~NYREE CLARKE, NEW ZEALAND by Tricia Legg
I first  watched Nyree Clarke when she came to the Kerikeri Floral Art Group in New Zealand as the visiting teacher from FASNZ, several years ago. She spent the afternoon showing all the members at her workshop, how to manipulate leaves and roll and twist them into stunning designs.

This elegant and gentle lady seemed to merge with the plant material she was working,  and together, they worked together to create new, beautiful forms. Nyree never fights the material and that afternoon. it seemed to purr and mould under her soft and understanding hands.

Years later I joined the Floral Art Club in Orewa, where  Nyree is a member, and was privileged to get to know her and her husband Colin better. What an incredibly talented pair they are! As with most husbands of  flower arrangers, Colin is the maker of the stands, lifter of the heavy materials, and the extra pair of willing hands when Nyree travels throughout New Zealand demonstrating and teaching.

With Colin's support, Nyree has risen to the top of the Floral Art world in New Zealand, winning many awards along the way (more here) to being a respected demonstrator, teacher and judge for the Floral Art Society of New Zealand.

Cork and old fashioned flowers give the romantic touch.
How wonderful it was for me, therefore to be able to look through Nyree's scrapbook of her work over the years, and pick out  just a tiny collection of her designs for you to enjoy.

Nyree's journey to the top of the floral art world began when she left school. As part of a school prize, her teacher gave her a book on flower arranging, which interested Nyree enough  to see her join a night class to learn more.

Later she joined a Floral Art club and put her name  down for every lesson, workshop and course that was announced. A friend gave her moral support and they both went to whatever was on, whenever Nyree could afford it.

The ultimate course, for Nyree, was the opportunity to join classes at Ecole Francaise de Decoration Florale in Paris. This experience as well as  attending a demonstration by Gregor Lersch on his first visit to New Zealand many years ago have been major influences on her  very distinctive flower arranging style.

She uses rounded, feminine forms and wonderful swirls of line material in much of her work, with space and rhythm being very important components of her designs. Nyree also has a strong sense of the dramatic, with textural contrasts evident with subtle plays of the rough with the smooth, the dark with the light, the shiny with the dull.
"I love long, pliable leaves, said Nyree," You can do all kinds of things by  looping, pinning, hanging, twisting and curling them." Her favourite foliages are New Zealand Flax, (Phornium tenax and cookium), Astelia, and New Zealand native sedge.

Favourite flowers are  the South African Proteas, Leucodendron, and the Asiatic and oriental lilies. "The Oriental lilies have the strong perfume, the Asiatic ones don't."she said, " and they both give a great impact with a single head as they have such a large flower."
"The Proteas really lastl," Nyree said," and grow so well in my garden," she added with a laugh.

This is another feature of Nyree's work as she  has a large and beautiful garden around her home. It is settled on a cliff top overlooking the ocean just north of Auckland , New Zealand. She loves to use whatever is flowering or producing at the time, and can therefore use a much larger variety of plant material than is available at any time at a florists. She often visits friends bearing gifts of special plants from her garden, that are 'treasures' for flower arrangers and that aren't readily available in plant nurseries of florist shops.

Nyree finds floral design relaxing, taking her mind off of other things  and forcing her to get back to nature. "It is  great  for gardeners," she said, and she is looking forward to establishing a new garden sometime in the future.

In September 2002 Nyree was the key to floralartmall.com establishing the online Floral Art School. (more here) She agreed to help design the curriculum and use her vast knowledge and experience to make the courses available at the school, as comprehensive and relevant as possible to the students. 

She now teaches the Advanced classes in Floral Design at the school, part time,(here) and thoroughly enjoyed spending 3 months with  us all here at Floralartmall.com as we photographed and videoed  her lessons before they were mounted into the school's classroom on the Internet.

Above and below show a contrast of styles but always with Nyree's sense of space and rhythm. The design above won a place in the FASNZ diary.
 


This design was selected to be included in the book 'Influences" published by FASNZ for the World show.