Setting the Scene and A Force of Nature (and apologies for the length of this blog!!!!!)
I had an enjoyable couple of days going to Harrogate for the NAFAS National Show, I guess you could call it my end of course treat. We had planned to make a weekend of it and head further north after the show to catch up with some old friends - we (Mike and I) have been discussing parmos in Stockton with Nikkie and it will happen - eventually. But it turned out that it was the same weekend that Jamie was in Wind in the Willows so that idea had to be shelved, but there was no way I was going to miss the show and flower club this year didn't organise anything so on Thursday I headed north.
As it was almost in my neck of the woods I was pretty confident I knew where I was going and I have driven that route so many times in the past, although I haven't done a long drive for quite a while. I was booked into the Holiday Inn which was next door to the Harrogate International Centre so all I had to do on Thursday was get myself there. The weather was lovely and Mike had packed me off with a flask and a sandwich for my journey up which was very welcome when I stopped for a break at Trowell services. I think it must be the sign of impending middle age when a flask and sandwiches is more appealing than a Burger King or sandwich from the very expensive services!!
I turned off the M1 and went through Wetherby (which is a lovely little town) and then through Spofforth and near Rudding Park which brought back some memories of a ICI Caravan Club rally of some 30 years ago!! My Mum and Dad had a caravan and they were members of the ICI Caravan Club and we went on rallies with them (organised holidays in the caravan) - I'm sure they still happen now. I hit Harrogate and recognised so much of it, it really hasn't changed in the 20 years since I was there last, and quickly found my way to the hotel, got parked up and checked in.
What joy - I had been upgraded to an Executive Room which was lovely - it had the biggest ever bed I've slept in - HUGE!!!!!! and comfortable for a hotel bed. I had extra seats and a mini-bar - what more could I want - so I had a big chill out, a wander around Harrogate, another chill, dinner in my room and a lovely sleep.
The next morning I got chatting to a couple of ladies from another flower club at breakfast and their club had some spare tickets to the demonstration that afternoon which was sold out and so I bought one of those tickets and had the chance to see one of the NAFAS National Demonstrators (but more of that in another blog). I then checked out, took my bits to the car and headed off to the show, it was going to be a very long day!!
The show itself was in 3 halls within the Conference Centre and seemed larger than last year's but that is just from appearances. (Now after chatting to some other visitors from the flower club it was felt that there were a lot more designs to see) Two halls were full of flower arrangements and one had refreshments, shopping and a small demonstration area, the main demonstrations were held in the Royal Hall which is adjacent to the Centre. The show was busy.
I am going to show some arrangements from each of the categories and where I remember will point out if they were winners etc. It was not always the easiest of photography conditions and so I haven't included some photos where they haven't come out as well as I would have liked and have sometimes included some photos which could be better but the arrangement is worth seeing. The comments on the arrangements are entirely mine and totally my own opinion and would love to know what other people think about the arrangements and what appeals about one over the other.
One of the hardest things when looking at arrangements is to separate personal likes and dislikes, of a flower, colour, shape etc from technical skills and abilities and how elements and principles in the designs have been used and I hope to point out when my preferences are one or the other.
The first class (the class is usually defined as a title from which the arranger then has to create a design to interpret that title, the class usually will specify what sizes and dimensions the arranger will have to work to or within) I looked at was A Force of Nature and here are some of the arrangements........
Above is the winner of this class - it is beautiful and for me was clearly the winner. The force is fire (I have assumed) and the colours are so cleverly put together that you can see the flames dancing, to me it looks like a fire in a fireplace and does evoke that feeling of sitting around an open fire on a cold evening. But the really clever aspect I think is the colour combination because combining such similar colours in such quantities and making them look so effective is not an easy task, the orange colours from the carthamus and calla (mango I think) work wonderfully giving that much needed accent and difference in colour to accentuate the reds and red-oranges. The second arrangement on top of the class makes the arrangement, it could have been left with the lower but there would not have been the interest and impact as there is with the two.
I really liked the scale and sparseness of this one - an enviably large piece of driftwood too. This design is dark and brooding, bleak and potentially menacing a wonderfully different interpretation - flower arranging doesn't have to always be bright and cheerful.
This design was an interpretation of the Australian Outback Fires of a couple of years ago, and you could tell them from a distance away, it had it written all over it. The flames are lapping up the trees, this time in form of Gladiolus. Again I thought this was an excellent interpretation of the theme, my only criticism is the placing of the 4 gerbera, which look like a big square in the design and detract from the overall look. The flowers themselves would work and could have perhaps been placed differently to have added to the design, but even so a good interpretation.
Another one that really appeals to me personally, again a dark and minimal interpretation, which again appeals. This design has lots of interest and different textures, from the stone base, the mesh of twigs to the anthurium, roses and I think cordyline. The oasis and workings were well hidden, which is always important and I suspect there was a lot of work to get the twigs and branches to look that way. A lovely colour combination too.
An interesting arrangement but here the star is the piece of wood (I don't blame the designer for that as it is wonderful) and it is an amazing piece of wood, the stars should be the flowers. Although in this arrangement I was interested in the way the designer had used the palm leaves and made them echo the shapes of the wood.
Another design using wood, again a lovely design but for me doesn't have the high impact as some of the others although I like the colour scheme very much, I just think it is missing something, be it another colour, some dazzling flower. Although molucella and hosta do work so well together.
This one has the impact in terms of its colours, it uses very similar colours to the winner, I like the design but think it may have been improved by something connecting the three levels of the design to bring them together and the foliage (fatsia japonica leaves just look a bit stuck there). This maybe a design which would have benefited from a further title from the designer so when you look at the design you can see what they were thinking about when they created the design and gain an understanding of what they were trying to create. This may help interpreting the designs which have been created generally and is not a specific comment on this design - although on the other hand whatever interpretation we make of the design when we look at it is also just as valid, but I would like to know what the designer was thinking when they put it together.
I like the shape and movement in this design, and there is lots of movement so I have interpreted this piece to be a hurricane or windy day and it works well. I do of course love the bright green anthurium (a big favourite).
Wood was definitely a common theme is this class and another piece of wonderful wood, this time a sea-side interpretation, a simple design but effective. There is lots of movement again in this piece and lots of texture too.
A bad picture on my part, again hurricane like with a variety of gerbera, sadly I think the background doesn't help this design, and I would have liked to have seen something else as part of the swirling of the design.
So many of the designs in this category used lots of height and here is one that was low to the ground, I haven't made up my mind about this one but there is clever use of sprayed colour on the aspidistra leaves to bring unusual colours and textures to the design, as the sprayed leaves look very metallic but also flexible which gives interesting movement to the piece.
I really liked the use of the lotus heads in this design which had again been sprayed, I have no idea what the interpretation of this one may be but I do love the colour scheme.
Another low design which used the wood to a good effect and the design is all around, as they all were.
A modern hedge design with some striking flowers in the design too, the magnificent celosia argentea, delphinium, allium as well as the phaleanopsis orchid. I personally think this design may have worked just a little better if the roses and celosia were in more blue-violet colour shades and the design kept to a monochromatic colour scheme but a very different design compared to many of the others in this category.
I have left a some entries out as my photos were very out of focus and they really didn't do justice to the designs. My own favourites are the first four photos and the design with lime anthurium.
Ciao Sue XX Reading challenge 10/16 - currently reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban
