PressOn used a combination of digital print and 26,500 real flowers to create the masterpiece for the Flower Council of Holland. The mammoth operation used 26 different flowers, weighed 1815 kilograms, and stands at the height of two double decker buses, as well as requiring a built-in water irrigation system to keep the flowers fresh for the five days it stood outside London’s National Gallery.

The painting, a recreation of a Dutch Master painting by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder entitled ‘A Still Life of Flowers in a Wan-Li Vase’, took a team of 30 volunteer florists working through the night to bring the work to life.
Nigel Webster, joint managing director of PressOn, explains: “We needed to create a printed template that would sit on floristry foam to act as a guide for the florists adding the real flowers.

"Our initial thought was to use a paper that could be pulled out once the flowers were added, so we tested one that would easily disintegrate when very wet. The timing of the disintegration was too unpredictable though for us to guarantee the print would stay intact for long enough so the florists could see the painting.

“Finally, we settled on wet strength blueback paper, printed with HP Latex inks on our HPLX3500. We made around 30,000 slits using our Kongsberg XP Cutter to enable the flowers to be added. Once held vertically, the paper held water inside the floristry foam longer than anticipated, which was great news.

People visiting the Gallery from the UK and around the world will be able to see these paintings brought together in one room, and also have the chance to experience a very special kind of bouquet”

“We printed 12 sections in total to wrap the floristry foam. Another section of the painting that was not covered in flowers was printed on canvas to help withstand the weather and then added over the top of the other covered sections. I went to see the finished work and it was just breath taking.”

Chanel de Kock, UK marketing manager for the Flower Council of Holland, adds: “I’d like to thank PressOn for their great work, their relentless attention to detail and dedication that helped us complete this very successful project.
“People visiting the Gallery from the UK and around the world will be able to see these paintings brought together in one room, and also have the chance to experience a very special kind of bouquet.”

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