30th October, 2023

 

Hello all,

Earlier this month our Sogetsu group had a guest presenter at our workshop. Sandy Marker from Sydney had set two themes for an all day workshop. The first was a double theme - 'Using two or more Containers' and 'A Massed Arrangement'.

Above is the front and back view of my arrangement. I used viburnum opulus flowers and callistemon firebrand in two stainless steel containers.

The second theme that Sandy set was 'An Arrangement Expressing a Feeling/Emotion'.

I chose to express Anger/Rage. I used bamboo sprayed black, acacia aphylla, with its spiky look and altissimo roses in a laquered, asymmetrical suiban, red on the inside and black on the outside.

The first of my hippeastrum to flower had a rather longer stem than most and I wanted to take advantage of its full length. Because the stem is so soft and hollow it would not hold its weight when placed on a kenzan. So, I used a straight stick the length of the stem and pushed it firmly into the kenzan, then fed the flower stem over the top of it. The hippeastrum is such a large, strong flower that, I felt, the accompanying material had to be equally strong. However, the arrangement had to be kept simple.

I'm particularly fond of the flowers from the Portugal laurel, especially before they are fully open and the buds look like little beads on the end of the flower stem. They, also, have an intoxicating fragrance, which I wish I could share with you. In the arrangement, below, I teamed them with a pale blue, flag iris, which had grown in a slanting position.

The palm inflorescence, below, took some effort on the part of my cousin, Nick to cut it from his palm tree. Then, it took some serious effort on my part to split it. The split stem became weak and would not attach to the kenzan successfully. I had to hammer two, stout sticks into the kenzan and then wire the two inflorescences onto the stick. The single strelitzia was all that was needed to complete the arrangement.

Ornithogalum  arabicum is another plant I like to play with. I bend the young flower stems and secure them by tieing with their leaves and, as they continue to grow, they create interesting, fun shapes. Below are a couple of photographs of arrangements that I made using these plants. They are quite self explanatory.

In the next arrangement, I had reused a stem of pink dogwood (Cornus Florida rubra). In its original incarnation it had flowers but when they died the leaves on the branch were still very green and fresh. So, I just added the arum lily for a very simple arrangement.

Mary's curriculum theme was 'Complementing an Art Piece'. She chose a small calligraphy on a board as her art piece. In a ceramic container she placed 2 arum lilies, 2 stripped aspidistra leaves and wisteria vine.

Bye for now,

Emily