At Yuverta we enjoy giving shape and content to our education together. On themes that matter, such as climate, energy, water, nature, nutrition, and the welfare of people and animals. To go for something beautiful together.
Being close to nature and using the beauty of nature is an important pillar of our school community. In our latest project, our Floral Design students combined their love for flowers with fashion. A link that has always existed was developed into some beautiful designs we like to present to you. Meet three of our espoirs, florists of the future who convincingly took the stage and commented on their own designs inspired by iconic artists: Fleur, Romy, and Guulke.
1. 'Fishing' by Fleur Aerts
Hello, my name is Fleur Aerts. I am 18 years old and I live in Drunen, Netherlands. I am following the Flower, Green, and Styling course at Yuverta in Den Bosch. This is my second year, so I will graduate next year.
For the last test of this school year, I had to walk a catwalk in a self-made outfit made of flowers and other natural materials. It had to be based on an artist in a period somewhere from 1850 to now. The catwalk was for 'Beleef and Crafted'. Beleef was an event at our own school Yuverta, held on the evening of Wednesday, June 19. Crafted — a festival where students from various MBO courses show their creativity, technology, design, and craftsmanship to the world — was in Eindhoven Microstad the next evening, at a school called Summa College.
I chose the artist named Jean-Michael Basquiat. He was born on December 22, 1960, and died of a drug overdose on August 12, 1988. Basquiat is an American neo-expressionist artist of Haïtian and Puerto Rican descent. The style periods at the time were contemporary art, neo-expressionism, and primitivism. His works are usually large formats in acrylic, overlaid with line drawings and texts with oil paint sticks. Much of Basquiat’s work was an indictment of racism.
Friends and contemporaries Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Photo from Facebook.
'Fishing' (1981). Photo from Pinterest
I chose Basquiat because I thought it looked challenging. I also chose a particular painting of him, so that I can focus on those colors and styles. The painting is called: 'Fishing' (1981). I chose this painting because it was colorful. I thought they were nice colors to work with and I knew I could make something with them.
In order to know what I wanted to make and what matched the painting, I first looked good at the painting and researched the artist. The painting I chose shows a man with all kinds of twists around his arms and legs. I also made these twists around my arms and legs. I made a belt around my waist in the same style with a fish on it, so that the fish in the painting is also reflected in my design. I glued flowers and green material onto all the twists. I also made twists in my bouquet and put self-crocheted fish in it.
For the twists, I used aluminum wire in the color pink. For the green materials, I used Typha leaf. The flowers I used for the outfit were: Craspedia, Eryngium, a Kalachoë plant, cornflowers, and two different orchids. In my bouquet, I used other flowers, like lilies, Strelitzias, Chrysanthemums, Cam,panulas, Lsianthus, sunflowers, roses, Craspecias, and Gerberas. For the green leaf materials, I chose Eucalyptus, Asparagus, and Ruscus.
I made this design because I found it challenging. For example, I had to find out what type of flowers would look good for at least two days without water. I also thought it was a fun and playful design.
See you at @fleurs_bloemetjes.
2. 'Play-Doh' by Romy Hofstede
Hi, before I tell you about my catwalk adventure, let me introduce myself. My name is Romy Hofstede, I'm 17 years old and I live in Kerkdriel, Netherlands. I am doing the Flower, Green, and Styling level 4 course at the Yuverta MBO in Den Boch. I am now in the 2nd year of my education and still really enjoy it.
When I started this course, it was very clear quickly that I had to walk a catwalk at the end of year 2. Furthermore, I didn't know much about the assignment and I thought to myself "Oh I'll see, that will take almost two years". Now, about two years later, the time had come. I found it very exciting but was also looking forward to it. We had to choose an artist for our costume. We were given a list of different artists and you had to make a choice from that list. I chose Jeff Koons.
Jeff Koons is a visual artist born in Pennsylvania on January 21, 1955. He studied at the Maryland College of Art, which he continued with the School Art Institute in Chicago. After this, he worked on a stock exchange to pay for the works of art he made at the time. Later he became very well known and successful and is now seen as the most successful living artist today. His work falls under the style of postmodernism.
I chose Koons because his use of color and material really appealed to me and I could think of something to go with it. I have been inspired by several works by Koons, but it is mainly about his aluminum sculpture 'Play-Doh' that he created between 1994 and 2014.
I immediately had an idea of what I wanted to make for the catwalk; a long skirt with a top. The skirt would have some 'protrusions' which made it more playful. I made it with papier-mâché with half a sphere and then put a layer of clay over it so that it stayed in the Play-Doh theme.
Because the costume had to consist of 70% plant material, I didn't put clay but reed around some of the balls. Furthermore, the skirt is decorated with all kinds of small pieces of fabric and to finish it off a flower here and there.
Then it was time for the day of the catwalk. The first day was at school. I was very nervous because it was my first time on a catwalk and the first time I wore this creation. Before it was my turn I was already shaking on my legs, but once it was my turn I actually really liked it.
On the second day, we had to join two shows in Eindhoven. I actually thought beforehand that I would find this much scarier because 400 people came to watch, but fortunately, the tension was not too bad on the day itself. I am very happy with the end result and despite the excitement, I really enjoyed the catwalk.
If you would like to see more of my works, you can do so on my Instagram page @flores_by_romy.
3. Psalm by Guulke van den Broek
My name is Guulke van den Broek. I am 18 years old and study Floral Design, Greenery, and Styling at Yuverta in Den Bosch, Netherlands. I live nearby in Volkel.
I really like detailed work. So, little things that add value. I am a perfectionist. This can have its advantages, but also its disadvantages. But this allows me to work accurately and neatly. Everything has to be perfect for me; if not, I'm not satisfied. Because of this I often hear "Good is also good", which means that if it is good, then it is good and it does not have to be perfect.
For a project at school, we had to make a costume with an accompanying bouquet with which we had to walk a catwalk. The costume and bouquet had to be inspired by a work of art by an artist from the year 1850 to the present.
I was inspired by the artist Damien Hirst. He is 59 years old and comes from Bristol, United Kingdom. Hirst has many different types of artwork and also uses different types of techniques, such as painting, sculpting, and assemblage. So for me, there was a lot to choose from as we had to be inspired by one or more works of art.
I started to delve more into the works of Damien Hirst and then ended up with the work of art. It is a work of art from the series called The Psalms. The artwork is a kind of mandala made from real butterfly wings. This immediately caught my attention, because of the colors and shapes. It was only when I took a closer look that I discovered all the details of the butterfly wings. Because at first glance it doesn't look like butterfly wings. I have always found butterflies fascinating, because of the details and the shapes of the wings. That's why I really wanted to do something with this.
The Costume & the Bouquet
I used the butterfly wings as a starting point for my design. I actually just started sketching and drawing on models. After making a few sketches, I came up with one that I was really pleased with. I immediately knew that I wanted to use this as the final design. In this design, I am very focused on the different types and shapes of butterfly wings in which there is a lot of detail. The design itself is also a mandala. For this costume, I used aluminum wire, cardboard, paper, Eucalyptus leaves, and dried flowers.
I also used the butterfly wings as a starting point for the bouquet. It worked in the same manner as for the costume. Also for this frame, I used aluminum wire and decorative wire. By turning this in beautiful circles it gets a lot of detail.
Follow me on my Instagram flowers_by_guul.
All photos courtesy of Yuverta, unless otherwise mentioned.
