We were incredibly excited to learn about Fleurs de Villes' expansion into a new city for their show lineup. Dallas boasts an exceptional community of talented florists, so we anticipated that this Artiste show would truly shine! Several of our customers and florist friends participated in this event, and we are eager to share their experiences!
Justine's Flowers
Images: @lightlyphoto, @tracyautemphotography
We were partnered with the Kimbell Art Museum in Forth Worth. The museum sent us their promotional brief for the current “Take a Second Look” exhibition, featuring works from the Kimbell’s permanent collection. The museum was open to art selection and open to creative interpretation. As a museum member, I knew the Michelangelo painting “The Torment of St. Anthony” was an important piece in the collection, so I kept returning to that painting, a painting he did when he was only 12 years old!
Our mannequin was a more conceptual piece since we were assigned a female mannequin and St. Anthony is a male, so we took our inspiration from various qualities that each of the demon characters in the painting: wings, fish scales, a horn nose, gills, and spiny spikes. The design was a real engineering challenge, but I always feel that’s where I shine best.
From start to finish, we (myself and my assistant) worked on “Desdemona” for about three weeks leading up to the event. We planned and constructed an element of her design each day and tested the longevity of some of the products we intended to work with.
Images: @lightlyphoto, @tracyautemphotography
For the wings, we created a harness structure using PVC pipe, connectors, ribbon, and many zip ties, along with corrugated plastic (the plastic we get around the top of procona buckets). The wings were adorned with cascading Phalaenopsis orchids, and the underside with long-lasting green Trichillium. This was the most difficult element to create and execute due to the weight and position of the wings. The helmet and horn took us two days, and it was created by forming a plaster cast on top of the mannequin's head, which we covered in hundreds of pressed and dried hydrangea petals.
The tail was also made using PVC pipe and connectors, which we covered in a green moss base and then layered with Anthurium to create an emulated fish scale. The skirt base was tied to her waist and was fashioned using masking tape, wire supports, and waterproof wrapping paper from FleuraMetz, who provided all the gorgeous flowers. We covered the skirt base in Aspidistra leaves and added gorgeous orange roses to make the underskirt. Sago palms were used for the spine and mohawk, foraged seed pods for her talon claws, and red petals for the epaulette gills. The wilderness scene was made with foraged branches, black mulch, and flower boxes, which we covered with black Aspidistra and were used for the rocky podium scenery. In total, it took three people and 7 hours to erect the mannequin and all the florals on the installation day, but it only took 45 minutes to strike!
Images: @lightlyphoto, @tracyautemphotography
We cannot tell you how lovely working with Fleurs de Villes was. The team is super supportive, extremely gracious, and passionate about showcasing floral design as an art form. They are a joy to work with, and we are so grateful to have been part of something so well received and enjoyed by so many people here in the Dallas, Fort Worth Metro area. This was their first time in Texas, and we hope to see them here again soon.
Justine Chapura, Justine's Flowers, Dallas, @justinesflowers
Lizzie Bees Flower Shoppe
We collaborated with the Texas Ballet Theater, which wanted to highlight its upcoming ballet, Beauty and the Beast. Drawing inspiration from their provided image, we created a digital rendering before crafting the final design.
Images: @lightlyphoto, @tracyautemphotography
The process spanned two days. On the first day, three team members worked on the two mannequins in our shop. On the event day, we started at 9:00 am and completed the construction by 5:00 pm with a team of six.
Images: @lightlyphoto, @tracyautemphotography
Participating in the Fleurs de Villes show in Dallas was an absolute delight! It was so fun getting to think outside the box and being creative. I would do it again in a heartbeat!
Elizabeth Fisher, Lizzie Bee's Flower Shoppe, Richardson, @lizziebeesflowershoppe
Dr. Delphinium Designs & Events
I was given the brief from my assigned sponsor, The Modern, in DFW. They are an acclaimed contemporary museum currently showing an exhibit on African Surrealism. I was to take this as inspiration when building my entry into Fleurs de Villes. I read the exhibit book and studied the artworks and history to blend in the movement's trials, beliefs, environment, and influence.
It was conceptualized and initially built solo for the first 32 hours. The day before the installation, myself and two other designers individually placed Protea petals to create the snake boa that wrapped around her shoulders and arms for 6 hours. On-site, it was another designer and me for 3 hours. In total, she took 56 man hours to create.
The whole experience was very inspiring. Given the opportunity to create, just for the sake of creating, is always something that I strive to do. I refer to it constantly as 'creating unapologetically.' This was a perfect vehicle to step completely out of my comfort zone and dive deep into a concept that I was unaware of. It ultimately propelled me to give a part of my art the freedom to express a new voice and vision.
Jenny Thomasson, Dr. Delphinium Designs & Events, Dallas, @thedrdelphinium
Branching Out Events
Images: @lightlyphoto, @tracyautemphotography
We were lucky enough to partner with two sponsors for the event – the Dallas Museum of Art and The Meadows Museum. We created a mannequin for each sponsor. For the DMA, we were inspired by Edgar Degas’s painting “Ballet Dancers on the Stage.” This mannequin was at the DMA (not North Park Center like the others) and complemented their exhibit on the Impressionist Revolution from Monet to Matisse. For Meadows Museum, they are known for having the largest collection of Spanish art outside of Spain, and they asked us to base our design on Igancio Zuloaga’s “The Bullfighter El Segovianito”. If you compare both to their paintings, you can see the resemblance! We had several onlookers stop and say they recognized both paintings!
Images: @lightlyphoto, @tracyautemphotography
Each mannequin required about 20 hours of prep in our studio, including prepping mechanics and cutting down our floral and foliage to the tiny pieces attached to the mannequins. Once onsite, a team of 4 designers completed each mannequin for about 5 hours. So total – just over 50 hours! You all know – when working with live products – you gotta work fast! Our floral lead, Eduardo Lua, led the design and this team.
Images: @lightlyphoto, @tracyautemphotography
This event was SO FUN! I recommend it to all big, small, new, and old florists. It was such a creative REFRESH. It’s refreshing to create something at our own direction (both museums were very open to allowing our creativity to flourish) and outside of decorating tables or ceremonies – ha! We love our normal events and weddings, but this was truly a celebration of the incredible, true ART that talented designers like Eduardo can create. We were honored to be a part of it. Not to mention, the organization itself, the founders – were incredibly ORGANIZED and HELPFUL. We don’t always see that with these types of events, and I appreciated that, because it allowed it to be even more fun, and less stressful.
Branching Out Events, Dallas, @branchingoutevents