Members of the Mid Island Floral Arts Club having been prepping for the biennial Art In Bloom show later this month.
From May 17 to 28 floral art arrangements will be displayed alongside pieces of contemporary art complementing them. There will be more than 15 displays.
Laurene Ebbett, one of the members of the MIFAC, has been working on a mock up for her display which will be presented next to Ulrike Ostermann’s White Waters.
Ebbett said she first saw a copy of Ostermann’s painting in March.
“It takes a while just to look at the painting before you get an idea of what you want to do,” she said, adding that the painting is 36-by-44 inches.
“It’s huge so you want to have a design that fits that scale,” Ebbett said.
Ostermann ended up bringing her painting over to Ebbett’s house one day, so Ebbett said she was able to see the painting in its full size.
“For me that is really interesting because I can see the painting and see the colours beforehand and get a better sense of what I can do,” Ebbett said.
Ebbett said she really likes floral jewelry, so she has a created a breast plate necklace, taking inspiration from the Plains Cree First Nations and Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Canadian First Nations singer-songwriter, and some of the large necklaces she wears.
The large necklace will be displayed on a bust, according to Ebbett. In her display, there is red dogwood twigs, juniper berries, orchids and an eagle feather.
She added that she will have to go back a few times a week and replace the orchids to keep them looking fresh throughout the 12-day display.
Ebbett said the floral art displays are an interesting way of looking at paintings.
Set up for the show starts May 16 and will run until May 28 with an opening reception at TOSH May 18 at 2 p.m.
TOSH is open Mondays from 12 to 4:30 p.m. and Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.