A former Bundaberg woman turned dried flower artist is coming back to the region to display her arrangements at a special pop-up shop this month.
Tanya Bensley is the creator of The F.lower Artist, which she established in April 2020 after her wedding florist and stylist business was impacted by Covid.
“At the beginning of 2020 I went from my busiest year yet to no work at all within weeks of the first Covid lockdown in March,” Tanya said.
“In need of a way to keep an income I established The F.lower Artist, a small business providing dried flower arrangements and wall pieces for homes and shopfronts.”
Tanya said her floral art pieces were different to the standard dried flower arrangements that had become popular in recent times.
“My pieces have a modern twist to them,” she said.
“I push the boundaries with colours and shapes.
“As an artist I have become well-known for big wall installations created from dried and preserved flowers and leaves.”
Photo: @justforlovephotography
Originally trained as a fresh flower wedding and event florist, Tanya said dried floral art had given her a new creative outlet.
“I adore fresh flowers and with my other wedding business (Sugared Style) I still work a lot with fresh flowers, they are elegant and traditional,” she said.
“However, when the dried flower trend came along a few years ago my curiosity had me exploring this new medium.
“Dried flowers captured my heart just as much as the fresh flowers did.”
Tanya said dried flowers gave a completely different look and feel to an arrangement and could also transform a blank wall into a beautiful work of art.
“I feel dried flowers are more modern in style and when it comes to creating long lasting architecturally shaped arrangements, the dried are perfect,” she said.
“Wall arrangements can take me anywhere from three hours up to 30 hours to create.
“At a fashion and homewares store in Redcliffe I created a three metre long wall art piece and this took me just shy of 30 hours to complete.
“The large wall art arrangements are my absolute favourite thing to create and is where my passion lies.”
Tanya said she was excited to bring her art to Bundaberg at a pop up shop in Hinkler Central soon after she received plenty of praise from locals in the area.
“My sister had me create some flower arrangements for her and her friends that all reside in Bundaberg and the reaction I got was incredible,” she said.
“They all loved my dried flower pieces and said that the area did not have anything like this that they had seen.
“This sparked my interest and I began investigating the idea of bringing my collection to the area for others to buy.”
Tanya's F.lower Artist pop-up shop will feature 60 vase arrangements and three wall arrangements when she comes to Bundaberg.
“I will also be able to pre-make five custom wall pieces for residents of Bundaberg who want to have specific colours or a specific size,” she said.
The F.lower Artist pop-up shop will be at Hinkler Central from Monday, 28 June to Sunday, 4 June.
Find out more on the F.lower Artist Instagram, Facebook page or website.
