Anyone interested in catching the "Art in Bloom Exhibit" at the Columbus Art Musuem this weekend? I meant to post this Monday, but forgot; I think I'm going sometime this weekend.

from the Dispatch article:

...The annual show presents more than 60 floral pieces that interpret artworks in the museum.

''It adds another level of appreciation to the art collection,'' said Nancy Colvin, museum marketing manager.

Visitors see how another artist, a floral designer, interprets the theme that the painter or sculptor explored.

Plus, with fragrant flowers, ''you're smelling the art,'' Colvin said.

The four-day event attracts people who otherwise might not visit, she said.

''Art in Bloom'' typically draws about 4,000 visitors, double the average weekly attendance of 2,000, she said. The exhibit and its related fundraising events -- including a lunch program, tea and gala -- generate $40,000 to $50,000 for children's education programs at the museum.

Designers -- professionals and experienced amateurs -- are invited to participate. In February, each is assigned a work of art to interpret.

The floral designers might incorporate branches, twigs, roots, seeds, fruit and found objects, such as wheels or pieces of metal, to help express a theme or emotion or enhance a design concept.

Sarah Budnick of Baltimore, Ohio, was inspired to use driftwood as soon as she saw her assigned work: the 20-by-10-foot abstract waterscape Captain's Paradise , which is largely blue but has some green and white areas.

The driftwood, along with dried flowers, leaves, twigs, pieces of metal sculpture and other materials Budnick will use, are stored in boxes and on shelves of her garage. The curving driftwood branches, each about 4 feet long, suggested flowing water and a beach setting to Budnick.

As the show nears, she is experimenting with dried alliums and aspidistra leaves, painted white, as possible elements to suggest seagulls. Budnick, who was in the first exhibit nine years ago and in most since, will add finishing touches at the museum.

The enthusiasm of Budnick, president of the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs, has inspired her husband, Carl, and one of their daughters, Jane Hablitzel, also of Baltimore, to pursue floral design as well. Both will have pieces in "Art in Bloom.''

Carl is using a piece of metal with a pattern of small rectangles to echo the shapes of windows in buildings in an Italian landscape called The Cascatelli, Tivoli, Looking Towards Rome. He plans to use small white orchids and fern fronds to create a cascading effect echoing the painting's waterfalls.

Coming up with ideas can be really easy sometimes, "and other times it's hard,'' Hablitzel said. The best ideas might go awry in the execution. "You get frustrated because you're working with live plant materials.''

Hablitzel is planning a mass arrangement of colorful flowers for her first "Art in Bloom'' piece. She said the color should make a pleasing contrast to the black-and-white sculpture of a seated figure called The Host.....

Let me know if anyone is interested in going; maybe we can hook up or do lunch or something. Admission to the museum if $6 for adults on Saturday, free on Sunday.