Michael Smith, AAF, AIFD, FDI, FSMD, owner Artistic Designs Unlimited Inc., in Marianna, Florida won the 54th annual Sylvia Cup Design Competition.
Michael Smith, AAF, AIFD, FDI, FSMD, owner of Artistic Designs Unlimited Inc., in Marianna, Florida won the 54th annual Sylvia Cup Design Competition at the Society of American Florists’ annual convention last week in Phoenix.
Smith walked into the competition with a plan. He wanted to embrace clean lines and a modern design, regardless of the competition’s surprise theme. That theme, revealed at the start of the competition, was the “Wild West.” That helped Smith determine his color palate and create the feel of the open prairie that he wanted to capture.
“I focus on what’s being asked, and the principles and elements of design,” he says, of his approach to design competitions. “It’s about following directions and listening.”
Last year’s winner, Kelsey Thompson, AIFD, owner and head designer of Bloom Floral & Home Studio in Algona, Iowa, was the first runner-up and received $500; Patience Pickner, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, of The Picket Fence, Chamberlain, South Dakota was second runner-up and received $250. Twenty-five designers competed in the event. Certified American Grown provided the fresh product and Smithers Oasis provided the hard goods.
With two hours, each designer was challenged to create three pieces: a “Spirit of the West” design for an art gallery opening, a “Gold Rush” monochromatic wedding bouquet and a “Dearly Departed” sympathy tribute.
Smith’s “Spirit of the West” arrangement featured a vertical, modern art design.
Smith molded the provided stems and hardware to his vision. He created a vertical modern art design of stems using the black midnight foam for his gallery piece. Then he set out to make a sympathy cross from flowers and foliage – a design he has used in his retail shop – by manipulating many of the provided products. While he eschewed using the standard cross foam, he busily stripped berries from vines, bent the easel to give his piece depth, and whittled a hole in a black designer tray. With 20 minutes left, he grabbed the yellow calla lilies and stuck to his plan of clean lines to create the wedding bouquet, bending wires to make leaves and adding bear grass for movement.
“You have to think outside the box,” he says. “The one thing I was most happy about when I walked away at the end was that my table looked like nobody else’s. At that point I didn’t care if I won.”
His distinctive approach won over the judges.
“His unique use of the product, especially the first category, really stood out as separate,” says Jodi McShan, AAF, one of the three judges. “There were similar themes throughout his work, and it was mechanically sound and had the creativity points.”
The bouquet and the wire work kept a solid line, and the cross embodied the wild west theme without going the traditional route of rope, she says noting that his three pieces were consistent and showed a lot of creativity.
“All were true to the goal, without going traditional, and his pieces had a unique approach for using the flowers,” she says.
The win‚ which came with a $3,000 prize and the Sylvia Cup trophy, was humbling and validating of the hours of work and study Smith has put into learning his artform, he says, and adds to a growing list of accomplishments. A member of SAF’s Next Gen group, Smith is busy growing his business and staying involved in the industry. Smith is also the president-elect for the Florida State Florists’ Association.
Smith says he feels fortunate to be able to take flowers and shape them into art.
“We get to take natural thing that is given to us and create beautiful art that can uplift anybody’s spirit,” he says.
Sarah Sampson is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.