Fig. 3. frieze: silverweed, frog.
In the article on the use of leaves which follows, it is suggested that the forms of leaves to be met with in the field, hedgerow or wood, are peculiarly adapted to ornamental purposes, stencilling in decoration of the home among others. But this use of natural forms in ornament requires taste and consideration. To stick a leaf here and another there, without a purpose or design in the composition, is not ornament. I propose, with the aid of the printer, to give an idea of the principles which govern the making of designs. The first one is repetition. To use a star thus * singly, is not ornament. Place a number of stars side by side at regular distances between parallel lines thus:—
and you have a design, elementary, it is true, but as far as it goes decorative. In place of the star put a clover leaf, a conventional flower such as is used in Fig. 3, or a briar leaf laid slanting to the right or left, and you have
and Toad.
a border which may be used for a light frieze or the top of a dado. Arrange the stars in parallel rows thus:—
