Skip to main content

The "Flower Lady"

Part III of Amateur Pursuits. 
(Part I, Part II.)
Proper vases were crucial.  Once I found vases that were the right scale and had the same lustre as the crucifix and the candlesticks, I felt much more confident in my flower arrangements.  The vases looked at home with their surroundings.
The rest was trial and error, and continues to be. Here is a visual chronicle of arrangments:
August 10, 2019
August 15, 2019
August 24, 2019
September 7, 2019
September 14, 2019
September 28, 2019
October 26, 2019
As my designs became more structured (and less messy), the Altar Guild began to take notice and asked if I would consider bringing the arrangements on Saturday afternoon so they could be used for all of the Masses at the parish, not just the TLM.
Now, I am known colloquially as the "Flower Lady" by the lovely Portuguese ladies and gents who are the pillars of the parish. 

Comments

  1. Marie-JacquelineJanuary 28, 2020 at 5:18 PM

    Hi Gemma, I put up a blog roll that includes your site. Take a look at the upper right hand corner of mine (best viewed on desktop, I suppose). I really like the way the thumbnail looks! I'm not quite out of the woods yet, but more to come!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GemmaJanuary 29, 2020 at 7:39 PM

      Hello Marie-Jacqueline! As you can see I haven't been very productive on the blog this week. Hoping to get something up for Candlemas! Thank you for including me on your blog roll- wonderful!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Christ the King: Altar Flowers

Altar flowers for the feast of  Christ the King! The challenge with these arrangements was to incorporate the traditional colors of white, gold and red with the request from a dear friend to provide flowers for the church upon the celebration of her son's nuptial Mass.   The bride selected autumn colors for her bridal bouquet: burnt orange, dark red and rose.  I thought it would be best to select flowers that could be used for both the wedding (on the feast of St. Raphael Archangel) and the feast of Christ the King.  Let me know what you think!  Entry table arrangement Side altar arrangement Another entry table arrangement Main altar arrangement Roses and lilies with acacia, eucalyptus and blueberry greens. Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat!
2 comments
Read more

Hydrangeas, Roses & Holly: Altar Flowers for Christmas

                      Unfortunately, this is the best picture I could get of the arrangements for the Latin Mass on Christmas Day.   However, it may serve as inspiration for what can be done in the most unlikely of spaces.   The architecture of the church is typical postmodern, with no vestiges of the past.  The crucifix was added and the tabernacle put in its rightful place only within the last d ecade.  Who would have thought that the Latin Mass would be making its debut here in our isolated, rural community when there are a handful of beautiful, century-old churches perfectly designed for the purpose not far away! The proliferation of fake poinsettias already present in the church set me in motion to find other examples of possibilities for the traditional altar.  My search led me to the liturgy guy's post Does this 1944 Christmas Eve Mass Look Anything Like Yours?   I was inspired by the Solemn High Mass featured in the movie Christmas Holiday and later horrified a
7 comments
Read more

Altar Flowers for Marian Feasts

For the feast of the Annunciation, we will have no Traditional Latin Mass.  Much the same as last year, yet different.  At the large brass doors of the church I left two small flower offerings for our good curé to place on the altar for his private Mass.  His Roman vestments were trimmed in sky blue.  Looking round the garden, forget-me-nots seemed appropos.  One year later, the forget-me-nots are back, but now the private Latin Masses are being canceled in the Vatican. Supernatural hope prevails.  Our Lady breaks through the spiritual darkness and the Lenten flower fast with her  fiat  at the Annunciation. For altar flowers, perfectly white roses would be my ideal choice.  Where white roses aren't available, alstroemeria, carnations and liles are good substitutes.  Daffodils, or "Mary's Star", would also add a beautiful touch of gold. For information on flowers traditionally associated with Our Lady, check out  Fleurs de Marie-Jacqueline's blog. Here are some arr
3 comments
Read more