of abaca black mesh, pearls, silver beads and decorative wire were used 4 years ago in an AIFD presentation and ISES event. I consider this my "Something Old" in the design. I packed and stored them and was able to use them for the third time for Bouquets to Art this year. The mesh comes in a roll and originally came from Accent Decor. You can also buy it at Shibata at the San Francisco Flower market in different colors. It was cut in half and shaped into garlands with decorative accents. This is a great mechanic that can be used over and over again. This was the main mechanic that held the Bouquets to Art design together. It was attached to the metal stands with black cable ties.

"Something New"

The design concept, combination of materials and the way they are used represents the "Something New". The materials were chosen because in my eye they portrayed a similar feeling and characteristic as the shapes, colors and lines of the painting. I was also influenced by the other paintings in the room and wanted to create a design that would blend well. I designed the materials in an organic repetitious fashion with lots of depth, layering and circular motion. The floral materials used in this design were silver dollar eucalyptus, tillandsia and anthuriums. The anthuriums were the only material that had a water source which was a water tube sprayed black.

Detail work through out the entire design.

The floral design was also inspired by the art work of Robert Motherwell titled "At Five in the Afternoon"

Prep work for the silver dollar eucalyptus garlands. Leaves are cut off branches, put in piles and then strung on black 12 gauge aluminum wire with a stacking technique. The wire is curved tightly at the beginning and end of each section so the materials will not slip off.

Silver dollar eucalyptus garlands completed in different sizes. Then attached to metal frames and mesh with black cable ties. Garlands sculpted around and into the design for final technique.


"Something Borrowed"

I borrowed these metal stands from the Retail Floristry Department at City College. You can buy them at Accent Decor. They are the frame work to the design. Holes were drilled at the base and secured with screws into custom pedestals made out of plywood.

"Something Blue"

Blue "Co-Flex" a cohesive flexible bandage was used to wrap around the metal frames. This is something I came across riding horses. It is used in the horse world regularly and comes in all different colors. It works well in floral design and does not need glue. The painting has small accents of blue and I wanted to portray the same effect with the floral design.

Metal frames were first wrapped with the blue Co-Flex and then the mesh was added with black cable ties. This was the key mechanic to the design. The mesh really held everything together.

Sometimes it takes two people to get the mechanic just right.

Thank you to my assistants Sun, Imelda and David! Hope everyone had a chance to see the show. Many, Many amazing designs! Congratulations to all!

Design Supplies

Black abaca mesh, water tubes sprayed black, jewels, beads, pearls from Accent Decor, blue Co-Flex, black cable ties, black 12 gauge aluminum wire, black and silver 24 gauge decorative wire.

Friday, March 30, 2012

BOUQUETS TO ART 2012 - BEHIND THE SCENES

"Ruth Asawa's wire sculptures and her concept of classic shapes
with unexpected materials was the inspriration for the floral design.
Her weaving and tying of wire, circular shapes inside each other and the
shadows they project are brilliant techniques for floral designers to
expand and explore." Jenny Tabarracci

Twenty years ago I experienced my first Bouquets to Art. I was lucky to assist a talented designer of a wonderful flower shop that was located in Mill Valley, CA. (Hastings and Hastings). This experience was exhilarating and I dreamed of being a designer in the show one day. My first opportunity exhibiting was in1998 and each year is just as challenging and inspiring as the next. The creativity of the show is amazing.   I wanted to address some of the most common questions asked to me about the show. I hope this provides more insight on what happens behind the scenes for a floral designer at Bouquets to Art.

1. How do you decide on the art work?

     The floral designers pick their top 5 choices and the BTA
      committee selects one of these.

2. How does one go about exhibiting in the show?

     The floral designers are selected and invited by the BTA
      committee. You can ask the committee to be an
      exhibitor or you can be recommended. They may want
      to see your work and meet with you.

3. How often do you refresh the design?

      This depends on the materials one uses. The designs
       can be refreshed an hour before the museum opens or
       closes.

4. Who pays for the flowers and materials?

      The exhibitors pay for all of their design expenses.

5. Can you use any materials that you want?

      No, the museum prohibits the use of some materials.
      The BTA committee provides the floral designers with a
      list of what is acceptable.