Summer's Floral Poetry

Thought I would share some of the flowerscapes I have been creating in the last couple of weeks.
I love the detail of the seedheads and Alliums against the old barn wall, redolent of beautiful old Venetian, warm Tuscan and Provencal tones. 
I simply love this air of faded elegance with a slightly wild and abandoned look. I have used a palette of dusky pinks, faded mauves, fresh greens of early summer, sagey tones and wonderful textures of seedheads, beautiful little berries from the soft green of the early fruit through to the deep raspberry and crushed plummy wine tones of the beautiful blackberry... a hedgerow favourite and a best friend to Summer and Autumn florals and purpley bronze foliage...

Have given these designs a little twist of faded charm as above - a nod to sophistication by melding the florals with aged china. The chalky tones of dusky pinks, soft blue greys and peachy apricots just like that of the firstfruits with that indescribable delicate bloom, form the base for this lovely chipped and damaged but exquisitively beautiful china. All the more lovely because of the incredible old-fashioned stapling! I had never come across it before. I love the mystery they evoke; these pieces have a story. Just as I might wonder what is yours - we can all be chipped and damaged in some way; but out of that, beautiful things can arise.
These darlings (above) are so versatile. They can be used as wall displays and chairbacks. They can be as understated, delicate and fragrant as you like - or wild and wonderful - the only limit here is your imagination, so get dreaming. I have some fabulous ideas for installations on old barn walls, but that is for another blog.
One can never tire of a garden rose and who can resist the scent! Do you remember making rose petal perfumed water as a child? I loved it.
Imagine your florals and foliage woven through old farm machinery as props for a barn styling. So lovely!
And I love the combination of hedgerow finds and 'picked from the field' flowers, placed in old zinc and tin ware. I have loosely tied Alliums, poppyheads, trails of Clematis and other wispy wonders and popped them into an old watering can. Perfect for barn style weddings.
Hot pinks and wonderful scents of old fashioned garden Roses and old brick walls are a marriage made in heaven.



Love the richer, deeper tones woven through this mix. It reminds me of the old Dutch painters but without the dark background they so often favoured. It sets quite a different tone and feel, set against these fabulous aged brick alcoves. 
The rich and velvety carmines and soft and romantic pinks of the Peonies are quite wonderful......I never tire of working with the darling Peony - 'The Duchess' and 'Sarah Bernhardt' - fine names for a fine flower.

Gill Stewart
7th July 2015



Comments

Popular Posts