GEORGES SEURAT. A SUNDAY ON LA GRANDE JATTE — 1884, 1884/86. THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO. HELEN BIRCH BARTLETT MEMORIAL COLLECTION.
Inspiration for the theme
While we were brainstorming for the idea for our July flower theme, we came across an inspiration from our social media. Some of our friends were posting photos of them having a picnic by the lake side. This instantly reminded me of the famous painting by Georges Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon On The Island of La Grande Jatte (picture above). The painting depicts people relaxing in a suburban park on an island in the Seine River called La Grande Jatte, a popular retreat for the middle and upper class of Paris in the 19th century. The theme of the artwork is not some profound emotional or momentous event, but it simply portrays an ordinary summer day of people enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery by the river side.
While drawing the painting, Seurat the artist sat in the park hours upon hours, creating numerous sketches of the various figures in order to perfect their form before he even thought about starting on the actual painting. This process is very similar to how floral designers brainstorm for new design ideas for the flower bouquet. A good idea can come from anywhere, even from the most commonplace events in our daily lives. In this case, the idea came from our friends’ social media and from the beautiful painting by Seurat.
Summer Good Vibes Taking Over Our Social Media
The sun shines brighter, the wind gets warmer, the music gets louder and my mood gets lighter. It’s summertime!
A refreshing soft tone colors and an all-around good vibe took over our social media in July!
The Flower Design and Arrangement
A. PANTONE 13-0850
Aspen Gold – Craspedia & Chamomile
Sunny Aspen Gold stimulates the feeling of joy and good vibe. Yellow craspedia flower brings out the delight and cheerful feeling of summertime, while chamomile flower that has a small aspen gold at the center of the flower looks just like the sun in the sky. Both of these flowers are essential ornamental touch to add in a pinch of sunshine to the design.
B. PANTONE 13-1520 & PANTONE 16-1735
Rose Quartz & Pink Lemonade – Rose & Eustoma
The air filled with the scent of roses and my hair touched by the summer breeze. Roses and summer go along well and they are the perfect match for a sweet and fun time in summer. So, we decided to use the beautiful rose quartz tone pink rose as the main flower of the design. We also use pink lemonade eustomas for a more dynamic palette of pink in the design.
C. PANTONE 17-0542 & PANTONE 18-0317
Pepper Stem & Bronze Green – Thlaspi & Eucalyptus
Zesty yellow-green pepper stem and the greyish bronze green are the gradient of colors that are close to the nature. Thus, we use thlaspi & eucalyptus to add in these nature colors to the design. These greens are especially suited for our theme as they give us the imagery of friends having a picnic with the serene nature surrounding them.
D. PANTONE 19-1862
Jester Red – Pom Pom
To give more depth and intensity to the flower design, Jester Red combines rich elegance with urbanity. Red pom pom is just like the hot sweaty summer and the sunshine in our bones with its heat radiating into the bright day of summertime. The people faces are glowing, their hearts are shining, and happiness is doubled in the hot summer days!
The result of putting together these flowers is our summer-infused Summertime flower design!
As for the choice of wrapping for the flower bouquet, we think about what color of dress or shirt would we wear in summer to take nice photographs. My choice would be white of course! Imagine wearing a white dress and sitting on the green green grass with friends while eating the food and chit chatting. That would make the perfect photo for an Instagram post, isn’t it? Not to forget also the beautiful blue sky in the background. So we added a blue inner wrapper to the bouquet, just like the blue blue sky in summertime.
Summertime from the Perspective of a Malaysian
Summertime is a season that is so close yet so far to us who live in Malaysia. In our country, we enjoy hot climate all year round, but for countries that have four seasons, summertime is the middle season where people get a break from the cold and bleak winter time and it is the season before the weather turns cold and the leaves turn golden in the autumn. It is a season where flowers and nature blooms in full and it is also the period when school holidays begin. So, it is no wonder people look forward to and enjoy summertime so much!
As the world grows smaller with technology, we can travel across the world through our fingertips and dive in to the beautiful visions and imagery through videos and images on the internet. We hope our series of summer themed designs and pictures provide a glimpse in to the fun times of summertime and give the mind and our imagination a refreshing adventure of the joyful summer days!
Written by: Clory Tan
Co-written by: Kyle Tan
Photography & Graphic by: Sharon Lam