Balls and Balance

9 March 2025

With Cyclone Alfred causing havoc down south the Novice Titles were postponed, so we had a weekend at home.

That was good for a number of reasons, not least of which the opportunity for me to tick a couple more activities off the list in the Visual Diary for my current Module in my Diploma.

I spent a bit of time playing around with cinemagraphs and time lapse photography - lots of learning happening there, and a lot of thinking trying to come up with unique ideas (which haven't manifested themselves just yet). My attempts are on socials. They are mp4 files, so I can't put them in this blog like I can with images.

I took the opportunity this week to try something I have been considering as I look at the ridiculously long grass along the fence in my backyard. Weaving grass balls.

Let's just say that the success of such ventures tend to rely on the appropriateness of the material one attempts to use, and Johnson Grass (Sorghum halepense) does not a decent grass ball make. So much for making use of a weed in an interesting way.

I didn't give up though.

The original idea stemmed from different ways to use leaves in floral design. Tropical leaves in particular seem to lend themselves to more than you initially think. At home I have Cannas, Heliconia and some Strelitzia (they have not flowered as yet, so I don't feel right referring to them as Bird of Paradise). Canna leaves are too soft, and Strelitzia are possibly too stiff for weaving, so I gave the Heliconia a go. I managed two woven balls using slightly different techniques, but neither resulted in the much neater (less in danger of falling apart) version I had in my head. I might try again with palm fronds. I quite like the effect of rolled leaves. It changes the form and takes up a different amount of space. It also gives the impression that you have used different horticultural material when it is in fact the same. Contrast is good, and can be achieved without using too many different materials. Next week I think I might create a foliage only design and see how many different ways I can present the same leaf.

Last week I shared the Rhythm image, and the last one for that assessment was Balance. I set up a still life for this because I kept coming back to flowers and remembering the tableau I set up when photographing the designs I created during my Cert IV in Floristry study styled on Baroque, Renaissance and Dutch/Flemish eras. Visual balance is extremely important in Floristry. I'm not sure if I can see it because of my trained florist's eye or it was always something I noticed but it's often the balance (or imbalance as the case may be) that draws my attention when I frame or crop an image. It might be a chicken and egg thing.

Anyway, here's the photo I created to represent Balance.

This is a still life composition where floral material was positioned to create informal balance. The salvia in the vase is balanced vertically and horizontally by the sprig of salvia on the table. The blue/purple is a striking tone in this image and draws attention. Having some of that colour and texture up and down, as well as on either side of the middle third makes it easier to look at. The quantities do not have to be the same for the image to be visually balanced, and these amounts make sense. Perhaps one sprig was removed from the vase for a closer inspection so as to look the flower up in one of the reference books on the pile, and has been left on the table. The muted blue tone of the roses on the vase is repeated on the spines of the bottom two books, and that unites those parts of the image. Similarly, the top book has green tones which is repeated (although not exactly) in the green of the leaves. The height of the vase is similar to the height of the stack of books, and the way they are positioned next to each other also provides some balance.

Next week I will have to try and get some feedback on social media for some images for the project I am currently working on. I need to provide a screenshot of the feedback, so I'm hoping for something a bit interesting and detailed to include. I'll be shooting those images tomorrow, so keep an eye out for them.

It's been quite a party, ain't it.

Purple Fairy