Geraldine: 'Deck the Hall'
A Mid-winter Christmas Exhibition
A Christmas exhibition to wow the locals
The Geraldine Floral Art Group provided some winter cheer for the community when they presented a mid-winter Christmas display, ‘Deck the Hall’, in Geraldine in July.
And ‘deck the hall’ the club did. It was a spectacular exhibition of traditional and contemporary festive designs, alternative ideas for Christmas trees which ranged from thirty centimetres tall to over two metres tall and a wonderful assortment of wreaths.
With a membership of twenty-two, all members contributed to the display with enthusiasm and vigour. On pack-in day, designs just kept coming, with the hall being decorated to the maximum with a diverse range of festive designs, lights, music, and sparkle.
A centre table of glass, cones, baubles and cornus branches three metres tall, set the scene to create a stunning yuletide atmosphere. In addition, four members did ‘how to do’ demonstrations hourly, which showed viewers easy-to-achieve and sustainable festive ideas. These were well received, with the public waiting on the hour.
Making stars with twigs and pine needles was particularly popular with both the children and adults.
The aim of the exhibition was not only to showcase the floral work of Geraldine Floral Art Group but also to promote floral art and this was achieved with an overwhelming response from locals and visitors from as far afield as Queenstown, Dunedin and Christchurch.
Liz Chapman
Geraldine Floral Art Group
Ruby Divers was a founding member of Geraldine Floral Art Club and members compete annually for the Ruby Divers Memorial Trophy.
The 2019 title ‘WOW’ attracted exciting and varied concepts to interpret the title.
Novice Section
1st Novice – Fiona Williamson. A minimal design with eye catching yellow chrysanthemums to create WOW
2nd Novice – Bronny Chapman. A paper maiche model (created by the designer) in striking blue was adorned with pink gerberas.
3rd Novice section- Anne Watson. A hand made hat beautifully decorated with floral treasures.
HC equal novice section- Lois Fraser. Orange flowers designed in a textured piece of wood attracted much attention
HC equal novice section- Janet Kingsbury. Chards of stainless steel and bright pink roses
Open section
1st - Ruth Orange. A design incorporating fibre and yellow callas in a dazzling pristine design. Ruth was also the recipient of the Colour Award.
2nd - Liz Chapman. The placement of the plant material, Restio reeds also known as Oi Oi and Podophyllium foliage created the WOW in this design. The wire and wall flowers provided the Accent.
3rd – Jenny Buchannan. Jenny’s design using wire bound with newspaper and one stem of orchid had the WOW factor created by restrained use of plant material and components. Jenny was the recipient on the Innovative Award.
The 2018 Ruby Divers' Memorial Club Competition was held in conjunction with the Geraldine Arts and Plants Festival. It was the 30th anniversary for the festival, hence the design title 'A Touch of Pearl' was chosen to celebrate the occasion.
Ruby Divers was a founding member of the Geraldine Floral Art Club and the trophy donated by her family is competed for annually.
The 2017 Ruby Divers’ Memorial Club Competition title was 'Twist and Shout'.
