Thank you all for your thoughts on this piece and they are all noted.
Mike G wrote:Not many of your things I actively dislike, Derek, but this looks like a collection of disparate elements that were never meant to be together. Skillful as those petals are, they just look weird in this setting. Overall, this looks like a plumb pudding gone wrong. I don't know if you have time for a rethink before the competition, but this piece would benefit from a redesign.......in my opinion, of course. Apologies if this sounds a bit harsh.
I like the idea that it looks like a plumb pudding gone wrong. And there is no need to apologise as it is great to get different views on my work, quite often it kicks me into trying other things with those views in mind.
No time for a rethink as I have too many things to do and make before then