In Daring To Be Yourself, she wrote the following --
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Playing with flowers is a great form of meditation, and time spent experimenting with vases and stem lengths should never be rushed. Think of the time as a spiritual experience and savor the creative act of rearrangement. Let your eye judge. If something doesn't sing, begin again. Our most usual mistake is to select too big a vase; then the flowers look dwarfed and skimpy. Far better to have them exuberantly spreading out in all directions than looking restricted and rigid in the wrong vase. Even a clear drinking glass can contain quite a substantial bouquet. Just because the flowers you buy have long stems doesn't mean they wouldn't be far more attractive cut short and sassy.
Mrs. Eleanor McMillen Brown arranged flowers in wide-mouthed vases and often massed the same flower in a vase, her favorite being anemones. The repetition of shape builds impact and the variety of colors from red to fuchsia to purple and white makes it a lush statement. You can do the same with a variety of jonquils, roses or tulips. Edouard Manet painted the flowers that his friends brought him at his deathbed. I suspect he arranged and rearranged these bouquets to suit his artistic sensitivity. There is an exquisite book entitled The Last Flowers of Manet by Andrew Forge and Robert Gordon, about his last flower bouquets, which is utterly delightful.
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[From Daring To Be
Yourself, by Alexandra
Stoddard, 1990 / Avon
Books, New York,
New York]
How much time do I spend in my life arranging or painting flowers, or reading books about the topic? Not so much. But I like to read those two paragraphs.
Think maybe humans need to be reminded of beauty, in life, just like we need to be reminded about God and religion.
"If it doesn't sing, begin again."
-30-
Yes, we definitely need to take notice, don't we?
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