My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Just Right! Floral Art demonstration: Own It!

Press wire and Mikado Reeds to create horizontal supports.

My four designs explored the Goldilocks Principle and how designers can use it to keep their enthusiasm for their floral art work alive.

When we are designing, it is possible to be influenced by extremes.

Gladiolus on a three legged armature.

On the one hand, if your work becomes predictable and you remain in your comfort zone you will become bored with your designs,or if you work in the opposite extreme and your work is always too hard to do you will become frustrated and give up.

What you want is to find your own Just right!

Design 4: Own It!
We all have natural talents, skills and abilities. The way to create spectacular work is to make the most of what you have.

Floral Art demonstration design Own It.

Explore the things you naturally gravitate to and push those boundaries. Make your work personal.

Create a soft screen or room divider by hanging flowers to an armature

Don’t try to copy or imitate someone else’s ideas because it limits your own contribution.

Hang the gladiolus from the side wires.jpg

Listen to your own creative voice and develop that.

Hang strips of Kyogi paper.

Yes, it is important to study the floral art rules but it should not become a limitation or stumbling block. It is easy to get so stuck in trying to follow the rules that it completely robs you of enjoying your art.

Ripped leaves add movement to the design.

Learn the rules, understand what made them rules in the first place and then bravely push on forward and move beyond them.

Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.

Tutorials

5 May 2011 Wire baubles

Make baubles from wire

14 January 2011 Ripping Flax

Flax can be ripped into fibres creating long and versatile strips

7 September 2012 Hanging flowers rightside-upside-downside

I love hanging flowers to loosely dangle and move in a design

7 September 2012 The Three legged trick for Upright Constructions

When in doubt, always give your armature three legs. Two legs are simply not enough and four legs will wobble if it is even slightly off balance.

7 September 2012 Hook for Kyogi paper

Add a simple hook to the top of the Kyogi paper strips to easily hook it in place

Favourite Flowers

Gladiolus

Gladiolus, Sword lily, Corn Lilies, gladioluses, glads, plural: gladioli

Related Designs

18 May 2016 Because I think I am making Progress

Create a floral ceiling

27 July 2016 Too Hot!

Leaning floral stems to stand on their own in a shallow container

21 September 2016 I found it this way: Spiderweb design

This was the first design I did in my "I found it this way" floral art demonstration

7 August 2019 Point Out: this is a single bunch of gladiolus!

Cut stems of Gladiolus to place in a radiating summer design.