The London and Overseas Area recently held a Virtual Competition on Preserved Plant Material. They have kindly shared the results of the two classes.
Class One : Preserved Panache (A floral craft exhibit) A Picture/Plaque
First : Pallavi Jhawar, Pushpabitan Friendship Society, India
Second : Priti Nathany, Pushpabitan Friendship Society, India
Third : Bhawani Bansal, Pushpabitan Friendship Society, India
Very Highly Commended : Alka Gupta, Pushpabitan Friendship Society, India and Lily More, Pushpabitan Friendship Society, India
High Commended : Judith Tearle, Ealing Flower Club and Preeti Sarda, Pushpabitan Friendship Society, India
Commended : Tania M Darmanin, Individual Member, Malta and Anita Kedia, Pushpabitan Friendship Society, India
Feedback from Valerie Best, NAFAS Accredited National Judge :
‘I thoroughly enjoyed judging this class. Some delightful work and inspired designs. An outstanding class of a very high standard with original and extremely innovative work. Use of texture and colour was exceptionally good. Some photography, especially placement and lighting, did not show all exhibits to their best advantage.’
Class Two : Plant Profusion (A floral craft exhibit) A Pressed Flower Picture
First : Beryl Hutchinson, Cuffley Flower Club
Second : Jane Patterson, Eltham Park Floral Art Club
Third : Sunita Kanoria, Pushpabitan Friendship Society, India
Very Highly Commended : Divya Bhagat, Pushpabitan Friendship Society
Highly Commended : Norma Leslie, Orpington Floral Art Society and Tania M Darmanin, Individual Member, Malta
Commended : Mita Kanoria, Pushpabitan Friendship Society
Feedback from Valerie Best, NAFAS Accredited National Judge :
‘I thoroughly enjoyed judging these two classes. Some delightful work and inspired designs. A good class of exhibits with mainly traditional features. Pressed flowers can be so difficult to use and so space, form and texture needs careful choice and consideration of plant materials. Some exhibits were overfull with pressed flowers of similar texture, shape and size. Additionally, some frames were a little visually heavy. Greater use of contrast would have improved many of the entries. As in Class 1, photography did not do full justice to many of the exhibits. Placement, position and lighting need some experimentation.’