i6i2 The Cornell Reading Courses 



color, line, or shape, but never vying with these. The province of 

 the receptacle is to serve; its highest use is to supplement, to enhance, 

 the beauty of the composition, as does the accompanist the song, as does 

 the frame the picture, as does the gown the woman. 



A suggestion for the color of receptacles may be taken from the natural 

 environment 'of the flowers. Swamp orchids spring from gray-green 

 beds of moss, delicately colored flowers of the springtime from the brown 

 leaves of the previous autumn, and later summer flowers from the soft 

 green tints of the sod land. 



For many flowers nothing is better than plain glass bowls or vases, which 

 may be obtained in a variety of shapes at a good department store (Fig. 

 ii). The stems showing through the glass add an effect of color sure to 

 harmonize with the whole. Sweet peas are never more effective than in a 

 straight glass tumbler; pansies need a low bowl, and the lily a high flaring 

 vase. Each arrangement calls for its special shape, and the true lover 

 of flowers will keep an eye open for these, not scorning hiunble sources 

 (Figs. 12 and 14). 



EFFECTIVE PLACING OF THE ARRANGEMENT 



The placing of an arrangement of flowers often determines its form; 

 therefore the position it is to occupy should be considered from the first. 

 The observer's point of view should influence the arrangement. Some 

 plants look their best in a jar placed on the floor. Pond lilies never look 

 so well as when floating in a shallow dish on a taboret or a stand that is 

 lower than an ordinary table. Some plants or bouquets are most attractive 

 when placed on a window sill and silhouetted against the light. White 

 lilies or golden glow light up a dark comer effectiveh'. Drooping branches 

 or vines arrange themselves naturally when placed on a mantelpiece 

 (Fig. 15) or in baskets or other receptacles hung against the wall. If 

 the walls of the room were thought of as the background for flowers and 

 pictures, many designs and colorings in wall papers would never be 

 chosen (Fig. 16). The plain or soft-toned papers in neutral colorings 

 make the best backgrounds (Fig. 17). Various flowers suit various moods, 

 different occasions, different rooms. The flowers that supply the most 

 charming and intimate features of the home breakfast table wovild probably 

 be out of place at a banquet. 



In decorating a church, a hall, or a home for some special occasion, or 

 even when decorating a temporary structure, such as a band stand or 

 a booth at a fair, many mistakes would easily be avoided if the structure 

 of the building were taken as a guide. It is a principle in art to decorate 

 construction rather than to construct decoration. A rude dining room 

 on the Maine seacoast, with unplaned posts and crossbeams, was trans- 



