Inspiration has taken root among local floral artists, with paintings providing the seed, and floral sculptures the fruit.
The Mid-Island Floral Art Club’s (MIFAC) biennial Art in Bloom event begins May 8 at TOSH (The Old School House Arts Centre at 122 Fern Rd. West in Qualicum Beach).
The event has MIFAC members draw inspiration from one of a number of paintings to create a floral sculpture inspired by the painting. The paintings and floral pieces are then put on display at TOSH.
This year’s event, running from May 8 to 19 (paintings remain until June 2), is themed “cottages,” and boasts a variety of paintings, including abstract work, being both featured and used as inspiration.
The show will be Teresa Craig-Morgan’s second time participating in MIFAC’s Art in Bloom event.
An art graduate, former docent at the Greater Victoria Art Gallery and a florist for 10 years, the Qualicum Beach resident said seeing the 2014 Art in Bloom show is what inspired her to join MIFAC in the first place.
“Art in Bloom is all over the world,” said Craig-Morgan, with some installations becoming especially extravagant. MIFAC’s show demonstrated a high level of expertise despite being a small community, “and Corinne (James) from TOSH does a remarkable job of bringing in artists.”
With a tendency towards abstract art, Craig-Morgan created a floral piece from a painting by Leslie Gregory Morgan in MIFAC’s 2014 show, creating a literal interpretation of this piece.
This year she’s going a different route, working on a floral mobile that takes inspiration from the colours used in a painting by Christine Kazeil called The Weekend (especially the blue), and the idea of going to a cottage for a weekend.
“I don’t look at it as creating a floral arrangement. I look at it as creating an interpretation of a piece, and for this one, I wanted it to be fun,” said Craig-Morgan.
A new aspect of this year’s Art in Bloom is the opportunity to use dry materials as well as fresh plants and flowers. Craig-Morgan’s piece uses chicken wire covered in moss, placed atop cherry branches. Inside the moss top will be a reservoir of water, and flowers will be jutting out from the moss.
“These are just my basic structures,” said Craig-Morgan of her work so far. “For next week I’ve ordered some fresh flowers and I’ve prepared lots of dried materials.”
Getting to have both Kazeil’s and Gregory Morgan’s paintings in her home in the lead up to the show has been both a pleasure and a good opportunity, said Craig-Morgan.
“It makes me smile every time I look at it,” said Craig-Morgan of Kazeil’s painting, adding that creating these floral pieces also takes many, many hours of work.
While Craig-Morgan’s piece will certainly be something to see, she said she’s very excited to find out what her fellow MIFAC members have come up with.
“The members of MIFAC are so diverse and different in their interpretations,” she said. “They’ve got people that are ikebana, very simple, we’ve got people that are like European floral experts, we’ve got people that are structural, looking at the new way of presenting flowers, and we’ve got beginners, so it’s a vast range of skills and ideas,” adding that the members are particularly good at supporting each other.
MIFAC’s Art in Bloom exhibit takes place from Tuesday, May 8, to May 19, with an opening reception May 9 at 2 p.m.