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Taking Green Bay floral art to international success Local floral artist, Juliet Leonard, from Green Bay Florist has a smile as big and bright as a sunflower when she talks about her high placing at the recent World Association of Floral Artists Show (WAFA) in Jaipur, India. A first-time competitor at the international show, Juliet achieved second place in the Impose Class for her entry Peek-A-Boo and is now hard at work thinking about a creation she aims to enter in the Designer of the Year competition in Orewa this month (Covid-19 permitting). Following a career in insurance, Juliet did a course in floristy at Unitech some years back and was hooked. About five years ago, she bought the shop in Green Bay in which she now works with daughter Sky. A member of the Mt Roskill Floral Art Group, Juliet says floral art is all about creating flower arrangements in vases, bowls, baskets, or other containers, or making bouquets and compositions from cut flowers, foliages, herbs, ornamental grasses, and other plant materials. The aim is to create eye-catching and balanced compositions or displays and may include making wreaths, nosegays, garlands, festoons, boutonnières, corsages, and bows. Juliet says the Indian experience was like nothing else she had experienced: the colour, the venues (palaces and the like) and meeting floral artists from all over the world. About 35 New Zealand artists made the trip alongside participants from 28 other countries. In her suitcase she had a ‘variety of wires and a toolkit’, and in her mind, a few ideas of what her entry might look like. Other necessities were provided by show organisers – a variety of materials including silver leaves, yellow sticks, seed pods, hessian, floral foam and cogs in a range of shapes and sizes. Alongside that was a large bucket of fresh plant material (gypsophilia, orchids, gerberas, chrysanthemums) and a variety of foliage. She had four hours to create her work of art. “The time went so fast. I just finished in time and was happy with my design.” Taking second place was a thrill for Juliet who now focuses much of her time on teaching and ‘doing the rounds of demonstrations’ of floral art with the aim of becoming a world judge, laden with plant knowledge and habitats she’s keen to share. Juliet says her creative ideas come easily enough, but she does worry about making them work. “Floral art is
not as easy as it looks but it does give you a great buzz. “I love flowers. They are my passion. I don’t feel as though I come to work at all. I just come in and get on with making up beautiful bouquets and arrangements. I love to see what Sky brings from the market each week,” she says. “And I love Green Bay and the people. It’s a lovely sunny group of shops and the people are terrific.” – Moira Kennedy Juliet Leonard (right) and daughter Sky in the Green Bay Florist shop.
Piha performing across the board
Piha Surf Life Saving Club found themselves with much to celebrate as the annual Surf Life Saving Northern Region Awards of Excellence ventured online to recognise the efforts of some of New Zealand’s top athletes and lifeguards. The coveted award for Lifeguard of the Year was awarded to Rhys Lloyd (below left), a club member who started as a Nipper at the age of seven and, now aged 20, is Vice Club-Captain. Lucy Makaea and Levi Ata (below right) won the U19 Sportswoman of the Year and U19 Sportsman of the Year respectively. Finalists Warren Tyler in Patrol Support and the Piha Piranhas in the Competition Team were also recognised.
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The Fringe OCTOBER 2020
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