Thank you to everyone who visited our Nocturne exhibit last Saturday, Oct. 13th!

We thought we'd share with you a few side stories behind the arrangements. (A link to the complete gallery can be found at the end of this blog post.)

Blue Moon by Val Spencer

Val found this big and beautiful branch while passing through a cemetery in Halifax. It was too big to use at home but she kept it anyway...kept it for a year! The hydrangea are from her garden. It had been a struggle to strike the right balance, hanging the whole arrangement by one wire; but Val got it right in the nick of time!

Silence by Miyako

The silver dollars came from the garden of Beverly, a friend who knew we were always on the lookout for interesting branches. The dried pine came from the backyard of our friend, Libby who must've been puzzled when Miyako offered to clear some of the pine detritus off her property! Thank you for sharing the bounty of your gardens!

Untitled arrangement by Marina Sokolenko

Marina mixed reds and oranges with a brillant touch of green pine. We don't know if you noticed but the flower container was actually made of glass and not ceramic. Stained grey, the vase was the perfect vessel for this simple arrangement.

13-Year Old Daughter by Miyako

Her 13-year old daughter is learning to play the guitar and is training her singing voice. Did you see the "guitar" in this piece? The red leaves represent her beautiful voice. Miyako had had a hard time choosing the focal flower for this one. In the end, she settle on dried corn flower, picked up from Annapolis Valley the week before!

Front Yard and Back Yard by Susan Robertson

So what's behind the title? The hosta came from Susan's backyard. The hydrangea came from a friend's front yard. All from Nova Scotia's South Shore. The balding hydrangea reminded us that the summer had passed on the baton to autumn!

Self-Made Vase by Miyako

The inspiration for this arrangement came from Miyako's father. Visiting Halifax from Japan last summer, he had made a little fence for the garden using sticks of bamboo and hemp rope. Taking his cue, Miyako fashioned her own "vase" for this arrangement.

Quince by JB

To be honest, we didn't realize quince fruit could grow so big! These lovely fruit-bearing branches came from JB's garden. Some time after Nocturne, these fruit will be turned into jam! Didn't we mention JB makes the most delicious of jams!

Basic Slanting by Patti Vaison

Despite being tied up with the activities of the African Violet Society the whole of Saturday, the day of the exhibit, Patti managed to create this moribana arrangement of yellow and black with a beautiful reflection on the water! Did you also notice the little berries under the roses? They're called bittersweet. In time, the yellow berries turn red.

Halloween by Miyako

The dried leaves used for this arrangement had come from the Caribbean. The leaves had been quite thick and had dried up to perfection! The photo on the right is the actual plant (whose name we don't know). It grows abundantly by the sea!

Roses by Xuejun Wang

Her first time to join us for an exhibit, Xuejun started actual work on her arrangement the day before. After choosing an elegantly long curly willow branch to be her shin (main "heaven" branch), she got creatively stuck. A good night's rest worked wonders and she finished magnificently with this creation!

Autumn Abundance by JB

Nothing like a stroll through the Farmers' Market to make one realize that autumn is upon us. The abundance of the autumn harvest and its golden red colours were what JB took as inspiration for this work. Many people liked the idea of the pumpkin used as a vase!

Untitled arrangement by Marina Sokolenko

Marina thought she was done when she saw the delphinium and tropical leaves left in the bucket...unused. They were so pretty that she had to do something with them! Thus came this last-minute arrangement that ended up welcoming our visitors at the door!

My Mother's Vase by Miyako

The container used was Miyako's mother first ever ceramic work of many, many years ago. Amateurish, perhaps, but special to her. The apples and amaranth were from Annapolis Valley whilst the big pine branch was picked up right on Spring Garden Road, undoubtedly a victim of Halifax's sometimes gusty winds.

We hope these little annotations makes the Nocturne exhibit a bit more interesting for you! You can see the complete gallery on our flickr page.