The summer weather on the Surfcoast has continued to be variable, but most of the last week was pleasantly warm and stable.
On Tuesday we had an early walk on the beach. However, the tracks in the sand reveal that quite a few people got there before us. The following day we were in Melbourne for a couple of catch-up events with friends. It also gave us the opportunity to visit the National Gallery of Victoria and see some of the installation work in the Triennial exhibition.
I was captivated by this wonderful installation: Mun Dirra (Manigrida Fish Fence), a beautiful work of dyed and hand-woven Pandanus fibre. The work is in several suspended panels that form curving screens which invite the viewer to immerse themselves in a richly-textured, warm-coloured space. The sensation of floating in flowing water was quite strong for me.
For several weeks now I have been enjoying the brilliant colours of some nearby Flowering gums Corymbia ficifolia. This bright red one is in our garden.
Not so far away is this vivid orange one that looms over a fence.
Also close by is another orange one that has passed its peak. The recent rain has knocked many of the fine stamens onto the footpath making a very fine, red carpet. I have been thinking of using these flowers as an ikebana subject for a while.
I gathered two clusters of the orange flower as I wanted it to be the principal subject. Then I picked a tight bunch of red flowers from our tree. These were fairly easy to arrange into two masses with the colours separated. I set the orange flowers to the front and left side. The red flowers were set behind and to the right of the orange flowers with a clear space between the two groups. On the window sill in the kitchen I had some Kangaroo fern Zealandia pustulata, that I had pruned from beside the path. It had been threatening to take over the path. The green of the fern made a good strong colour contrast to the red and provided a clear asymmetry to the design.
The vase is by Graeme Wilkie and has two broad vertical, brush-stroke like lines, that are very close in tone to the orange flowers.
Greetings from Christopher
21st January 2024
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