Wollaston Garden Club Designs for

"Art in Bloom 2012"

Two floral designers from the Wollaston Garden Club participated in “Art in Bloom” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston again this year. The garden club’s arranger was Ruth Griffin and her assistant, Cynthia Lewis. Both women are past presidents of the garden club and currently serve as Horticulture Chair (Lewis) and Special Projects Chair (Griffin). Both have exhibited at “Art in Bloom” in the past.

          The art object interpreted was, “Basket”, a flame-worked Pyrex sculpture by the American artist, Brent Kee Young. Young, born in 1946, began his Matrix series after becoming intrigued with the chaotic snarls of metal reinforcement bars left behind when a concrete building near his studio was demolished. He used a hand-held torch to meld Pyrex rods, creating “organic interconnected structures of which almost any shape might be realized.” Still it would be very difficult to hold anything within the ghostly web of this basket, which looks almost as if it were scribbled with wavering lines of glass.

         Club designer Griffin commenting about the container and the mechanics of the design said that she chose “to create a double layer of glass – painted to resemble a block of ice.” For flower choice curly willow was spray painted grey/white and used to mimic the gnarly ice-covered vine pattern on the basket and scarlet anthuriums to resemble the red hot rods used in the process of blowing the glass basket.”

Part of the mission of the garden club is to promote and encourage the love of gardening, and the study of floral design. The club offers many opportunities and workshops to help members improve their floral design skills. The Wollaston Garden Club has provided designers for the Museum of Fine Arts’ biggest fundraiser for the past seven years. The Wollaston Garden Club is a member of the National Garden Clubs, Inc. and the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Inc.    

Wollaston Garden Club Designs for

"Art in Bloom 2012"

Two floral designers from the Wollaston Garden Club participated in “Art in Bloom” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston again this year. The garden club’s arranger was Ruth Griffin and her assistant, Cynthia Lewis. Both women are past presidents of the garden club and currently serve as Horticulture Chair (Lewis) and Special Projects Chair (Griffin). Both have exhibited at “Art in Bloom” in the past.

          The art object interpreted was, “Basket”, a flame-worked Pyrex sculpture by the American artist, Brent Kee Young. Young, born in 1946, began his Matrix series after becoming intrigued with the chaotic snarls of metal reinforcement bars left behind when a concrete building near his studio was demolished. He used a hand-held torch to meld Pyrex rods, creating “organic interconnected structures of which almost any shape might be realized.” Still it would be very difficult to hold anything within the ghostly web of this basket, which looks almost as if it were scribbled with wavering lines of glass.

         Club designer Griffin commenting about the container and the mechanics of the design said that she chose “to create a double layer of glass – painted to resemble a block of ice.” For flower choice curly willow was spray painted grey/white and used to mimic the gnarly ice-covered vine pattern on the basket and scarlet anthuriums to resemble the red hot rods used in the process of blowing the glass basket.”

Part of the mission of the garden club is to promote and encourage the love of gardening, and the study of floral design. The club offers many opportunities and workshops to help members improve their floral design skills. The Wollaston Garden Club has provided designers for the Museum of Fine Arts’ biggest fundraiser for the past seven years. The Wollaston Garden Club is a member of the National Garden Clubs, Inc. and the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Inc.    

The garden club’s arranger for 2011 was Cynthia Lewis and her assistant, Ruth Griffin. Both women are past presidents of the garden club and both have exhibited at “Art in Bloom” in the past.

The art object to be interpreted, “Woman In A Fur Hat”, is an oil on canvas painting by the American artist, Gretchen Rogers. Rogers was an artist who studied at The Museum of Fine Arts School when it opened in 1877 and one of the American Impressionists/Boston School who were inspired by the work of the old masters, particularly Jan Vermeer.

Club designer Lewis commented that she “hopes to capture the beauty of this captivating elegant woman with her dark engaging eyes, sumptuous textures, lush reds and rich warm browns, with carefully selected flowers, a well-chosen container, and a design that really works.”