One of my favorite pieces

Circa 2011, I was asked to represent Canada in the Gateway to the Americas Cup. A design competition for North and South America. My first major competition so I was nervous and soooo excited. I had a lot of prep to do here in Canada to get ready for it. We were given a few of the catagories ahead of time so we could plan. I had a bridal bouquet, a representation of Brazil and a table for two under the sea. This table intrigued me so I began to sketch.

What I came up with was a coral reef complete with a lit up jelly fish. I packed everything I would need up and brought 2 huge crates on the plane with me. When I arrived in Brazil, I had discovered that customs had taken pretty much everything I had brought with me. But as a florist, we figure things out. We were in a little town in the middel of Brazil called Holombra. A dutch speaking town actually and what do you know, my husband is from Holland so he was able to help secure things for me at a local hardware store. So off we went to the competition with a few modications in mind.

I stole a small table from the hotel and started creating. Eric (my husband) went out and cut some beautiful branches down which a sprayed red and attached to the table legs to help create a coral effect. I used insulation foam, that I sprayed brown, on the table to create rocks and used piping to get the jelly  fish to hover over the rock. Using some tropical flowers I started to create the look. During prep, I had my mom and dad thread mums for my jelly fish tentacles and I attached it to a light up disk. I even carved a knife and fork out of branches to complete the whole table feel.

It did not win but it won in my heart. What did I learn? Well, now that I look back, I can see that I needed more line and movement through the flowers, perhaps my colour placement could have been blocked better but no one can deduct points for creativity!!

This is one of my favourite pieces. I threw a few other photos in of the day in the slides. I hope you enjoy them.