Gillian Wheeler joins panel of judges
London-based Gillian Wheeler of The Covent Garden Academy of Flowers was one of a panel of judges for the latest edition of the International Floral Art book
Gillian Wheeler, Principal of leading UK floral design school The Covent
Garden Academy of Flowers, was one of the judges of the bi-annual
International Floral Art book, due to be released later this month.
Gillian, a floral designer with more than 25 years
experience who started the central London
school in November 2010, was invited by Belgian publisher, Stichting Kunstboek,
to be one of the judges after featuring in the 2011/2012 edition of the volume. She joined four other judges from Europe – Herman Van Dionant from Belgium,
Roser Bofill from Spain,
Jacqueline Boerma from the Netherlands
and Stichting Kunstboek
publisher Jaak Van Damme. “We judged approximately 800 entries, during a two-day
judging session in Bruges
last November,” she said. “The standard of the entries was incredible, spending two days immersing
myself in the world’s greatest floral design talent really was such a privilege. After having my own work selected by judges in the same way for the
previous book, it was such an honour to be judging this edition – it gave me a
real understanding of the challenging decisions they face.”
Katrien Van Moerbeke, editor of International
Floral Art, said the judges were chosen as they all have one thing in common –
a link to a floral design school. “Herman is attached to the Green
Academy in Belgium,
Roser is Head of the Escola d’Art
Floral de Catalunya, Jacqueline is head of the Boerma Instituut in Holland, and then, of course, Gillian,” she said. “We particularly wanted to
meet Gillian because The Covent Garden Academy of Flowers is a
relatively new school. We were curious about the driving force behind it, and
we always hope for future collaborations. These people have an insight into emerging new
talent in their countries, a good idea of technical matters which
is necessary to be able to judge the technical execution of a work, and have seen a lot of
work in their lives, so they can judge the originality of the compositions that
are sent in – what’s truly new and what’s just a copy.”
The 2012/2013 edition of the book has again created a platform to
exchange design ideas and test creativity and innovation, crossing geographical
and cultural boundaries. In this edition, 32 nations are represented, including 47 people from Russia,
17 each from Belgium and Japan, and 9 from the Netherlands.
For well-established floral designers, International Floral Art is an
opportunity to demonstrate how years of hard work has honed their craft to
perfection. For budding florists, the book is a chance to showcase their
talent, inventiveness and fresh ideas.
The International Floral Art books, displaying the variety and rich
potential in contemporary floristry, have become true collector’s items among
professional florists and passionate hobbyists alike. The book will be available through the Fusion Flowers marketplace as soon as it becomes available.
