Art & Flower Festival
The inspiration for the theme of the flower arrangements is taken from Shakespeare’s poem in ‘As you like it’. We have taken some liberties with the Ages; for example in modern England many more young people are familiar with being a student than a soldier. ‘Soldier’ has been incorporated into ‘Worker’ and ‘Lovers’ into ‘Youth’. However, we have focused on the opportunity for today’s young people to be students, a rare privilege in Shakespeare’s day, and therefore a cause for both celebration and hope for our future.
All the world’s a stage:
A flavour of Shakespeare’s life and times in Elizabethan England. |
Birth:
Why is it that a child makes a life worthwhile? |
Toddler
Bright colours and simple flowers reflect a toddler's curiosity and delight in the world around them. “One day I shall be big - now I am having fun exploring the wonderful world in which I live.”
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School Age
Brownies from both churches have made these miniature gardens. |
Youth
In Victorian ‘flower language’ red and white roses together mean Unity. Yellow roses mean Friendship and here they are arranged in coffee mugs to represent the social side of student life. The laurel wreath represents graduation and victory. Single red roses represent the ‘Lovers’ in Shakespeare’s poem. |
Worker
Hats off to the workers who: guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us. |
Retirement
Not a time for sitting back but for taking on new challenges or improving old skills. The garden reminds us all of the things we can do. |
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Old Age
Flowers to depict the seven ages of man,
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All people that on earth do dwell
Different coloured flowers depict the different peoples of the world; white, cream and blue for the colder parts of the earth, yellow and orange for the hot countries near the Equator. Fatsia leaves depict hands reaching towards Jesus, Saviour of the world, at the centre. 
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