BLOGS

Dried Flowers Are Part of My Flower Arrangement's DNA

A warm hug made of mostly soft materials with dried flowers as the ultimate creative resource.

By: LOES VAN LOOK | 26-08-2020 | 2 min read
Dried Flowers Floral Designs
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Dried flowers are so woven into the DNA of my flower designs, that I can't live without them. To work with dried flowers only, on the other hand, still remains a challenge. Still, for this installation, I was really looking forward to going big! An installation that embraced me in the middle of the corona lockdown. A warm hug made of mostly soft materials was the message I wanted to convey.

The Use of Materials

A design of dried flowers can often look disordered due to the lack of focus flowers. Because of this, I decided to embrace the abundance of texture for this installation. The combination of textures of both the dried bougainvillea and the dried flax of Greenflor provides a tremendous textural experience. These dried flowers are two of my favorite materials to use as a filler for an installation. The combination of the two is varied enough and you don’t see it used as much as for example bromine or dried gypsophila.  

 

Quote Wildflowers and Wodka  

 

Dried flower DNA of flower designs - wildflowers wodka greenflor - loes and pampas grass2

 

I think it is important to emphasize the natural shape of the materials as much as possible through a correct placement in the design. I placed palm leaves with a round shape in the curves of the installation to emphasize them even more. Due to their large size, they also provide a resting point for your eye. The same goes for the pointed but fluffy pampas that emphasize the same lines of the installation.

This is the reason that I love to work with large materials. They immediately make an impact on the lines that you create with a flower installation. You can guide the eyes of the viewer to your flower arrangement very nicely. Something I really enjoy playing with!

 

 

Color Palette

Something I also really appreciate about dried flowers is their greyed-out hues so that everything seems to fall into a beautiful color palette. The painted variants such as the rust-colored pampas give an extra warm punch that I love. This way it stays warm and soft but also prevents it from getting monotonous. With dried flowers, I usually choose a color palette of completely natural materials with their brownish tones and then one or two dyed materials that match the ambiance of the design.  

 

Wildflowers and wodka - Greenflor design - loes seated 2- on thursd
The dried flower installation symbolizes a warm hug in a fairly intense period of time.

 

The symbolism of the Shape

I made this installation during a period when Belgium was under a fairly strict lockdown. Flowers were scarce at the time, so dried flowers were the ultimate creative resource. Certainly, all the soft fluffy materials were extra symbolic of the situation I was in. Making the installation was a warm hug to myself, which nobody was allowed to – physically - give at the time. A beautiful memory from a fairly intense period of time.  

 

The design was made possible by the featured dried flowers of Greenflor .

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