Surprise Visual Treat While Out Malling

While rushing through the mall to pick up a few things I was slowed down by a visual treat.

Mannequins dressed in blooms.

Dressed by 'Victoria's best floral designers'

The mannequins were still being dressed so some weren't complete.

But I saw them when the flowers were at their freshest.

The event was called 'Victoria. Stop and Smell the Roses'

It certainly had that effect on me and on others passing by.

'Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry' Has Been Installed

Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry has been installed at South Shore Gallery, Sooke.

Here is the view as you walk into the Back Gallery.

The back wall

The lights haven't been adjusted yet but it was time to leave after spending all day installing the work.

The artists worked with the size restriction of 12" wide x 60" or 72" long.

The idea was to give a picket fence feel to the installation.

It appears to be currently a popular format to work in.

The artists also worked with a garden theme which they interpreted freely and widely.

There's my triptych on the left. 

Forest Flowers is about fungal flowering and fruiting bodies found in the forest.

It will be fun to meet up with lots of the artists at the opening reception, tomorrow, Saturday, March 5th, 1 - 3 pm,

French Bucol Fabrics

A friend gave me 2 lengths of lame-type fabric. One had this label. A search of the name revealed Bucol has been a famous silk house in Lyon since 1920.

I needed to test the fabrics to find out if they were silk, or not. Out came the burn chart.

The silver one burned briefly then self extinguished. It melted giving off an odor of sweet chemicals and formed a hard black round bead.

It is polyester.

The gold one burned and melted. It was not self extinguishing. A hard black irregular bead formed. 

It is an Orlon or Acrilan acrylic.

I am a little disappointed they are not some vintage French silk from the 1920s but their melting properties will be something to take advantage of when working with them. And they are very pretty and shiny.

Cut Flower Bed

After the hyacinths, the next flower to emerge in my cut flower bed is the iris.

The flower heads look as though they will burst.

And they do...at night.

It is such a pleasure to check the bed each morning to see what has happened overnight.

I like looking inside the iris flower to see the complexity, the symmetry and the richness of colour.

I cut the best...

..to enjoy inside. The perfume is heady.

Brennan's B 'n' B

The B 'n' B I was raving about in the previous post is called Brennan's.

Another interesting feature it has is the curved windows in the front. During a walk into town we noticed this is not uncommon in old houses in Fredericton. There must have been a very skilled glass maker in town at that time.

This house was built by the Chestnut family (of the Chestnut canoe fame) who were hardware merchants. As soon as I had heard a bit of the house's history I started more closely at the details. I found even the hinges on the doors are engraved.

The radiators have abstract floral designs on them.

I wished I had more time to explore the house but we had to hit the road and move on. There were still lots of leaves to look at.