If you are familiar with my work, you know I love to create floral sculptures! The topiaries I have designed include a lemon leaf elephant, a rose lion, a petal and gold leafed cow, a mini-sunflower pineapple, and my dogwood dog.

This was for an event in the Pool Room at the Four Seasons. We created this sculpture- modeled after the client’s actual dog- to greet guests as they entered the restaurant. If you look closely, you will see an original Pablo Picasso mural on the wall behind the topiary. My idea was to have a guard dog protecting the painting! To make these statues, we have a sculptor create the frame out of Styrofoam and chicken wire. Then the individual dogwood flowers are applied directly to the frame. This is one of the few times when I use silk flowers. Because of the size of the dog (it is four feet tall and almost six feet long), it usually takes about two hours to adorn, in addition to the time it will be on display at the event, so silk makes the production possible. I also love the idea that my clients can keep the sculpture forever as a memento of their event.