Design by Knight

Heron in the Marshes: Themed Table decoration for Metro Atlanta Floral Association Meeting

The Metro Atlanta Floral Association held their monthly meeting at Carlstedt’s Atlanta, the wholesale floral company I am currently working for.  The topic of this months meeting was “Themed Tables”.  I was in charge of coordinating the table rental and set up for the meeting.  We ended up with six designers who volunteered to create a “Themed Table” of their choosing on a 60″ round table. There at least 30 or more floral shop owners and MAFA members attend the meeting.  I was one of the designers who volunteered to create a table.

We had Carte Blanche to choose any theme we could envision or create for our tables.  I chose a wetlands theme for several reasons.  The first reason was that I had just been down in Key Largo- boating, fishing and diving and enjoying the natural beauty of the ocean and wetlands with all the mangrove roots and trees and birds.  Nature at her finest.  The second reason was that I am just sick to death over the gushing oil flowing freely into the Gulf and wanted to draw attention to this man made disaster and voice my opinion that there should be no more drilling in the Gulf.  The third reason was that I am planning a trip to North Carolina for the July fourth weekend where my friends and I are planning to have a “Fripp Island” themed food fest and party and thought a life size Great White Heron sitting in a stump of Red Mangrove Roots would make a smashing center piece for our food table.

Now, I have been using paper mache to create marvelous sculptures, costume masks and centerpieces, life size horses and elephants, Chinese dragons and many other pieces that I used when decorating for parties and events when I owned my event planning company back in the early 1990′s, Party Girls of Tampa, but, I have not worked with paper mache in over 15 years.

Once I decided on my theme it required a trip to  Home Depot to check out the supplies I would need.  I walked down every Aisle looking for sparks of inspiration.  I finally came across a bundle of thick wire that was heavy duty but bendable with effort and I could still cut through the wire (with some difficulty) using regular wire clippers.  I also threw a roll of 1″ chicken wire in my cart along with a gallon container of Wallpaper paste and a couple cans of flat white spray paint.  I then took a trip to Michael’s Crafts to fetch some feathers and acrylic paints.  They carry the two types of feathers I like to use, a long straight white feather and some smaller wispy white feathers.  When I got home it was time to spread everything out and get started.

I actually started with my computer, first, by pulling up pictures of Great White Herons in different poses and coloring.  I also pulled up a lot of photographs of the Mangroves to see the different roots shapes.  I then unstrapped my giant roll of wire and started to shape my vision of what the Mangrove root stump should look like and what shape it should be.  There are many things you need to think about when designing a centerpiece for a 60″ round table that usually seats 8 people, ten in a pinch.  I wanted there to be a lot of negative space to see through as to not block the view across the table for someone sitting down to dinner..  My guide has always been if I put my elbow on the table and hold my arm and hand straight up what ever is sitting in the middle of the table should be no higher than the tips of my fingers or you won”t be able to see across the table.  I figured if I make the mangrove roots so they are down low with a small arrangement of flowers off to the side, I could have the bird higher than the line of sight which is also good for events that have high ceilings.

I started with the design and shape of the mangrove roots.  I had done a little sketch of what it should look like in my minds eye which I used as a guide.

Once I had the basic shape that I like which was taped together with some duct tape to hold the shape, I set it aside and started working on the Heron.  I started with his feet and fashioned one pair a great looking legs out of the wire, again using the duct tape and used it to attach his feet and toes.  I then took the chicken wire and started cutting and shaping until I had the birds basic shape down and I then squeezed and pulled it to be in proportion to the legs.  I then inserted his legs up far enough into the body that there would be a good support system and held it in place with the duct tape.

After I had the Great White Heron shaped and molded using the chicken wire and had the wire legs secured I started using the strips of paper mache and taking one strip at a time I would dip it through the wall paper paste which I thinned with water and then took all the excess paste off by running the strip of newspaper through two closed fingers. You wrap this around the bird and start to build your layers.

After building quite a few layers of the newspaper strip on the bird and mangrove stump it was time to add a little detail to the bird. I took a full sheet of newspaper and dipped it carefully in the paste and then shaped the piece into a birds wing with folds and creases. When I had the newspaper actually looking like wings, I added a few feathers to create a visual and textural impact.

The paper mache dries fairly quickly depending on the number of layers you have created. It is important to let the mache dry thoroughly before painting. After the Heron was dried I painted the whole thing white with a flat white craft spray paint and then used acrylic paint to add color and detail. I always spray a good coat of clear acrylic gloss the spray as a finishing coat that helps protect the piece and gives it a nice sheen.

I have since used the bird as a food table display for the party in North Carolina, As a table display for my line of felted wool product at a Lady Rouge Pop up bazaar and have had several calls form people who have seen the Heron asking to rent the bird for their parties.