BRANCH MATERIAL THAT SURPRISED ME

A few days ago it was very warm and the sky was dark and cloudy. I think that is the reason this cute, but not cuddly, echidna (also known as a spiny ant eater) was wandering around our street looking for some ants to eat (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echidna ). These creatures are usually very shy and do not come out of their day-time hiding places until dusk. At least one of them regularly roams around our garden at night digging it up while searching for ants.

A couple of weeks ago I showed an image of a Gang-gang cockatoo in a eucalyptus, eating nectar from flowers. I decided they would make a good subject for the 'no-kenzan' arrangement exercise, using two vessels, set by my teacher. This is a great exercise in creating space within the arrangement. I was not completely happy with the result. I think there is a little too much symmetry in the lines at the centre of the work. However, I was delighted to discover just how beautiful this material is when the leaves are removed and think it will be worth working with these branches again in the future.

Greetings from Christopher
20th April 2013