In the spring of 2002 the Albuquerque Rose Society had three active accredited arrangement judges, and it seemed that they were about the only people who entered arrangements in the Spring and Fall shows. They were tired of competing with themselves, and decided something needed to be done to encourage more people to do rose arrangements.
Kreg Hill and Bill Christensen decided to offer an arrangement workshop a couple of weeks before the 2002 Spring show. Any interested person was invited to attend. The only “cost” to participants was a commitment to enter at least one arrangement in the upcoming show. The daylong workshop consisted of observation followed by hands-on work with standard traditional arrangements, standard Oriental manner arrangements, miniature traditional arrangements, and miniature modern arrangements. Two standard containers, two miniature containers, Oasis, one kenzan, and all line materials were provided.Participants were asked to bring roses from their yards, but those who did not have roses ready were invited to cut some from the Hill/Christensen garden. On top of all of that, lunch was prepared by Bill Christensen, who is an incredibly good cook! “A delightful time was had by all.”
What did that single workshop produce? There were many more arrangements, a lot of blue ribbons for the participants, as well as some major awards: Mini-Artist Award which also won the Mini-Gold Certificate, and Mini-Royalty Award which also took the Mini-Silver Certificate.
In 2003, Hill and Christensen repeated the workshop, with the same requirements. There were fewer participants, but those participants had more entries in the 2003 show. And, a lot of people from the 2002 workshop again entered the 2003 show. The ball was really beginning to roll.
No workshop was held in 2004, but important seeds had been planted in the two prior years. At the 2004 Spring Show, there were 59 arrangement entries, the most the Albuquerque Rose Society had seen in a very long time. In the summer of 2004 two of the participants in the original workshops took and passed an ARS Arrangement Judging School; one is now an accredited arrangements judge, and the other will finish the apprenticeship this year. Two other original participants are now National Council of Garden Clubs student judges.
There are still enough people interested in becoming arrangements
judges that this May 21 and 22 the Albuquerque Rose Society will host an ARS
Arrangement Judging School and Seminar. (If you are interested in attending
and would like more information, go to www.albuquerquerose.com).
This will be held in conjunction with the Spring Show, and we wanted to encourage
lots of members, including Novices and Juniors to enter arrangements in the
show.We decided an educational approach for 2004-2005 would be a series of
articles in the local society bulletin, The Blue Ribbon; these articles
were to explain the basics of the three major design types recognized in ARS
shows. We hoped that this would help Novices and Juniors make their arrangements
and correctly fill out their entry tags. What follows is a compilation of those
articles.
ROSE ARRANGEMENTS FOR ARS SHOWS
In a rose show, a rose or roses should provide the dominant floral interest. Other flowers may also be used, unless the schedule specifically forbids it in a particular class. If you close your eyes in front of an arrangement in a rose show, and then open them, your eyes should go first to the rose(s). This is the first and last test you should give your arrangement. I have seen arrangements with a single rose win top awards and trophies, because the arrangement drew the eye to that rose immediately. I have also seen arrangements with lots of roses lose points because other flowers, line material, or accessories drew the eye away from the roses.
The American Rose Society recognizes three major design types: Traditional, Modern, and Oriental Manner. Not only are there individual classes for each of these types, but arrangers entering special classes such as Duchess, Princess, or Junior must specify on the entry tag which type of design their entry represents.
Traditional Designs
Traditional designs are one major type recognized
by the American Rose Society. These are often described as art forms in space,
as opposed to art forms of space. The three major kinds of traditional
designs are Line, Line-Mass, and Mass. All three tend
to be more formal than either Modern or Oriental Manner arrangements.
Traditional designs, regardless of kind, share some common characteristics:
Mass designs have a closed silhouette, are symmetrical, and can be oval, circular, fan-shaped, or triangular in form. Each bloom should be distinct, and plant materials should not be crowded. Colors, forms, and textures are arranged for visual balance and rhythm. Materials are placed radially and lead to a focal area at the front of the container and just above the edge.
Line and line-mass designs show the Oriental influence on arranging in the West.
Line designs have height and width, but very little depth except in the focal area where the line meets the container. There is movement in one dominant direction, and the arrangement is an open silhouette in space. If flowers and foliage are pruned, it is to accentuate and clarify the line and natural characteristics, rather than to distort them.
In line-mass designs, the silhouette remains open, but the dominant line and focal area are reinforced with additional plant material (roses), giving more depth and width in contrast to line designs.
Modern Designs
All modern designs emphasize space. Other characteristics include:
There are many kinds of modern arrangements: underwater, parallel, free form, abstract, to name just a few.In contrast to traditional arrangements, which are silhouettes in space, modern arrangements are designs of positive (filled) and negative (empty) space. Modern arrangements allow a great deal of freedom for the arranger, as long as all design principles are observed.
Oriental Manner
With the exception of Oriental freestyle, Oriental Manner
arrangements are characterized by an emphasis on an asymmetric triangle made
up of three main lines of related heights. The tallest line is the Shin,
which frequently represents Heaven or Truth. The second line, Soe,
establishes width and depth, and frequently symbolizes Man. The third
and shortest line, Tai, usually symbolizes Earth.
Although different schools may apply slightly different symbolic interpretations, all emphasize the asymmetric triangle, which is apparent throughout the design, along with an uneven number of lines. Oriental Manner designs are also characterized by simplicity and restraint in construction and the use of plant material. An arrangement in the Oriental Manner should be viewed from directly in front, because symbolically it is believed that one is looking into the soul of the arranger. As in all arrangements in an ARS show, a rose or roses should provide the dominant floral interest.
Moribana (low container) arrangements: One-half to two-thirds of the bottom of the container is free of plant material; the kenzan (needlepoint holder) is usually placed off-center. The asymmetric triangle is emphasized. Generally, but not always, the Shin and Soe lines are tree materials and the Tai line is flower material. The lines may be vertical (rising), slanting (leaning), or cascading (hanging).
Nagiere (tall container) arrangements: The main line (Shin) of the asymmetric triangle determines whether the arrangement is vertical, slanting, or cascading. Here there is an emphasis on natural placement of foliage and flowers. Stems may be supported by placement against the side of the containers, or may be held in place by supporting cross pieces.
Classic arrangements: Shoka is the Classic style most commonly found in rose shows. It is characterized by the three main lines, and possible supporting lines. Tree materials are placed high and flowers placed low. The container symbolizes the source of life from which plant materials emerge. The plant materials are held by a kenzan, and rise as one stem free of foliage for about 3 inches, depending on proportion. The top of the Shin line should be directly above the point of emergence.
Freestyle arrangements: although there is freedom from the asymmetric triangle, directionality is important and the container is considered an integral part of the total design.Any appropriate materials for the design are acceptable.
In summary, the Albuquerque Rose Society has greatly increased interest in arranging with roses with two day-long workshops offered free to participants who agreed to enter at least one arrangement in the local rose show. Not only have the number of arrangement entries markedly increased, but so have the number of judges: two ARS arrangement judges and two National Council of Garden Clubs student judges came out of the first workshop. There is enough interest to hold an ARS Arrangement Judging School and Seminar in Albuquerque this May. Through a series of articles in our local bulletin, we have tried to provide simple but useful information about design types for our Novices and Juniors. It may be several years before we know how much difference we really made, but for the time being we are happy with the enthusiasm we have seen grow since 2002.
