Modern Red Arrangment
Creating a modern-style floral design can often mean pulling from the past. With influences from the ancient floral art of Ikebana -- a linear design style -- just a few blooms can create a visually stunning design. In this Flower School How-To Video Leanne designs in a simple black vessel, using gerbera daisies, hanging amaranthus, and eucalyptus blossoms in hues of red contrasted with the simple lines of equisetum create a bold & modern design with very few stems. Enjoy!
Video Transcription
Modern design is a throwback to linear design with some of the influences from Ikebana. Let me show you how it's done.
The mechanics, I used one-sixth of a brick of midnight foam. To secure it in place, an anchor pin. That way I don't have to use tape. Flowers, picked my favorite, red gerberas, and something that might be new to you, gum tree eucalyptus. Isn't it beautiful? And then, some Galax, hanging amaranthus, and snake grass.
To begin, make it a little easier on yourself by scoring the corners of the foam, rounding it off just a bit. Then beginning with the amaranthus. Give it a cut. Insert it directly into the foam, nice and flush. And then, wrap it around. To secure it in place, using a greening pin, just feeding it in. Then continue wrapping. You can come back around again, and up and over. And then, if you need to, go ahead and add another greening pin to lock it. For contrast, Galax leaf. Feed it in underneath, and maybe taking a smaller one and bringing it up over the top. You can do that in a couple of places, but don't conceal all your amaranthus because that's part of the beauty.
The gerberas, they become the line in the design. Some stems have natural curvature, you want to work with that so that they work beautifully together. So maybe starting it off to the side, letting it curl back in just a bit. Then bringing the second, making it be shorter and following the same binding point. And the last one, bring it down very low, close to the bottom.
To finish and add some excitement, turning to the snake grass. Taking an 18 gauge wire, placing it right down through the center, this will allow me to bend it, determining how long I want it to be, where the bend should be, and just bending it like so. Then determining how long for the insertion, giving it a cut, and then placing it right into the foam. It could go in between or behind, finding the perfect hole, placing it. Then repeating that with a second. And for texture, adding just a little bit of the eucalyptus, cutting it fairly low because you just want a bit of texture right at the base.
The recipe, easy. Three Gerberas, a bit of the Eucalyptus, one of the Hanging Amaranthus, three Galax Leaves and two Snake Grass Stems. Now, this is an easy one to replicate and do in different directions. Then you could even display them as a pair for a little larger arrangement.
Line designs can be some of the most challenging. I invite you to practice. If you need more creative inspiration, check out the website, FlowerSchool.com. If you have any questions, you can reach us through there. But now it's your turn. Find three amazing flowers and create a simple linear design. Take a photo and post it on social media. Be sure to #FloralDesignInstitute, that way we all can see what you do as you do something you love.
