Francine Thomas' exhibition at the World Flower Show was made of three steel koru covered in plant material and decorated with flowers representing New Zealand's different natural environments. Photo/Supplied
Francine Thomas' exhibition at the World Flower Show was made of three steel koru covered in plant material and decorated with flowers representing New Zealand's different natural environments. Photo/Supplied
Francine Thomas' floral masterpiece had people at the World Flower Show in Dublin thinking they were in New Zealand.
Mrs Thomas was selected to represent New Zealand at the show, which ran from June 18 to 22. As part of the show, she had to create an exhibition live onstage to represent her country.
Her design was 2.5-metre tall and made of three koru shapes with plants flowing from the centre.
"For 35 minutes, I took them to New Zealand. I did the design with two parts that were pre-made with giant steel koru frames covered with shredded, died flax and sisal, and covered the korus with natural plant material."
Mrs Thomas said out of the centre of each koru was a design that dripped to the floor. The biggest one was done in greys, whites and greens, with paua and succulents, to represent New Zealand's volcanic areas, with blues that cascaded in the next koru, which represented the forests. The blue continued to flow in the next koru that ended in the sea, with colours of the paua.
"I talked about the beautiful forests and volcanic area, from Cape Reinga to Stewart Island. I also talked about Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty. I talked about how the blue represented the beautiful, clear waters, how the paua is our national treasure and how the koru represents our silver fern, only found naturally in New Zealand."
