MASTERCLASS # 23

 

Hello all,

On Saturday afternoon, feeling quite lethargic, I sat on my recliner to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony. And what an event it was! You gotta hand it to the French, they have style in spades. To quote President Macron - "BRAVO!" Of course you have to imagine it with a sexy, French accent.

So, there I was marveling at the spectacles when I dosed off. I was rudely woken up by the loud, grating sounds of chain saws across the road. Most people would have been annoyed - not me! I know that where there are chain saws there are potential materials. And sure enough there were.

It was an SES group of volunteers cutting down trees that were damaged in a recent storm. This included an old pine tree.

Now, I wouldn't dream of bothering these wonderful people who do such vital, and  dangerous work by asking for cuttings but I didn't have to. It was sheer serendipity that three pine branches had landed on my side of the street. A sure sign that I was meant to have them, so I did. The pine tree was old so the tufts of needles are small and there are no needles along the stems, that would, normally, need to be removed.

The arrangement, above, was made with one of the branches. The branch is outside the container but that's not a problem because pine can last without water for some time. The two cymbidium orchid stems completed the arrangement.

The next four photos show the process and mechanics I used. I'm sure many of you will be familiar with this technique but I'm including these details for the less experienced of my readers.

Original branch and container

Stick with wire attached in the middle

Stick inserted horizontally inside container

Wire brought over the branch and tightened
to create tension, thus holding the
branch in place

At this month's Masterclass I provided each participant with pine branches, cotoneaster berries and oranges. They were to choose a container and create a freestyle arrangement. Below is my example. I used a very tall vase to accommodate the draping of both the pine and the berries.

Cimbie's pine was more upright but the berries required some height. She used only one of the holes of her ceramic container and turned it sideways to minimize its size.
 

Vicky used one of my self made containers, which has a 'lip' at the top, allowing for the heavy branches to be secured in place.

Lucy, also, used a tall vase with a focus on height.

Mary made a freestyle arrangement using some of my left over berries and oranges, to which she added red coloured chrysanthemums and green, clivia berries.

Wendy's class lesson was 'Arrangement with Plants on a Wall.' She used a dried branch, dried fern fronds, sprayed gold and cootamundra wattle.

Bye for now,

Emily