From Bill Schaffer - for 2018 Flower Show

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Questions for Major Exhibitors

SCHAFFER DESIGNS - WATERCOLOURS

WATERCOLOUR

Color and creativity are united in WATERCOLOUR: a collective blending of three art forms: painting, sculpture and floral. Water and pigment merge, bringing paint to life. Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Ryan Beck has created an abstract 1280 sq. ft. mural, teeming with the energy of unbound, colorful forms. Philadelphia-based, multi-media artists Joseph Leroux and Ken Derengowski have sculpted flowing armatures emerging from the mural. Bill Schaffer, Kristine Kratt-Schaffer and The Schaffer Designs’ Team of floral artists, from across the United States, complete this fluid, collaborative floral art installation in a living, floral explosion of color.

This is the final – to scale – sketch of the exhibit:

What was the inspiration for your exhibit?

As a floral art installation based company – we find ourselves searching for our own path with the themes of the Flower Show. From a fantastical dream garden in Polar Fantasy to horrors and eye-opening social commentary of Jack the Ripper and from a wildy, scene-stealing An American in Paris through the Approved-by-Tim-Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and of course the revolutionary PEDALS: The WHITE BIKE PLAN for our Holland interpretation. As soon as we heard the word water – we understood that many will use ponds, movement water through drips, waterfalls, etc…, frozen flowers, flowers underwater, flowers suspended in water water, water, water – NO – that was not for us. How does water affect art – WATERCOLOURS??? Van Gogh, Wyeth, Kandinsky, Szabo, O’Keefe, Turner, Blake and the list goes on!!! WATERCOLOUR as in PIGMENT – was a concept that we could unifyingly sink our collective design teeth into.

When did you start working on the design and selecting the plant materials?

• We have been considering our design options since before the last Flower Show came to a close – but it exploded as a full-fledged, reality-based concept in early September 2017. How do we create something with such a strong – BIG – impact on an audience the size of the Philadelphia Flower Show attendees. A Mural – we live in the city of murals – and who better to go to for murals than MURAL ARTS PHILADELPHIA?!?!

THEY LOVED THE IDEA!!!!!

• Within a short period of time we were assigned multiple liasons andwith a deep series of Q&As we were able to describe our idea and vision. They did a serious search and concluded upon 5 artsist for Kris and I to work with – it was simple – EZ-PZ!!! Ryan Beck’s art jumped out at us. He had the perfect unbound energy and understanding of color, rhythm, line and depth that we always seek in our personal art searches.
• This process brought us into late November. We were presented with the final sketches/CAD drawings and additional concept sketches in mid-December – we were a GO!!!
• Nothing could be completed until our artist was in place. Our desire to be inspired by the art – put our floral designs on hold until the first 2 – yes – 2 processes were complete.
• OK- the art was underway – now we reached out to Joe Leroux and Ken Derengowski – 2 multi-media artists who currently reside in Philadelphia to create our steel-based armatures for us. We showed them the artwork – expressed our emotions that we wanted to show the attendees and left it to them to build a symbiotic relationship with the painting through their sculptures.
• By the beginning of the New Year – everything was ready to go – we had ideas – but the evolution would not be beholden to what we thought – it was a revolutionary concept to combine 3 distinct art forms into a single exhibit and that was what we wanted all along – this improvisational growth is what Kris and Bill thrive upon – WOW!!! We were a go.
• Within 2 weeks all of the plant materials were chosen for their color, line and rhythmic capabilities. Our Partners were literally e-mailing us daily asking how they can get involved – we were set.
• Our designer have been on a waiting list for almost 2 years now – we bring in 12-15 experience Schaffer Design Team members each year as we then invite a whole new group to experience the flower show and have the opportunity to do what they never get to do in their own locations.

What was the biggest challenge or discovery as you moved from concept to completion?

• No real challenges out of the ordinary Unions, travel logistics, delivery logistics, advance design logistics, and what time does everyone get their Reading Terminal Lunch Break each day?!?!?!
• What we discovered was that our fluid, collaborative floral art installation is exactly what we hoped for – actually, it is better than we could have dreamed. Experience and continued education are key to our success, allowing your mind to be open to new opportunities and not seek to be outside of the box – when there is no box – just your imagination, your willingness to do what it takes to make it happen and a great team – or should I say a great family of friends – who just so happen to be exceptional designers – is what it takes to make it all come together.

Have you collaborated with any partners for your Flower Show exhibit?

• As discussed above - our Principle Partners are MURAL ARTS PHILADELPHIA’s Muralist Ryan Beck and Philadelphia-based sculpture artists Joe Leroux and Ken Derengowski.
• The flowers came from multiple Partners in Equador, Colombia, Miami, Hawaii, Thailand and Japan.
•  We were fortunate for the past few years to have a great firm in Miami Partner with us to gather all of the flowers from all over the world for us and then  ship them directly into our booth at the Flower Show

Our Early Morning Tour guests like the “sneak peek” they get into the Flower Show. Can you give a few examples of interesting facts about your exhibit that Flower Show Guests may not know?

• Each of our SCHAFFER DESIGN TEAM Members travel at their own expense – none have ever been paid – they are all volunteers!!! ~ working exclusively on the Schaffer Designs Exhibit!!! This year we have 30 designers and assistants from 11 different states including, Alabama, California, Illinois, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Minnesota, and of course Pennsylvania.
• Some our our design team members are celebrating their 12^th year (all), 10^th and 9^th and 8^th years here at the show with our team
• There are almost 3,000 8oz & 12 oz bottles that were all individually hand-poured with a blend of paraffin and soy wax mixed with a color enhancer to add a water-like dripping effect to the design.
• Each series of bottles connected to the armature were hand-twisted with 12gauge colored-aluminum wire with exactly 4 full twists in betwee in order to guarantee a ¼” gap between the bottles
• We used over 10,000 stems of flowers for the opening of the show. We will use another 2,000 stems during the nightly refresh between the opening and Tuesday evening March 6. Our big refresh is March 6 – where we will be using an additional 5,000 stems for the refresh and maintenance through the end of the show.
• The flowers came from multiple Partners in Equador, Colombia, Miami, Hawaii, Thailand and Japan.
• The 6 largest 12’ long armatures weigh in at under 40lbs each!
• The mural is 128’ Long x 10’ High = 1,280 sq ft!!!
• Bill and Kris have actually written a book on their experiences at the Philadelphia Flower Show called Taking The Flower Show Home.
• Bill and Kris were married at the Flower Show during the very first Wedding Wednesday on March 7, 2012. They had over 10,000 live witnesses to their wedding, an audience of over 1 million on the FYI Philly special on ABC and their wedding cake was produced by The Cake Boss and currently has over 6,000,000 views.