Art in Bloom is in its fifth very successful year and Monches Farm was pleased to once again be a part of this exciting event, which pairs area floral designers with pieces of art from MAM’s collection and asks that the florists interpret the art in flowers.

This year we had Sue Morgan & Zannah Crowe as a design team to take on the interpretive challenge. The piece assigned to us (art pieces are assigned through a raffle system) was 'Single Form' by Barbara Hepworth. Hepworth was a very influential English sculptor whose work was deeply connected to, and reflective of, nature. 

Our first impression upon seeing this bronze sculpture was that it resembled an elongated bud, ready to burst forth with new life in the spring of the year. Therefore, our floral interpretation was one of rebirth or reawakening. The base of Hepworth's piece has a bark-like texture and we responded to that with the use of a cast tree bark container as our base. We responded to the strong vertical element that so clearly embodies the Hepworth piece with equisetum (Horsetail) and Flax leaves, very vertically arranged as in an elongating bud. At the top of our piece we wanted to incorporate a floral element that spoke "SPRING" and for this purpose we selected Daffodils /Narcissus, which to us are the quintessential symbol of the season. 

We were pleased to have our interpretation of this piece as a representation of New Beginnings confirmed by a museum docent (a Hepworth scholar) who shared with us that Hepworth created this piece upon her return from a trip to Greece in which she was trying to rejuvenate herself after suffering a personal tragedy.