The original arrangement

Hello all,

I made the above arrangement after disassembling the piece I had done for St Paul's Cathedral a few weeks ago and the thought of finding a place in my storeroom for the bamboo structure was  too much for me. It was easier and more fun to make another arrangement instead. Its simplicity belies the difficulty in arranging the camellias to look natural and facing up. The large glass vase has areas that are opaque and others that are clear, requiring care in cutting the stems of the camellias short enough so that they are not visible through the glass.

Last Saturday I ran a workshop for eleven members of our Sogetsu group here at my home studio. I've done such a workshop once before, the idea for which originated with Testunori Kawana's classes I attended in Tokyo.

I provided for each participant a small bunch of three different types of materials and made my containers available to them. I also provided, tools, wire etc. Each participant chose a container and made an arrangement, which I critiqued when finished and then photographed. The arrangement was then disassembled, the container returned and a new container chosen to go through the same process again and again using the same bunch of materials.

The workshop ran from 10.00 am to 3.00 pm with a break for lunch and in that time 66 arrangements were completed. A number of people told me that they could, easily, have done many more arrangements, had time not run out. I had advised the participants not to view the exercise as some sort of competition to see who could make the most arrangements. It would be preferable to make fewer good arrangements rather than many not so good. I believe it is necessary for all of us in ikebana to be challenged once in a while and this type of work can be quite challenging because of the restrictions that it poses. I was very pleased with the quality of work that was produced and the feedback I received was positive.

As a teacher this was very challenging for me, as I had to be available to assist whoever needed help as well as critiquing the completed work and photographing it. It certainly kept me on my toes. One unexpected bonus for me was to see some of my containers used in ways I hadn't thought to use them.

Rather than bombard you with photographs of 66 arrangements, I chose to include one per participant. And, I can tell you, this was not easy!

Sue Healey used a large phylodendron leaf, which she thinned out
and weeping willow stems, which she stripped of their leaves

Jennie Stewart used broom that's just starting to flower, with a strelitzia
reginae in a resin vase

Margaret Wilson used two aspidistra leaves with an arum lily in a ceramic vase

Marilyn Woodland used Siberian dogwood,a strelitzia  leaf,
which she cut into a circular shape and an Asiatic lily bud
in a ceramic container

Vicky Kalokathis used a cordyline stem, whose leaves
she curled and an Asiatic lily in a tall glass vase

Christopher James used my self made ceramic container on its side, in a way I'd
never used it myself. I will from now on. He used two gymea leaves and a stem of
Asiatic lilies

Sandra Gawthorp used a monstera deliciosa
leaf, which she trimmed and a single arum lily
in a ceramic container.

Nicole McDonald used nandina domestica and green
Goddess lilies in a ceramic container

Jenny Loo used a strelitzia nicolai leaf, umbrella grass and arum lilies in a
heavy, ceramic vase

Aileen used a branch of prunus elvins in bloom and a green Goddess lily.
The white container is ceramic. The black part is wooden

Lucy Papas used two gymea leaves and a strelitzia reginae in a square suiban without
using a kenzan

Bye for now,
Emily