design
This issue’s designs come from Fred Chlan, a freelance designer in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He has lived in both Asia and North America and has achieved certification in Sogetsu Ikebana, European, and Western styles of floral design. His work has appeared in publications throughout Canada, the United States, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, China, and Taiwan. He has given presentations since the 1980s. His focus revolves around independent self-origination design, respecting concepts of nature, utilizing found and foreign objects, and creating in the moment, regardless of marketed trends.
This horizontal structure is approximately 36 inches wide. I wanted movement, detail, and variety of texture. To achieve it, I used twig, dried seaweed, dried noodle, twine, cinnamon sticks, copper wire, shells, lisianthus, oncidium orchids, dianthus, micro chrysanthemums, and a variety of flora. The folded red ti leaves, overplayed with crisscrosses lines of steel grass, add a contemporary feel to an otherwise organic design.
This experimental, contemporary design features tropical foliages, deconstructed banana flower, embellished lemon, anthurium, steel grass, and craspedia. I developed it in a contemporary glass container and weaved the foliage to produce an abstract nest. The center is pierced to allow the anthurium placement, which is physically weighted and balanced by the abstract composite lemon.
This is the side view of a design that is approximately 60 to 66 inches tall. A dried brown palm spear provides vertical thrust. It is organically embroidered with hanging celosia. The design is finished with a variety of foliage, green anthurium, oncidium and mokara orchids. I used form flora to stretch the horizontal plane of the design with a great deal of intricate basing techniques to all viewing angles. The vase motif is an intricate lotus, which becomes a aspect of the total design.
16 CANADIAN Florist | Sept/Oct 2016
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