KERAMIC STUDIO 
ARBUTUS 
Mary Chase Perry 
\a XE m ust take advantage of the early Spring, 
if he would have nature-studies, from 
which the student may gain suggestions 
for his work during the rest of the year. 
I say "gain suggestions" advisedly — 
not merely to copy. No wood flower is more delicately 
suggestive of Spring, nor more gracefully adaptable to all 
the varying forms of decorative fancy, than the trailing 
arbutus. It may be found in most sections throughout this 
country, and the first pleasure of seeking its haunts will follow 
into its closer study-adaptation, especially if you have that 
happy faculty of becoming imbued with the spirit of the envi- 
ronment in which you find it. The blossoms are in allshades 
of pink, some so delicate that they are almost pearly in tone, 
and are usually of the larger variety. Others are a clear, pure 
pink or with a still deeper coloring so that they have a pur- 
plish cast on the edges of the petals. Little, crisp dashes of 
crimson frequently mark the buds and half open flowers. 
The leaves are oblong, and are either pointed or with the apex 
rounded, sometimes into one, and sometimes into two ovals. 
They are thick and waxen in texture, and show all the shades 
of yellow green to a dense dark green, with much brown and 
red in the mature stages. The stems are dark and straggly 
with many little shoots thrusting out aggressively. Become 
acquainted with all of these phases if possible, so that the char- 
acter of tli£ whole growth will be familiar to you. You may 
study its various forms with as much of an analytic or botani- 
cal understanding as you choose, and with profit, yet without 
the instinct of the little plant as it grows, you will have lost 
the real sense of its expression. 
Use any medium you choose, or the one with which you 
have the greatest facility, so that you will not be trammeled 
by an unmastered technique. Either pencil, water color or 
direct work upon china will serve, as long as you tell the story. 
Note carefully all the characteristics of a single little spray — 
the delicate curves of the petals, which are united more than 
half way, but which are more often painted quite separate. 
Take good notice of the many degrees of development from 
the bud to the open flower and the different drawing each 
blossom shows in the various positions. Observe well the 
manner in which it is attached to the wiggly stem, with the 
long, slender cup and tiny calyx. Then the depth in the 
center of the cup gives the flower, tiny as it is, quite as dis- 
tinct an individuality of its own as if it were as large as a day 
lily. In portraying it, if this characteristic is lost, it is left 
flat and expressionless and entirely without meaning. You 
will see that the leaves are apt to group above the masses 
of flowers in the natural growth, as they have 
been required to protect the blossoms in the 
early Spring, as they frequently burst open 
before the snow has left the ground. 
A few moments of study after this manner 
will not be misspent, but will acquaint you with 
little touches and signs which will recur to you 
long afterward, when, perhaps, you are making 
use of the flower for a decorative motive, without 
the plant itself at hand. 
It would be well worth while to make out- 
lines or colored sketches of the various parts, as 
suggested in the black and white drawings, to 
keep as short-hand notes, adhering to realistic 
coloring. Sacrifice nothing of the truth in these 
detached sketches. It is one thing to have made 
this truthful delineation of the flower, and quite 
