Carli Berry
reporter@pqbnews.com
A forest fantasy will be showcased by the Mid Island Floral Arts Club at Milner Gardens in Qualicum Beach. Come join the woodland critters as the arts club shows seven pieces designed from plant material.
Margaret Leeuw, of the floral arts club, is creating three of the pieces for the Forest Fantasies project.
One of them is a collection of small balls made of sticks strung through the trees at varying lengths. These balls are headed towards “The Mothership,” a large ball made of sticks that is approximately three feet wide that, as the balls pass through the ship, allows them to become brightly coloured and perfectly circular. At least that is how Leeuw described it.
Leeuw said she likes to use rainbow colours in her work. Her last piece “Over the Rainbow” was showcased at the last Art in the Gardens. “Over the Rainbow” utilized the garden’s reflecting pool, which made the colours pop.
Another piece she is currently working on is the “You Are My Sunshine” which uses plant materials to make flowers, making flowers from flowers, she said.
She said she started working on the projects in February.
She said this collection is specifically tied to plant materials, the creations must be “predominately plant materials,” but can contain other items, like certain scarecrows will have clothing which is not made from plants.
“It’s natural in the garden,” she said.
The project started in 2011 when the group created forest faces along the Milner trails.
Forest Fantasies will be available for viewing from Sept. 10 to Oct. 11 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tea is available from noon to 4 p.m. Entry is free for members, VIU students and children under 12.