2010
Acton Garden Club
Flora in Winter, January 28-31, 2010
at Worcester Art Museum and Tower Hill

2010 Flora in Winter was a huge success at both Tower Hill Botanic Gardens and Worcester Art Museum.

For 4 days, January 28 through the 31st flowers were "blooming" at both venues. Among the 29 arrangements created at Tower Hill were 2 exhibits by Acton Designers, Laura Lindop and Joan Yatteau assisted by Sue Whitcomb and Gena Manalan. In the Chinese Gallery at the WAM, Thelma Shoneman interpreted Model of Granary. On Friday afternoon, Thelma also participated in a Floral Demonstration: Interpretive Challenge. Four designers received the same plant material and containers and were given an hour and a half to create an arrangement interpreting the Renaissance Court with all of it's columns and arched ceilings. While designing, they explained their ideas and techniques to the audience gathered in the court. Upon completion all four designs were dramatically different!

Click on Pictures to see the full-sized image

"Earth's Gifts"
Joan Yatteau, helped by Sue Whitcomb and Gena Manalan, chose the gift of Water and created a design in the oriental manner. Water, pure and clear, is an important symbol in many cultures, refreshing both the body and spirit of man, and is truly more precious than gold. The bowl's gold interior reflects the purity of Water, and plant material such as Thuja 'Rheingold' and Chamaecyparis 'Gold Spangle' recall how precious a gift it is.

'Earth's Delights' - 'Morning Light to Moon Light'
Laura Lindop design interpreted ' Morning light to Moon Light'.
Wake! For the sun, who scattered into flight the stars before him from the Field of Night, Drives night along with them from heav'n & strikes The Sultan's Turret with a Shaft of Light.' [from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam]
Simply stated, when light falls on a surface, some light rays are absorbed and others are reflected. Consider the diffused light of a foggy day; everything looks more delicate in such light. The same colors under a bright , tropical sun will be more vivid and seem to glow. By observing the brightest flowers in the garden, as the sun begins to set, this phenomenon is clearly illustrated. Laura Lindop

At the Worcester Art Museum Thelma Shoneman interpreted 'Model of Granary' and participated in the challenge class

Since the Model was green ceramic, the design was an arrangement of green textures, shapes, and shades of the color. To suggest that the granary, a model placed in a burial tomb to provide food for afterlife, was filled with grains, I filled a cylindrical container with equisetum and millet. The" rooftop " featured echeveria, galax, millet, moss, and leucodendron as the base of a design" in the oriental manner of bamboo and lotus", both symbolic in the Chinese culture. Woven lily grasses added texture and picked up the circular design of the granary.

Four designers received the same plant material and containers and were given an hour and a half to create an arrangement interpreting the Renaissance Court with all of it's columns and arched ceilings. While designing, they explained their ideas and techniques to the audience gathered in the court. Upon completion all four designs were dramatically different!

Congratulations!

	"Earth's Gifts" Joan Yatteau, helped by Sue Whitcomb and Gena Manalan, chose the gift of Water and created a design in the oriental manner. Water, pure and clear, is an important symbol in many cultures, refreshing both the body and spirit of man, and is truly more precious than gold. The bowl's gold interior reflects the purity of Water, and plant material such as Thuja 'Rheingold' and Chamaecyparis 'Gold Spangle' recall how precious a gift it is.
	'Earth's Delights' - 'Morning Light to Moon Light' Laura Lindop design interpreted ' Morning light to Moon Light'. Wake! For the sun, who scattered into flight the stars before him from the Field of Night, Drives night along with them from heav'n & strikes The Sultan's Turret with a Shaft of Light.' [from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam] Simply stated, when light falls on a surface, some light rays are absorbed and others are reflected. Consider the diffused light of a foggy day; everything looks more delicate in such light. The same colors under a bright , tropical sun will be more vivid and seem to glow. By observing the brightest flowers in the garden, as the sun begins to set, this phenomenon is clearly illustrated. Laura Lindop

	Since the Model was green ceramic, the design was an arrangement of green textures, shapes, and shades of the color. To suggest that the granary, a model placed in a burial tomb to provide food for afterlife, was filled with grains, I filled a cylindrical container with equisetum and millet. The" rooftop " featured echeveria, galax, millet, moss, and leucodendron as the base of a design" in the oriental manner of bamboo and lotus", both symbolic in the Chinese culture. Woven lily grasses added texture and picked up the circular design of the granary.
	Four designers received the same plant material and containers and were given an hour and a half to create an arrangement interpreting the Renaissance Court with all of it's columns and arched ceilings. While designing, they explained their ideas and techniques to the audience gathered in the court. Upon completion all four designs were dramatically different!