Accolades have come in from around the world for Tauranga floral artist Francine Thomas for her win as 2022 Designer of the Year in the Australia Floral Art Association annual competition.
The Weekend Sun caught up with Francine in Perth – she's on a wildflower tour following the event.
Francine entered four pieces into the Perth-based competition, with the show theme ‘Wonderful West'.
Her ‘Best in Show' championship win incorporates the required theme ‘Wild and Wonderful' for which she also won ‘Best Design' for that class. And it won ‘Most Creative' and ‘Most Innovative'.
'I used Australian native wild flowers,” says Francine. 'And handmade frames that I took over with me. It all has to be plant material. I wanted it to look like the outback with the dry, arid ground.”
The frames are made using fibre paper.
'We had to work our championship design within a one metre square space and go as high as we like. It had to be viewed from the front and the sides. So I did two placements.
'I made the frames and my husband makes the stands for me so I can travel with them; they're portable and screw together. I made artificial branches out of wire and jute string.”
Being a versatile creative designer, Francine ensures nearly everything is designed to unscrew and pack into her suitcase, with some additional purchases in Australia.
'I went to the flower markets. They have a great range of native flowers.”
She also won first place in the ‘Hanging Design' category with ‘Sea Breeze' which has the appearance of sea urchins reflecting light.
'It's made with bird spikes used on fences that I got from Bunnings in Tauranga. I bound them using string onto thick aluminium wire.”
Her piece ‘The Outback', which features leucadendrons, took first place for ‘Most Creative Imposé'.
'‘For Most Creative Imposé they supply everything. We all get exactly the same containers and flowers; then we have an hour to make something with it.”
Taking inspiration from Australian bush fires, she won third place with her ‘Wander over Yonder' she created by laminating, carving and then burning balsa wood to create a bush fire charcoal vibe.
The first time she competed in the competition, in 2017, she placed third; she won Australian Designer of the Year in 2018, returning this year to clinch it once again. Last year she was a competition demonstrator, which she did via Zoom due to Covid.
Francine has been BOP Floral Art Society Designer of the Year five times, won NZ Designer of the Year in 2016; and has been national demonstrator for the Floral Art Society since 2010. She also creates videos for her online followers.