MASTRCLASS #26

 

Hello all,

My spring garden is continuing to delight me. My pink dogwood (Cornus Florida rubra) was in full flower for the first time this year and I dared to cut two stems to bring inside. Apart from some trimming and securing the branches in the container, I did not need to do anything else.

Also, my mollis azalea avocet is pure perfection. The contrast of the delicate, white and yellow flowers against the lime green leaves is quite charming.

Last Saturday's Masterclass was particularly challenging. I had provided each participant with only one, rather large branch of red callistemon and two containers. I asked them to be creative and to think outside the square. Having only one material to work with to create an interesting arrangement is not easy but the girls rose to the challenge and made me proud.

As always, I too, took the challenge with an arrangement but forgot to photograph it. 

Lei cut down her branch and selected two side shoots with interesting shapes. She removed almost all of the leaves allowing the stems to be featured.

Christine, needing extra height, placed one vase on top of the other, then draped two stems of the callistemon over them.

Lucy separated the side shoots which had only buds and draped them over one vase then placed four flowers, vertically, through a slit in the second container.

Cymbie placed her branches up side down and, then, proceeded to wire flowers and buds giving them a rather unnatural but interesting direction.

Vicky's arrangement was reminiscent of the lesson 'Disassembling and Rearranging the Material'. She removed flowers, buds and leaves from the branch and placed the flowers in her two containers. She then used the 'stick' to add a line.

I leave you with this arrangement that I took to my friend, Merryl's place on Friday, when I went there for lunch. We are a group of four friends who met at our children's high school, helping out at the tuck shop. We call ourselves 'The Tuck Shop Girls'. (We sound like a girl band!) We have maintained our friendship ever since by meeting 3 or 4 times a year for lunch at alternating houses. These are marathon lunches which last a minimum of seven hours. Surprisingly, we never run out of things to say.

I chose the green goddess lilies for this arrangement for their longevity and, wired the way I had them, they are easy to transport. The wisteria vine is fresh, so in about a week or so, it should sprout leaves. To cover my mechanics, I used baby tears (soleirolia).

Bye for now'

Emily

DEMONSTRATION AND EXHIBITION

 

Hello all,

The time is quickly approaching for our exhibition and the demonstration by Master Instructor, Kosa Nishiyama, in celebration of our 60th anniversary. We're quite excited and are working very hard preparing for it all. We'd love to see as many of you as possible to both events. To my interstate readers, Melbourne is glorious this time of year and might act as an added incentive to visit.

Our exhibition will be held at Whitehorse Artspace  over four consecutive weeks with changes to the exhibits each week.

It will run from 26th October to 23rd November.          

Open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm (Saturdays 12.00 to 4.pm)

And now to our regular ikebana. For last lesson the advanced students were asked to make a spring arrangement. In my wall arrangement, below, I used a large wisteria vine and added pink roses and purple flag iris.

Lucy used a metal stand on which she placed a glass vase, then added jasmine, clivias and cymbidium orchid.

Jenny used apple blossoms and mauve lilacs in a ceramic, curved container.

Nicole used branches of hawthorn in bloom and rhododendron in a curved, ceramic container.

Shaneen came with swathes of materials but used only four - Japanese maple, clivia, day lily and freesias in a ceramic suiban.

Mary used crab apple branches in bloom and three arum lilies in a ceramic vase.

 

The following week Mary made a freestyle arrangement in a tsubo vase, using nandina domestica and arum lilies.

Lei made a freestyle arrangement using viburnum opulus, blushing bride (Serruria florida) and a prunus stem in a gorgeous, ceramic container.

Bye for now,

Emily

SPRING IN MY GARDEN

 

Hello all,

After 33 years of planting in my half acre property, I am inundated with so much material this spring that I'm tripping over myself trying to arrange as many as possible. The snow ball tree (viburnum opulus) is currently flowering and, for me, it is at its best when the flowers are still green.

