Floral art exhibit the bursting out into flower

21 January 2010

Floral art exhibit captures the bursting out into flower

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Patricia Proctor's Gold award-winning 2009 Ellerslie International Flower Show exhibit.

Efflorescence, the bursting out into flower, is the Moment in Time Christchurch floral designer Patricia Proctor will capture in her 2010 Ellerslie International Flower Show exhibit.

Patricia, who won Gold at last year’s Ellerslie International Flower Show and a Silver lighting award, says she is not an historic person and did not want to look back in creating her exhibit for this year’s Show.

“I am always looking forward and looking at life which is why I chose Efflorescence. I was inspired by the word; Efflorescence is about flowers opening up and bursting into life.”

Moment in Time is the theme for this year’s Floral Art Marquee. From her award-winning vibrant colour and lighting display in 2009 (pictured above), Patricia will leap to the other end of the spectrum with natural colours and subtle lighting for this year’s exhibit.

Scale will be her biggest challenge with the exhibit being a 6m x 6m standalone site and able to be viewed from all sides. “It is one of the bigger sites I have designed for in a competition,” she says.

Efflorescence will be dramatic, rising about three metres and using predominately plant material from the Canterbury region. The design has been influenced by the rigid trunks and strong vertical lines of the Nikau palm and will see plant material juxtaposed with man-made objects to achieve balance.

Inspiration for the design came from a recent trip to Punakaiki. “Your environment does influence a lot of what you design. I just love getting out and exploring the countryside; it awakens your thinking.”

Patricia says she loves plant material and how it interacts with its environment. “I simply love driving along the road and watching how the grass billows around a fence post or observing how bark grows on a tree trunk.”

Colour, form and texture are what capture her imagination, having been brought up in a creative family, and living in Northern Southland.

Patricia is a seasoned floral designer, having travelled the world as an international floral art judge and teacher of the craft for many decades. She was also instrumental in the 1990s in developing Christchurch’s Festival of Flowers and has used her talents to create the majestic floral carpet in the ChristChurch Cathedral

o Ellerslie International Flower Show is New Zealand’s premier week-long Garden Party in Christchurch’s North Hagley Park from 10 to 14 March 2010. The Show celebrates Christchurch’s Garden City heritage and the best of national and international garden design. Check out the website for further information www.ellerslieflowershow.conz

ENDS

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