Winter Roses In White Cotton
Cotton fluff grows on a plant. Each year these plants bloom. When they bloom, they produce fruit. And when they are ripe, they open up. They look just like cotton balls. This is the cotton fluff and this fluff is later turned into cotton. Cotton fluff gives us a cosy feeling. Fleur Créatif florist Bart van Didden opted for a winter wall creation with this special material.
What do you need?
Botanicals
- Gossypium, cotton plant
- Helleborus orientalis ‘Ice N’ Roses’
- Helleborus niger
Other materials
- Cheesecloth/muslin (cotton)
- Electrical conduit on a roll (flexible and ribbed)
- Glue gun
- Latex paint
- Granite bowl shape/bowl (45 cm diameter)
- OASIS® ring
- Cotton balls
- Wooden skewer
Let’s get started!
Step 1: Start by cutting strips of cheesecloth (cheese cloth has an open structure and gives a living character) and wrap the flexible tube within. The start and end point of the cheesecloth is secured with hot glue.
Step 2: Take the electrical conduit and start – on the outside of the granite bowl – from the middle in a spiral movement to build up a new bowl shape. Make sure you attach the spiral shape firmly against the granite bowl! Connect the spiral with hot glue and wipe away the excess glue. Complete the bowl shape and remove it from the granite bowl.
Step 3: Make a second bowl form in the same way, but use the inside of the granite bowl this time. Now start working from the outside inward so you get a shape that has an opening in the middle.
Step 4: When both forms are ready, paint them with white latex paint to approach the same colour of cotton balls and cotton flowers.
Step 5: Place the two shapes together. Glue the smallest shape convexly slightly away from the middle of the larger bowl shape so you get a lot of depth and shadow effect. Glue the foam wreath just outside the opening and fill it up with the cotton flowers, hellebore and cotton balls. The cotton balls are attached on skewers and covered on the bottom with plastic foil so that they cannot absorb moisture.
Note: Our aim with this project was to find a way to bring back the main material, the cotton flower, and let it be the focal point of the project. Hence the use of the cheesecloth and cotton balls.
A floral design by Bart van Didden for Fleur Créatif Magazine – winter 2018.