 
In the arrangement, above, I wanted to contrast the vibrant, lime green of the flowers with the equally vibrant purple, Dutch iris. The container is made of resin.

Still with the snow ball tree, in the next arrangement, I used a ceramic vase with three holes on each side. I placed two stems through the side holes and one through the top and draped the branches over the container. 

My white lilac shrub was a gift from my parents a couple of decades ago. It is now looking a bit sad and has dropped some limbs. It has produced only a few flowers this year and, I fear, I might be losing it.

My daughter and her husband have recently moved into their new house, which is on a half acre lot. As I was inspecting all the plants on the property, I came across a loquat tree with a branch that had been partially broken but continued to grow towards the sun. An opportunity not to be missed. So, I brought it home and placed it in one of my taller vases.

I debated whether to add any more materials and I tried a few but was not happy. I did not want to conceal the interesting bend of the stem at the top. I, finally, settled on some snow ball flowers because they have a draping effect but which allowed the bend to be visible.

  

My crucifix orchid is, also, quite prolific and I've been manipulating some of the flower stems to interesting curves. This one is sitting in front of the mirror in the powder room. People can enjoy the beauty of the flowers up close when washing their hands.

Then, there's my wisteria, which has been the source of great frustration over the years because it stubbornly refuses to produce more that a few flowers each spring. I have threatened to remove it more than once. This year, however, after being heavily pruned, it has produced quite a lot of flowers. Below are a couple of arrangements featuring this beautiful, fragrant material. At this stage the racemes are not fully open. In a day or two they will look much fuller.

Wisteria with arum lily

 

Wisteria with clematis

Bye for now,

Emily

30TH SEPTEMBER, 2024

 

Hello all,

Lara Telford ran our recent Sogetsu workshop and she set the theme of 'Asymmetry'. Please go to Sogetsu Victoria  and click on Recent Workshops for more information and photographs of Lara's work as well as those of the members.

Mine is the arrangement, above. The dried material is from a xanthorrhoea  that had died and the camellia is Kamo Hon Ami. The asymmetry is quite obvious. However, Lara introduced a concept that we had not heard of before and that is 'Symmetrical Asymmetry'. I know, that sounds like an oxymoron but the way Lara explained it, it made sense. The arrangement is to have materials of equal size and volume on either side of the centre but the materials are to be different. I did not have materials for that kind of arrangement but I wanted to try it when I got home, hence the arrangement, below. I used magnolia soulangeana and loquat branches and some alstroemeria psittacina leaves in a self made container.

A month later, I set this theme to my advanced students. After a few protests and some grumbling, they managed quite well.

In my arrangement for the lesson I used umbrella grass with trimmed leaves, green goddess lilies and a sprig of Japanese flowering apricot in a ceramic container. 

Jenny used arum lilies and Japanese maple in a triangular, ceramic container.          

Lucy used a fan palm and a monstera deliciosa leaf in a strong nageire container. The vibrant colour of the two stems of clivias balanced the strength of the leaves and container.

Shaneen mixed exotics with native in this arrangement - cherry blossoms on one side and callistemon on the other. The bluebells added an accent of colour.

 Vicky used kiwi vine, green goddess lilies and one bluebell.

Nicole's arum lilies and leaves created the symmetrical asymmetry and she added a sprig of Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima) in a ceramic suiban.

Mary used a tsubo vase into which she placed a confer branch on one side and a philodendron that was trimmed on the other. Both materials were very strong and the iris japonica added lightness.

Lei's class theme was 'Preparing for a Future Exhibition'. In a round,metal container she placed leucadendrons, following the curve of the container and cymbidium orchids.

Dianne's class theme was 'Vines'. She used wisteria and clematis for the vines and the most magnificent magnolia for the colour accent.

Bye for now,

Emily

MASTERCLASS #25

 

Hello all,

For the Masterclass on Saturday, I provided each of the students with a large  mahonia branch and a container. The flowers, however, were different for each student.

