ROSES and EUCALYPTUS

On the weekends Laurie and I usually walk to a coffee shop in the main street of Torquay. Last weekend we passed a large flock of Galah's, a species of Australian cockatoo. They were eating grass seeds. I have always loved their pale grey feathers contrasting with the strong pink of their breast feathers.


Here is a close up of the picture above.


They started to walk away as we approached, you can see a Plover in the background, on the right. They are unusual birds as they lay their eggs on the ground and not in a nest.


I recently set my students the exercise of making an arrangement using roses and some other branch material. I tend to find roses difficult in ikebana because the flowers are so often very strong. Also, I do not have much experience with them as they are hard to grow in my garden. I had originally intended to use pine. However, when I saw these new eucalyptus branches I realised they would go well with the roses I had bought from the florist. I decided to place the flowers in among the branches rather than separately as I thought they would dominate the work. The soft bluish-grey of the leaves complements the pale cream of the roses. It also works well with the bowl (by Graeme Wilkie of Qdos Gallery) because it has a pale celadon interior and warm light terracotta outside.


Greetings from Christopher
7th April 2012



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