Thanks to Amos from Maryland, I have been advised that the blue flower in last weeks blog was a 'bachelor button' Centaurea cyanus, the yellow one was Canada Golden Rod Solidago Canadensis and the dried one, was indeed Queen Anne's Lace.
We (Laurie and I) spent the week before last in Chicago, where we were particularly keen to see some of Frank Lloyd Wright's * architecture. We did a three hour walking tour of his original home and studio, some nearby houses and the Unity Temple (Unitarian Universalist Church).
The front of the house.
Living room.
In the dining room Wright used the very high backs of the chairs he designed to create a 'room within a room'.
Gallery of the studio of his architectural practice.
The Unity Temple *. Wright's mother was a member of this congregation.
After a week in Chicago we flew to Ottawa where, on Saturday morning of last week, I gave a workshop for teachers of the Ottawa Branch of the Sogetsu School on 'construction techniques' (using dowelling): photo below.
After creating sculptures, the teachers added fresh material in the form of 'accordion leaves' (Molineria capitulata) only.
The example above was my demonstration piece. Below are three photos of work by some attendees. I must apologise for the poor quality of the pictures; I had the camera on the wrong setting.
The image above shows the only example of work created from 'dressed' timber. The ikebanist who created it explained that she had to carry her material on a bus and this was the easiest to transport. The result was a very contemporary look with a strong contrast between the fresh material and the sculpture.
The afternoon workshop, in which students also participated, was on the theme of 'colours in the same tonal range' or 'colours in contrast', using autumn materials. My demonstration work above, is an arrangement without kenzan using ash and some red leaves that I collected from the roadside. I really enjoyed giving the workshop for the Ottawa Branch members and was delighted with the enthusiastic engagement of the attendees. The idea for giving the workshop came from Leonora Duffield who, with her husband Richard, have been generous hosts to Laurie and me. We are most appreciative.
Greetings from Christopher in Ottawa,
(with apologies to J.R.R.Tolkien).
The sculpture is 'Maman' by Louise Bourgeois at the National Gallery of Canada.
* Click on the blue text for more information.
Dear Christopher, Thanks for the photo tour of Oak Park. Svein and I were there last year and loved it. We also found that they have great architectural walks downtown Chicago. The workshop photos are inspirational too. What a large group of teachers!
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