For our guest evening on 18 May 2015 we were delighted to welcome Craig Bullock with his title ‘Inspired by Nature’.  Our patron the Lady Mayoress Mrs Elizabeth Sharp attended the meeting as her last civic appointment and gave the vote of thanks.  A cheque for £100 was handed to Mrs Sharp for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal.

Craig used some spectacular containers with unusual features. His first was in a large fruit bowl with an asymmetrical arrangement of solomon’s seal, mahonia, 3 different hostas, rubus, vibernum and wonderful large cala lilies.

The next placement was in a large bronze coloured urn using bergenia and eucalyptus, with complimentary shades of greys and bronzes. Dramatic red amarilis were placed upright in the container and Craig demonstrated the technique of using a skewer as support for the stem. Red Merano roses were grouped with red tropical anthuriums to make a stunning display

An African boat shaped wooden bowl was the centrepiece for the next placement. Craig used sun flowers placed at different heights in the bowl to make a deceptively simple arrangement which was very effective.

A cream coloured container with curving lines set the scene for a placement of orange gerbera set between two fans of palms. To one side the gerbera centres were pale and the others had dark centres.

With the next arrangement Craig made links to art with a more sculptural container with a palm boat shaped spade mounted on a stand. Tropical materials used were soft ruscus, Swiss cheese leaves, aspidistra leaves which gave a bold form to one side with a more feathery structure at the other using ferns, hostas and sulphur heart ivy. Angular shapes were created with orange and terracotta strelitzia, proteas, and red lilies which formed the heart of the design. Red tree peonies with orange tips were grouped in the centre of the design and terracotta roses with red shadings gave a wonderful dramatic display.

Craig’s final arrangement was created in a wonderful Oriental sun dish. He described this as being made from bamboo which had been steamed and coiled into the shape of the bowl then paper mache added with black lacquer and then a finish of gold leaf on the inside of the bowl. Moluscella (Bells of Ireland), fatsias and pale blue delphiniums were placed in the centre with six beautiful pale pink and white lilies as the final placement. Small groups of green button chrysanthemums were added for the final texture and depth. To our delight Craig set his final staging with an upright arrangement on a board to complement the oriental sun dish.

The applause at the end of Craig’s demonstration showed the appreciation of our members and many guests who had joined us for the evening. The Lady Mayoress gave the vote of thanks and was truly delighted with Craig’s entertaining yet inspiring displays. This was the last civic event for the Lady Mayoress and she expressed her enjoyment at being our patron over the last year.”