Easter Parade Demonstration and Accessory Workshop

2 April 2011
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This was an Advanced level design Accessory workshop: Floral craftsmanship

For my Easter Parade Demonstration I made 6 hand-tied designs within armatures. The concept was to pick up the design while demonstrating and to literally "parade" from country to country around the world (and from table to table around the audience) to explore how Easter is celebrated in different cultures.

At demonstrations, it is usually a rush to get seats right up-front. I wanted to try a different approach. I wanted to give each member a "front-row-seat" for at least one design. I arranged the tables in a large circle and set the design pedestals next to each table. Each table was decorated in white, green and a unique colour to set them apart.

As a table arrangement I made three floral blocks (Oasis wrapped in Banana leaves with Easter Lilies and roses) accessorized with all the "equipment" the members will need to take part in the workshop that followed after each design was discussed. As an example: We used the paper streamers to fold crosses for Palm Sunday (Brazil) and the wire and twigs were used to make twig garlands that represented the Chinese writing draped over the scroll design (China).

Easter Parade green table representing Brazil

Easter Parade red table representing America

We also had the Floral Designer version of an Easter Egg Hunt: Each member received a favour bag with a freshly baked Hot Cross Bun in. Inside 3 of the party favour bags on each table was a sticker of a full, half or quarter Easter egg. The full egg wins the large floral block on their table, the half egg wins a medium block and the quarter egg wins the small block.

Easter Parade Floral Art Demonstration by Christine de Beer

As a club fundraiser we also had a raffle to determine who wins one of the six hand tied arrangements.

Easter Parade Workshop "How Easter is celebrated in Brazil"

Palm Sunday in Brazil

Detail of the design: Bird woven from palm leaves

Detail of the design: Thorn crown woven from palm leaves

Easter Parade workshop "How Easter is celebrated in Ukraine"

Watering Monday in Ukraine

Detail of the Crescent Design: Ukraine- Watering Monday

New York Easter Parade in America

Detail of the design: Sisal stars

Easter Parade Workshop "How Easter is celebrated in France"

Detail of the contemporary radial design: Easter Bells in France

Qing Ming (Ching Ming/ Clear Bright Festival) in China with the twig garland that looked like Chinese calligraphy draped over and down the hand held scroll

Chinese Scroll design for the Easter Parade Demonstration

How Easter is celebrated in South Africa

Detail of the South African "hut" cross bun with long flowing strands of ripped fax hanging down the design

Detail of the design: Easter Parade Workshop "How Easter is celebrated in South Africa"

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Tutorials

21 July 2011 Weaving a bird

I wove my bird from shaved wood but you can also use flax, coconut palm (more traditional) or paper or ribbon

14 January 2011 Beaded wire

Thread thin wire with tiny beads

5 May 2011 Wire baubles

Make baubles from wire

1 January 2011 Sisal Stars

Paper towel cardboard tubes create the basic shape of my stars

1 March 2011 Paper covered Wire

Cover the wire with the raffia

14 January 2011 Ripping Flax

Flax can be ripped into fibres creating long and versatile strips

30 May 2012 Plaiting a palm thorn garland

This is the basic technique used in traditional Easter crafts to plait a crown of thorns.

20 March 2013 Fold a Palm Cross

This is a traditional Palm Sunday or Easter craft

30 May 2012 Drying Hydrangeas: Fast, Flat or Natural

Use all three methods to dry hydrangeas to get three very different textures to use in design work.

2 October 2013 Twig garland

Add a dangling garland of twigs to the design

Favourite Flowers

Lilium

Lily

Rosa

Rose

Phormium

Flax, New Zealand flax

Agapanthus

African Lilies, African blue lily and Lilies-of-the-Nile

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