The assignment for each florist was to create an arrangement corresponding to an assigned painting or other work of art in the permanent collection. 150 floral designers rose to the challenge, and the 2011 display of bouquets is the best yet. City College of San Francisco, the College of San Mateo, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Flower Committee numbered among the participants, along with garden clubs from San Francisco, Woodside-Atherton, Orinda, Marin and Filoli.
Art Exhibit at the deYoung Museum
The deYoung Museum of San Francisco, California is located in Golden Gate Park, next to the Japanese Tea Garden. At the entrance, dozens of gerbera daisies sprouting from a carpet of moss greeted visitors. Then inside, a breathtaking piece called Floreal by Dominique Pfahl and Antony DeLeon commanded attention. Inspired by the scene of giant stone blocks outside the window of the museum's entrance, the designers had crafted a faux painting from dogwood twigs, tree branches, reindeer moss, craspedia flowers and sallal leaves. Giant bugs were perched along the artwork to delight or dismay. A self-proclaimed entomologist claimed the insects were real and an African species, but he apparently didn't read the description. The bugs were made of paper.
Next to Floreal stood Plan Decor by Karen Baba of San Mateo, a magnificent seven-foot tall arrangement of flax, succulents, star eucalyptus, aralia and weeping willow. A few steps away from Plan Decor in the Wilsey Court was a regal costume by Terry Gross and Stefan Blumar of San Francisco. Urban Chateau was their interpretation of a fashion photograph by Irving Penn from a 1967 issue of Vogue magazine. Gross and Blumar had dressed up an evening gown and wrap made of black silk, lace and beads with tightly grouped red and white roses to stunning effect.
2011 Bouquets to Art Exhibit in San Francisco, California
In 2011 most of the designers passed up curly willows in favor of pussy willows and woody vines, and calla lilies, tulips, roses and orchids were the dominant flowers. Blades of bear grass were woven together in a few pieces and others had them spraying through flower heads. Hanging amaranthus, succulents, bamboo and reindeer moss were also prevalent. Many florists glued leaves tightly together over bases or wired supports to look like feathers.
Regula's European Design interpreted a colorful abstract painting using sake bottles, yellow and white electrical wire, vegetable packing material, yellow callas, red gerbera daisies, painted canvas and a plexiglass sand frame. The striking piece took her 45 to 50 hours to design and assemble. "I felt challenged by Sam Francis's work in thinking how I could translate his exquisite two-dimensional work into a three-dimensional splash of colors," she said. "First, I got inspired, and then I got wired!
Charlotte Mayfield of Charlotte's Blossoms in San Francisco, an annual presenter known for her elaborate creations, impressed viewers once again with three identical arrangements interpreting Penelope, a sculpture by Franklin Simmons. Mayfield completely covered the vases and their pedestals with leaves from rubber plants, then stuffed the containers with an abundance of hydrangeas, pussy willows and stocks to loom above.
An admiring crowd surrounded a dog made of leucadendron, jade leaves, aconium arboreum, tallow berries, hypericum berries, magnolia, ti leaves, fiddleheads, galax leaves and edible nuts for the eyes. Rhonda Stoffel of Grace Street Floral and Event Design was capturing the essence of an ornate wooden mantel nearby which originally stood in the Thurlow Lodge of Menlo Park, California. The amazing structure had two hunting dogs carved on both sides of the fireplace opening.
A whimsical chair made of fantail pussy willow, plum blossoms, black calla lilies, reindeer moss, Spanish moss, leucadendron and lachepodium was entitled Floral Interpretation of Chairs as it nodded to a row of historic and artistic chairs on display in an upstairs gallery. Leila Simms of Half Moon Flowers creatively fashioned the seat portion to look like the stuffing was coming apart and posed the chair legs in acrylic vases.
The 27th Annual Bouquets to Art exhibit runs from March 15 to 19, 2011 and is a fundraiser held to benefit the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Cameras are allowed, and museum visitors can be spotted everywhere snapping pictures of their favorite arrangements. Floral lectures, luncheons, and volunteers wearing hats with sprouting foliage add to the fun. For anyone who loves flowers or is interested in seeing the creative ways flowers can be displayed, Bouquets to Art at the deYoung Museum is a must-see.
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