I am blushing with happiness and satisfaction in the reflected glow of the striking pink field of tulips I created for Deb and all her team at Orb Hair and Beauty, New Farm, for Mother's Day this year.
In terms of colour brilliance, patterns and balance of tones and shapes in the space, I could not be more thrilled with the outcome and feel this is one of my best works yet!
It was quite challenging threading the tulips and allowing for and hanging the 3D papier-mâché letters amongst them but hard work and once again, attention to detail paid off and the end result is very striking and hopefully, eye-catching for all passers-by of Orb!
Here are a few snapshots of the work in progress:
The work began with selecting appropriate papers and colour tones and of course, with a lot of folding! The tulip is not a complex fold by any stretch but I wanted to work with 125gsm card to make the installation quite robust and this was more tough on my hands than usual.
Once I had folded the separate bulb and stem elements, I created the tulip by inserting the stems into the bulbs. For extra strength, I used my hot glue gun to seal the join.
I measured out the window drop and arranged the tulips on a white sheet so I could get a good sense of the shapes in space. I then affixed small cardboard discs to the base of each tulip, in the same colour as the stems and threaded small green buttons below each tulip too, to allow them to sit flat and be strung in a line. I then secured each tulip using a tiny jewellery clamp.
The tulip base with the disc and small button.
Ultimately, I spray-painted the papier-mâché 'MUM' letters. I used a rust-primer as it was the only spray paint I could track down in the shade I wanted!
I also finished tying some satin ribbons in matching shades of pinks and greens to some of the tulips to represent gift-giving on Mother's Day, too.
I thoroughly enjoyed working on this commission and was really excited to see it blossom in the window at Orb!