Text by Sharon Santoni – Styling & Photos by Elise Dumas
Easter, for many people, is the first big holiday celebration of the spring. A long weekend in most European countries, it is synonymous with flowers, decorating and long, leisurely family meals.
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For the occasion, photographer and food stylist Elise Dumas imagined a dramatically beautiful floral ensemble, designed exclusively for MFCH Magazine. It combines our favorite spring flowers – daffodils, hyacinths, tulips and hellebore – mingled with her signature exuberant foliage… the result is spectacular.
This kind of floral art is much more than just a few flowers popped into a vase. It is a layered creation that plays with both texture and light, which, upon scrutiny, reveals more and more depth to the composition. The onlooker is invited to slow down, breathe deep and take in the beauty.
To make the main bouquet, Elise used around 20 daffodils of several varieties, a dozen each of tulips and hellebore, and half a dozen hyacinths. She added some zing with a couple of tall, tantalizing spider lilies and snowball viburnum. Texture is achieved with the foliage: branches of pittosporum, ivy, ferns and euphorbia.
The bouquet would have been magnificent with just the flowers and foliage alone, but to accentuate the Easter theme, Elise also added some white and brown chicken eggs accompanied by a couple of artfully coloured eggs in blue. Laid in a basket, or tucked into a deep glass bowl, they attract the light amid the photos shot with a dramatic chiaroscuro technique.
