SIGNS OF EARLY AUTUMN

Two years ago there was an uplifting article in a Melbourne newspaper about an art installation in an empty allotment in an old industrial area in Melbourne. The artwork was an eye-catching field of Sunflowers * . The idea seems to have been taken up by the City of Melbourne council, which has created a large meadow of cosmos and other annuals on a steep slope of parkland very close to the sports precinct this summer for the second time. 

This view caught my eye in the late afternoon with the sun shining through the sprinkler mist creating a beautiful haze.

With the sun coming from the side the colours were much more intense.

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The exercise for my Geelong class last week, like the previous week, was a combined one. I asked them to make an arrangement using only one kind of material in two or more vessels.

Helen used agapanthus that she disassembled in a suiban emphasising the surface of the water. It is not obvious in the photo but the material in her other tsubo-shaped vessel stretches over the surface of the water. 

Maureen used statice that she also partially disassembled. She lightened much of the righthand side by stripping some flowers off the tips, which helped make the arrangement asymmetrical. 

Her second arrangement was of pomegranate separated into dry and fresh material.

Ellie used hydrangeas that are showing colour changes from the early autumn weather. Each of the three vessels has a different feel but together they make a single arrangement.

Greetings from Christopher
6th March 2016

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