I usually challenge myself at each such lesson by, also, making an arrangement with the same theme as the rest of the class. In this case I did not have time to make it before class, so I did it when the students had left. Mine is the arrangement, above. 

Below is the mahonia branch in its original state. I removed more than half of the foliage and stems. The students were given similar branches and, they too, had to trim a great deal to reveal the beauty of the stems.

Lei's dramatic arrangement, below, comprised of the stem and one leaf of her mahonia branch. She massed the arum lilies, with one bud following the line of the stem.

Jenny got out of her comfort zone and turned her branch up-side-down over the spherical container. She, then, lifted the leaves and caught them in a balloon shape, exposing the inflorescence 'skirt'. I had provided her with camellias but she felt and I agreed, that they were not necessary.

Vicky trimmed all the leaves from the right side of the branch, leaving only the left side ones and making the arrangement look windswept. Peaking through the leaves were two rhododendron flowers.

Cym's mahonia branch was considerably smaller than the rest, so her arrangement was smaller. She trimmed the leaves, revealing the stems and then caught them in two, opposing bunches. The single clivia added colour and contrast.

Lucy, also, had to trim heavily to expose the angles of the stem. The large, ceramic container has a rather small opening but Lucy was a able to work out the mechanics required to hold the stem upright. Such a strong arrangement required equally strong flowers and, I believe, the red rhododendrons fit the bill perfectly.

Students are only required to bring their cutters to Masterclass, as I provide everything else. This time, however, I instructed them to also bring a pair of sturdy gloves because the mahonia is extremely prickly. 

I have to admit that I am particularly proud of the work that these girls have produced. With each month they seem to be going from strength to strength.

Bye for now,

Emily

LABASSA DEMONSTRATION

 

Hello all,

As I had announced in my previous post, I conducted a demonstration at Labassa mansion on Saturday as part of our Ikebana International exhibition there.

The photograph, above, is of a simple arrangement with arum lilies that create an optical illusion giving the impression that the stems weave in and out of the holes of the self made, ceramic container.

The next arrangement was an homage to Norman Sparnon. When I joined the ikebana community 34 years ago, Mr. Sparnon had retired but on two occasions he had come to Melbourne for workshops with the Sogetsu group. I felt quite privileged to witness his demonstrations, one of which was with pussy willow which he had bent to create the curves that I now replicated. He had used tulips with the pussy willow but mine are past their best, so I opted for rhododendrons.

In my next arrangement I used part of an obi, the rest of which I made into cushions for my bed. I used clivia flowers and berries. The wisteria vine, that I had planned to use, was forgotten at home, so I had to improvise and used a couple of black canes for line.

And this is what it should have looked like.

In my next arrangement I took advantage of the holes in my self made container to place umbrella grass stems, which I wired together at the top. I had removed the leaves at the top because they would wither very quickly as they would have been out of water. I placed one stem with leaves in the centre where it would be in water and added two Dutch iris.

The next arrangement was a particularly challenging one because it was completely unprepared. I wanted to show the audience the process of trimming and preparing the various elements before arranging. Of course, this exercise is difficult at the best of time and that is why it is at the later section of the curriculum, when students have had a chance to gain some experience.

I used nandina domestica and strelitzia reginae flowers and one leaf.

It's cymbidium orchid time and I got my hands on a number of stems of these gorgeous blooms. It's been my experience with these flowers that, after sitting in an arrangement  for a while, they can kink and thus the top part wilt. So, I try to arrange them in such a way that they have some support, as I've done in my example, below. 

The orchid in the next arrangement did not need to be supported because it grew downwards and was placed downwards. The dry wood is from a cypress tree and the bromeliad flowers are called queen's tears. There is, also a sprig of nandina domestica nana to the back of the arrangement.

Mary made a freestyle arrangement using Siberian dogwood (Cornus syberica alba) and rhododendrons in a heavy, footed suiban.

There are more photos of demonstration and exhibition arrangements that I will share with you in my next post. 

Bye for now,

Emily