Christmas, feast of light

Just when the days are shortening, floral designers can add warmth, glow and a festive touch to interiors with their arrangements. Handcrafted creations, natural materials and playful accents in wine red, bronze, gold or surprising black link an individual story to every room. Family and friends gather around the table, floral creations bring warmth and coziness. In the darkest time of the year, Christmas is rightfully the feast of light.

'Shaping what wants to emerge'

Botanical artist Erik Lockley has more than 30 years of experience in floral design. For the clients of his Flower Shop in Antwerp, he creates field bouquets, special arrangements for top restaurants and designs gardens. Erik does not create floral arrangements but shapes what wants to be created.

'Christmas for me means celebration of light. The days grow longer again, life begins again, towards spring. Even though the flowers are still in the fields, their heads are hanging down because it is winter. They are dying, but also already bear life for the new year: the seeds that will soon fall into the earth. Broken branches are dead, but in combination with living materials you get a certain tension. That, too, is Christmas.

'For inspiration, I simply listened to the field, to the materials, to the space, and that's how these pieces were created. The creations are mainly based on light, on life, on direction, on balance between winter and summer. In the summer the materials have grown and now they come to their full potential here.'

'Providing ideas and creating a welcoming atmosphere'

Créatrice florale Charlotte Bartholomé cannot let the 10th anniversary of her flower store go unnoticed. 'Such a special moment should be celebrated, a unique opportunity to color the store in party mood and invite customers, friends and suppliers.

For all occasions, the store is transformed into an enchanting experience. For Christmas, too, the entire store should shine and exude a special Christmas atmosphere. 'I am going to decorate a very large Christmas tree anyway. A real one, which will be up to four meters high. Every year I change the color of the decoration. This year I'm going for bronze, brown, gold and a little green, with each corner having its own color. In the center will be a beautiful table decoration with floral arrangements. It's important to give people ideas.'

Charlotte loves the cozy warm atmosphere of Christmas, of making her customers happy. 'Classic shapes like stars and wreaths remain a fixture, but I also like to experiment with new shapes and materials. Besides red and green, pale tones combined with gold and bronze will play an important role this year. And certainly also creations with light.'

Christmas cocoon

The base of this creation is a large Styrofoam half sphere. To make the base more elegant, the shape was trimmed a bit and then pasted with wine-red colored cobra leaves. Dried rose petals cover the inside of the bowl, creating a cocoon feel. Half coconut halves are
fitted with floral foam and richly filled with salmon-colored carnations and roses, wine-red chrysanthemums and Phalaenopsis. A sprig of Chamaecyparis and baubles in shades of red and purple enhance the Christmas spirit. Ribbon-wrapped metal wire places the coconut nests at different heights for added depth.

Nature sculpture

Inspired by the soft winter light, an
wavy shape that was then completely wrapped with tape and pasted with fine veneer wood panels. For a bright look, the shape received a covering of "Angel Wings" and bleached pine cones on the outer edges. White butterfly orchids, Clematis
tufts and delicate Sophora japonica
sprigs are inserted into tubes and placed centrally.

Christmas Moonlight

The base of the Christmas Moonlight is formed by a larger and a smaller frame that
fit together. First, the large frame was filled with LED lights, then the frames were wrapped with double-sided tape on which stars and rectangles of "sola wood" were stuck. Both shapes were firmly attached to each other. The small frame is finished
with white felt. Starlets made of birch bark, glass baubles and glass tubes with white Vanda and green Helleborus hang from a curly metal wire wrapped with string. The transparent dandelion fluff balls add a mysterious effect.