WINTER WREATH VARIATIONS - Creative Edge Holiday 2020
DESIGNS & TEXT BY HITOMI GILLIAM AIFD | PHOTOGRAPHY BY COLIN GILLIAM
“Whites and greys are Achromatic…. They are colorless. They are perfect quiet reflection of winter and its somber mood. The chilling frost and the blanket of snow, against the bare branches… the contrast is very stark in color and form. Winter is a much abstracted and reduced world, thus being devoid of color for this season makes good sense. Whites, greys, grey greens and organic color of tree trunk and twigs make perfect palette for winter wreaths.
Wreath is a decorative ring.
I chose 3 variations inspired by this foundational form.
”
BOTANICALS Western Cedar, Douglas Fir, Carolina Sapphire, Oregonia, Variegated Holly, Juniper Berries, White Pine, Woolly Bush, Brunia, Seeded Eucalyptus, Riceflower (dried), Lichen branch, Tillandsia xerographica, Tillandsia bulbosa, Clematis floss
SUPPLIES Vinyl Wreath frame, Chicken wire roll (See Video Tutorial), Bindwire
WREATH one
‘A Welcome at the Front Gate’
“I used a mechanic, a combination of vinyl Christmas wreath and chicken wire roll ring (watch This Month’s Techniques Tutorial)
Designing in this structure is a dream… it could not have been easier and so much fun to build. Its quick to make, it takes very little materials and its conducive to your creative whim.
I really enjoyed gathering grey botanicals, so many with such diverse textures. Combined… this color palette feels light, sensuous, ephemeral and soft. Even though its quiet and somber, but it feels woolly warm.
The Christmas greens inmost part were designed flowing in one direction. But when the finishing materials were being inserted to finess, they did not all comply to the same direction, they were placed to appeal direct to the eye.”
WREATH two
‘4-Layer Table Wreath’
“The wooden wreath frame was used flat with a chicken wire roll ring held down by watertubes on bamboo skewers. Some of the bamboo skewers were drilled into the wood wreath. The chicken wire layer was filled with Christmas green shorts – it forms the second layer in the wreath shape over the wood wreath. This layer is that underlay for water tube layer which is filled with white flowers. An overlay also in a circular shape of defoliated southern smilax vine continues the repetition of ring layers. It’s a 4 layer table wreath!!”
BOTANICALS Scabiosa, Veronica, Eustoma, Disbud Chrysanthemum, Hellebores, Clematis floss, Southern smilax vine, Western Cedar, Douglas Fir, Carolina Sapphire, Oregonia, Variegated Holly, Juniper berries, Woolly bush, Brunia
SUPPLIES Birch Twig Wreath, Chicken wire roll, Bamboo skewers, 4” Water tubes, Raffia (natural), Birch bark, UGlu dashes
WREATH THREE
‘Inspired by Fallen Cones & Twigs’
BOTANICALS Hellebores, Veronica, Scabiosa, Eustoma, Disbud Chrysanthemum, Dianthus ‘Green Trick’, Clematis floss, Ficus root, Douglas Fir, Western Cedar, Oregonia, Fir cones, Fir twigs with lichen, Reindeer moss
SUPPLIES Bowl, Chicken wire, Bindwire
“After a very strong windstorm overnight, there were lichen twigs and fir cones strewn all over the outdoor deck. As I swept them into a pile, the random pattern of cones and twigs inspired an idea for design and its process.
I wanted to create an unarranged table centerpiece in a low bowl. I made a collaring of double layer chicken wire around the bowl to create a wreath effect so that cones can be placed randomly over the laid greens.
The wreath surrounds the bowl into which I chose to drop the white flowers at random, with an overlay of lichen twigs dropped like they had from the tree. More cones were dropped into unfilled spaces.
The mindset of random placement through the entire design process made this concept successful. Filling the middle of this design resulted in a closed wreath.”
