OCTOUKU 31, lOi:.'. 



The Florists^ Review 



9 



THE ART OF FLOWER 

 c^ ARRANGEMENT ^ 



By FRED C. V. BROWN 



AET AS AN AID TO ECONOMY. 



Prevents Waste of Materials. 



We hear and read ou every hand that 

 we have to be extravagant to be 

 artistic. There could be no greater libel 

 on art than a statement of that kind. 

 When you hear it, be generous in your 

 denunciation of it, for the utterance of 

 so erroneous an opinion is proof posi- 

 tive that the principles of art are not 

 understood. The very first principle 

 taught is that of simplicity, and you 

 will remember what great stress was 

 laid on that principle in former ar- 

 ticles of this series. Let me give 

 you an example of how art, if utilized 

 in your work, will save you money. 



The niustratioiis. 



Study well, if you 

 please, the three il- 

 lustrations that form 

 a part of this article; 

 study each in its 

 turn, and if you are 

 not convinced that art 

 is economical, then I 

 should like to hear 

 your arguments and 

 see your examples. 

 Mind you, I would not 

 for one moment have 

 you accept any or all 

 of the three designs 

 as perfect; nor is 

 any special merit 

 claimed for them, be- 

 yond their power of 

 illustrating a partic- 

 ular argument. I do 

 claim, however, with 

 reference to two of 

 the designs here 

 shown — the carna- 

 tion wreath and the 

 boxwood wreath 

 with the cluster of 

 carnations — that one 

 of them is so much 

 superior to the other 

 that there is little 

 loom for comparison. 

 I do claim that the 

 boxwood wreath 

 with the carnation 

 "'luster embodies the 

 essential principles of 

 art. I think it should 

 be apparent to all. 



An Expressionless Arrangement. 



J'^irst you will notice the wreath of 

 boxwood. This, in itself, is attractive; 

 it has rich, deep foliage, and displays 

 t'airly pleasing proportions. But, for 

 'Sufficient reason, wo desire to enrich its 

 value with our own material, so we 

 will take sixty carnations and place 

 them carefully in this wreath, produc- 

 '"g what I have already referred to as 

 -i carnation wreath. We are certainly 



Mr, Brown will be pleased to answer, as this 

 series of articles progresses, any criticisms or 

 questions that may occur to his readers. The 

 first article of the series was printed in the issue 

 of October 10. The next installment will appear 

 in an early issue. 



was already a fairly pleasing design. 

 What have wo gained by our addi- 

 tion of flowers? It is doubtful whether 

 we have gained anything beyond a 

 wonderment as to what our meaning 

 could be. There is monotony of form, 

 for we have lost the solid, conventional 

 lines of our original boxwood wreath. 

 We have also lost a factor that pleased 

 us in the killing of the beauty of the 

 boxwood by our expressionless arrange- 



:^.y.'t:- 













• ^ . 







":•; '■i 







This Boxwood Wreith with Flowers is Shown on Next Page. 



meat of the sixty l)i<; carnation flowers. 



This wreath — the carnation wreath — 



illustrates the principle of the average 



arrangement of cut flowers offered by 



florists today. That, we admit, is a 



broad statement, but it is a fact, a 



cold, unsavory fact. If you will watch 



and analyze the designs, bouquets or 



basket arrangements of flowers put up 



liy florists in any city or town, you will 



be forced to agree that not only the 



1^. fo r we have avey.age work, but the majority of the 



"sed" a' loF of beautifuf " ffowers an<T^- i r uiH., la ( ■ arilwt m rt < m t he HTie»-«^ this 



principle of consumption of material, 

 placed without rhyme or reason. 



Fewer Flowers, More Art, 



We are still going to use the same 

 boxwood wreath, but this time we shall 

 embody a principle of art. We are 

 going to reason and we are also going 

 to allow ourselves only one-half the 

 material used in the carnation wreath. 

 Instead of sixty carnations we use 

 thirty, also using a little thought in the 

 arrangement. We thus produce the 

 wreath of boxwood with a cluster of 

 carnations. 



What is the result of our efforts this 



time? Let us be cool and calculating 



in our judgment and, above all, let not 



our egotism gain 



command over our 



reason. 



.lust here I want 

 to put in a word in 

 defense of the ego- 

 tist. Without indi- 

 viduality there is no 

 Mich thing as being 

 artistic, for art in 

 design is a direct re- 

 flection of personal, 

 individual theory 

 and i>ower. In gen- 

 eral outlii|d we may 

 carry out some direct 

 j)rinciple, but in the 

 final high light we 

 must display the big 

 " I " of egoity. 



• ' .\ wreath of box- 

 \v<»od with a cluster 

 of carnations."' That 

 is the simple story 

 (if the simple mate- 

 rial we have used. It 

 is tobl in the wreath 

 as well as we know 

 how. It may not be 

 told as well as you 

 or someone else could 

 tell it, but we do not 

 believe that you will 

 <|nestion the state- 

 MUMit of fact. It will 

 HlK'ak for itself. 



The Cluster. 



The big interest or 

 attraction is in the 

 wreath and its ma- 

 terial, but after we 



lot proud- of our w otk^. fo r we have 



"sed a' loF of beautifuf " ffowers an(T" 



placed them in what we were satisfled 



des'trn — lines that embed v only the 



have gained the attention it is "up to 

 us" to hold that attention, and our 

 power lies in the nature of our high 

 light, which in this instance is in the 

 carnation cluster. 



\ye have chosen simple material to 

 refute the thoughtless statement that 

 "you have to be extravagant to be 

 artistic," that "you have to educate 

 the public to appreciate art." Had 

 we used the whole of the sixty carna- 

 tions, there would be an open question 

 wlw»{W 41iSS5"Tl»SB:TI5jcrBsii iniproV«t 

 inent. but there can be little uucer- 



