MASTERCLASS #16

 

Hello all,

At Saturday's Masterclass I had provided the students with a different type of dried material each and one type of fresh material each. So they had only two elements to work with. The dried materials were all quite large and the students could decide whether to keep them large or cut them down.  As always, the selection was by lottery. Each student could choose their own container.

The arrangement, above, was done by Cym, who went through an interesting process. She initially picked her container and placed the large monstera deliciosa leaf at a perfect angle. She then agonised over the fact that it was too easy or too simple, so she tried adding another leaf, then tried pinning the leaves but, in the end, settled for her first attempt because it was the best. She used only a small piece of the large, palm inflorescence, allowing the leaf to be the dominant feature. And for a little bit of whimsy, she added a ceramic mushroom.

Jenny had a very large, dried tumbleweed which had been sprayed black. She cut side shoots and placed them in this large, ceramic container, making sure that movement was created with the branches all facing the same direction. She placed the two stems of amaranthus one in front of the other and hanging straight down.

Bredenia had a number of stems of contorted hazel (Corylus avellana 'Contarta') and aspidistra leaves. She placed the branches over a tall nageire container and bent the aspidistra leaves to give them a horizontal appearance.

Akemi had a very large, palm inflorescence and chose not to cut it down. She did, however, weave the tendrils into submission and then hollowed out the inside creating space. Unfortunately, it's hard to see the space in the photo. She had three, variegated New Zealand flax leaves but needed only one for drama.

Lucy had a tangle of red and black coloured wisteria, which she disentangled and used separately. In her first arrangement she used the red wisteria in a heavy container with splits on either side and placed two strelitzia reginae leaves horizontally.

With her left over material she made another, rather dramatic arrangement.

Vicky felt she had the most boring of materials but she rose to the challenge and created this spiderweb-like structure, keeping it monochromatic, except for the umbrella grass stems.

I must confess that, as a teacher, I'm quite impressed with the quality of the work produced in these classes. We comment on and discuss our work freely and learn from each other. Very satisfying.

Bye for now,

Emily