The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



JC.NE 9, 1910. 



uiic wli'. • !.:iir- a 1';iiit;i>t ii- pi'iMiii 

 |jiiic)v III. 11! \]\< i)\vii iinayiiiat ion .' In 

 iiHisic, \\l!;it i- till' liiylicr order ut' pm 

 (liictidii ;ii;ii whii-li iniitalcs sdiiic t';i 

 miliiir M'liii.i, ,.] licit wiiicli r<'iiclci> ;iii 

 kIcm .' <,)i\ Ml MtliiM' wiu'ils, which •.\\i 

 [K'fils 111 villi'' hiLihi'i' siMisiliil il V iirti 

 fifial thiiii'li'i iiinl wiml. nr the cxiiics 

 sidii (if pit\ '.i lci\i'.' Ill ]i,'n lit i iiy, wliip 

 IS the Ki'itci nnisi tiic oiif will) can 

 iiiii'-l 1 lilt h I'll 1 1 \ |iri"<cnt suiiit't liiny lliiit 

 h;i> t'lillrii 'Mi'lci hi- I've, iir iiiii' \\\\n can 

 |p;iiiit an i iiia;^i iia ly liyiirc \\ Ikpsc licaiily 

 nihl yiaci- ii:i\.' Iircii -cm li\ his nwn 

 in I ml 's i'\ 1- ; 



Imitation Plus Imagination. 



.\ou let M- 'iiin>' \t) the ijictiiijiary 

 dofinitioii ■'] W.e wiiiil ''art.'' Jt is as 

 follows: ■■.\)i i- the aiiplicat inn of 



skill to tlio [irodiiction of the beautiful 

 l>y imitation or tlesign. ' ' 



( 'onipariiig these two definitions, first 

 it is taken for granted that there is 

 sonic skill both as to dreaming and as 

 to creation; so far there is no sjiecial 

 diU'cii'iice. The tciiiis ''creation'' and 

 ' ' jirodiict ion " ' sound alike. The die 

 tioiiaiy says ''the beautiful.'" Why is 

 it not true ait if nnbeautifiil subjects 

 arc |iresen1ed .' 



Passing this as nonessont iai. let us 

 explore the ineaiiing of the words ''imi 

 tation'" and " design. ' ' The term ' ' de 

 sign'' corres]ionds to the word ''ideal'" 

 ill our home made definition. Imitation 

 is the one branch of thought wliiidi is 

 omitted from our original delinit ion. 

 and we must admit it is (juite an iiii 

 portant one as ap[ilie(l to our depart 



Bridesmaid's Bouquet of White Roses. 



nieiit of art. Taken as u whole, ther 

 is no one production of the floral a: 

 which is purely ideal, and yet it is ;i 

 much so as any production of an 

 other art. It is a compound of imit; 

 tioii and ideal. For example, in 

 bride's shower bouquet the round to, 

 is like the tip of a plant in mature di 

 velopment; the shower is like a trailin. 

 vine or collection of the same; the se| 

 arate features are imitative; the a: 

 semblage is ideal. A pillow is an inn 

 t.itive design; its decoration may b 

 either ideal or imitative. 



Degrees of Ability. 



It follows, then, that if you invent ■■■■ 

 new style of the shower bouquet yoi 

 ar(» an artist of more or less ability 

 according to the high or low standaii 

 of your jn'oductiou. if you can catd 

 the combination of lines which maki'- 

 the graceful course of a wild, trailing 

 vine and can reproduce it in one spra\ 

 on a solid design, you are an artist, bin 

 not of the highest type. If you cai 

 bring together the plans of a nundtei 

 of such natural creations into a crea 

 tion of your own which occasion de 

 mands, you arc an artist of the higlie-i 

 type. 



It is even so in a literary sense; tin' 

 person Avho can describe people and 

 scenes in accordance with fact and in 

 an entertaining way is tin artist, but 

 the writer whf) can create and present 

 a character all his own, from his imaj^ 

 ination. assisted by his observation, i- 

 the really great writer. 



The so called musician who can niaki 

 the piano croak like a frog or make a 

 fiddle whine lias some musical ingeim 

 ity, but the one who can speak with the 

 violin a better message in a better wa\ 

 than ■with his li(>s is a great muslci in 



But another definition is wanting ti 

 bring us to a perfect understanding oi 

 our subject. It is that of ''massif 

 designing."' Well, it is solid work 

 work where the flowers or plants em 

 ployed lose their individuality for tin 

 sake of the effect whiili the massin:: 

 will produce. The production is sup 

 posed to be a striking amount of si/' 

 or color or both. 



Solid "Work— Good and Bad. 



Sucli solid work may bo good or poo' 

 designing, according to the scale use 

 in selecting and applying this particu 

 lar style of design. I have seen solie 

 pillows, solid crescents, harps, gate- 

 ajar, triangles, and hearts wliich wer- 

 good examples of massiv«^ design, bn 

 I never saw a solid wreath, or baski^i 

 or table ]>hiteau which was good d< 

 signing. Why is it .' Is it because on 

 a'sthctic beings are bounded by si- 

 senses, and that some things appeal !■ 

 neither the five senses nor yet to tie 

 sixth senst\ which has been so hai'l'il 

 called "common sense '"- though it i 

 so rare, by the irony ot' fatt> -nor ye- 

 to our sense of nonsense.' 



Is there anything in the fact that tie 

 first designs mentioned are all imitativ 

 and the latter are purely ideal? Wheri 

 we get the solid stvle from inav tlirou 

 some light on this question. Evidently 

 it is derived from massive effects 

 in nature, as illustrated in compositi 

 flowers; from inflorescence, as seen i" 

 racemes, umbels and panicles; as sccm. 

 in .1 gro\(' from .a distance, or a field or 

 stretch of land which has grown up 

 thick with one kind of flower, like ■' 

 daisy patch. Our sense of the ludicrous 



