Bloem (Flower) - some thoughts on floral patterns and flower photography - 4
Eugène van Veldhoven
Designer of textiles and wallcovering since 1993. Designing patterns for textile industry, with a focus on decorative techniques. Producing short runs for fashion houses. Researching 3D printing flexibel materials.
The colour green.
.When I am spending time in nature, I thoroughly enjoy all the different hues of green. In pattern design, however, I am not particularly fond of the colour. And yes, I do know that green is fashionable at the moment. When I am designing with particularly outspoken flower shapes and colours, I will most of the times try to leave out the green parts, like stems, buds and leafs. Fortunately there are also plants that have other colours than green.
Flowers from the flower shop nine times out of ten will have a straight stem, and that is another reason to not show them; they may be too dominant in the pattern and tend to make patterns unidirectional, which in general is OK for wallcovering or curtains, but hardly so for upholstery or carpet.
Keeping and using the green parts of flower or plant can give the pattern a botanical connotation. Including the names of the plants in the pattern clearly refers to the herbarium, something you can only do every once in many years. I have found that it can work to include stems and leafs when the flower looks like it is a wild species and has been picked by the roadside a moment ago.