My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Prickly Oasis

In geography, an oasis is a remote area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source.

In Floral design Oasis is basically the same thing.

It is a small block of floral foam that we use as a water source for plant material.
But as a contemporary designer there is so much more you can do with Oasis. Over the coming month I will explore and use Oasis (focusing mostly on Rainbow Oasis) in my designs and add a few tutorials as I go along.

My Oasis design series include: Prickly Oasis, my take on using Oasis as a water source, A Work of Heart, using Oasis to weigh down an underwater garland Hanging Garden Oasis in powder form, One Singular Sensation, carving pebbles, Crossing Boundaries, using Oasis to conceal mechanics and A Rock by any other Name.. for Oasis rocks
See below for the design links

Prickly Oasis

This is my second Oasis design in this series

Prickly Oasis

Place three soaked blocks of ivory Rainbow Oasis with charcoal grey thorn details in three identical glass containers.

Place green wool on the top to soften the look of the Oasis. Place the Acasia thorns into and across the Oasis and finish the design with stems of lilies and lisianthus.

Prickly Oasis

Top up with water as it evaporates or is absorbed by the stems.

Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.

Tutorials

8 February 2011 Cut Rainbow Oasis shapes to make multi-coloured designs

Mix and match Rainbow Oasis colours to create patterns

20 February 2011 Soaking Floral Foam

Each block of foam holds forty times its own weight in water. One brick holds two litres of water

30 March 2012 Keep pod shaped flowers in bud for longer

Sometimes you want to keep flowers in tight bud for as long as possible to suit your design

Favourite Flowers

Lilium

Lily

Eustoma

Lisianthus, Texan Poppy, Texas Bluebell, Tulip Gentian, Prairie Gentian

Related Designs

19 February 2011 Crossing Boundaries

Twig waterfall creates the boundary between the "under" and the "over" of the design. Tutorial: How to cover test tubes with Rainbow Oasis

11 February 2011 A Work of Heart

Carving hearts out of Rainbow Oasis to create an under water design

17 February 2011 Hanging Garden

Hanging garden Design using Rainbow Oasis Powder

25 February 2011 A Rock by any other Name...

It's not really what we call things that matter but what they are made of- in this design, it's made of all three types of Oasis and wool.

1 June 2016 The ties that Bind

Bind a lily to create a trumpet shape as it opens

3 April 2011 One Singular Sensation

Three Lilies plaited to create a sensational, singular flower "growing" out of a Equisetum dome filled with Rainbow Oasis pebbles.