Hello all,

The theme for our last, regular class was 'Mass and Line'. In my arrangement at the top I made two masses - One with chrysanthemums, a gift from Mary, and the other with cumquats. I arranged the chrysanthemums loosely and the cumquats more tightly. The 'line' is a branch from my weeping elm, that has a distinct zig-zag form.

In the next arrangement I used spent agapanthus flowers for the mass and curved agapanthus stems for the line. Interestingly, these materials were lying on the table after having being removed from another arrangement. Looking at them, the arrangement seemed to morph together in my mind.

Nicole made two small arrangements, in both of which she used nerines for the mass. The one to the left also had alstroemeria psittacina leaves and a prunus stick for the line, The line to the one on the right was an umbrella grass stem.

Lei's arrangement was made in a container with a split down the middle. She used leucadendron flowers for the mass and a long, thin bamboo for the line.

Vicky made two arrangements using the same two materials. The mass was made using alstroemeria psittacina leaves and sansevieria cylindrica for the line.

Lucy created a tight mass with chrysanthemums and added a dried and sprayed agapanthus stem for the line, in a glass vase.

Mary's arrangement was made using marigolds and a stem of cornus Siberica alba for the line, in a ceramic suiban.

I saw a whole diosma shrub cut and thrown on the verge in a nearby street. I resisted the temptation to take some of it the first three times I drove past it. On the fourth I gave in (I always carry cutters in the boot). I made the arrangement, below, in a container that I chose for its colour. I created lines by stripping away the lower parts of the stems to give the illusion of a continuation of the lines from the container. I was particularly taken by the movement of this material. The focal point was a bunch of proteas in different stages of flowering.

One of the left over branches had an interesting line, begging to be used. I placed it, together with a rose in a vase that has no opening at the top but two openings, on either side of the neck.

And now for this week's camellia ikebana. I secured the camellia stem in a small, lop-sided vase and added some cumquats, reused from a previous arrangement.

Bye for now,

Emily