Althea and Hermione with their ikebana arrangements straight after ballet class

Hello all,
At Hermione's recent 8th birthday, we gave her a suiban and kenzan as part of her gifts. I thought she might not be too excited by them compared to some other gifts she received but I was pleasantly surprised when she called me the very next day asking for her first, official ikebana lesson. Needless to say, I was delighted to have her come and she arrived that afternoon with little sister, Althea in toe. She wanted a lesson too and was not gong to be left out. Great - two for the price of one!

Those of you who belong to the Sogetsu School of Ikebana would know that our Iemoto, Akane Teshigahara, was a kindergarten teacher and now, amongst her other duties, runs ikebana classes for children. I read an article she wrote on the subject, where she suggested that with young children it is best not to teach them the formal curriculum but to allow them to do their own thing and get the feel of working with flowers and other materials. I was going to follow this advice but Hermione showed such a keenness to learn that I went ahead and taught her as I would an adult. As for little Althea, she needed a lot more help, as one would  expected. In the end, they were very pleased and proud of their work, which they took home, to their parents' delight. It's a dream come true to have a granddaughter keen to learn from me. Of course, I will also teach my other three grandchildren, should they be interested.

And now to more serious matters. These are very trying times for all of us. The word 'unprecedented' has been overused in the extreme but this doesn't make it any less true. We are all facing situations we've never faced before and, with minor exceptions, people are behaving responsibly. A big shout out to all those wonderful people on the front line who bear the brunt of this emergency, in particular the medical staff. They all have my gratitude.

At our Ikebana International meeting last week we celebrated our 61st birthday. It was Japanese day and we were treated to a powerpoint presentation on the kimono, its history and uses by Nobuko Kobayashi. This was followed by an actual demonstration of the wearing of the kimono, quite an involved process. I've always admired the beauty of the kimono but I don't know how the Japanese ladies get anything done whilst wearing one or where they find the time required to put on this elegant garment. Below is a photograph of Akemi Suzuki in her kimono, which she put on all by herself.

For our arrangements on the day, we were asked to reference the kimono and I direct you to II Melbourne for photographs of the members' work. For my arrangement I, initially, intended to use a beautiful piece of obi silk brocade. But, after giving it some thought, I decided to feature the lines of the kimono, which are always sharply straight. There are no ruffles or gatherings and, even the very soft fabrics, have clean lines. Hence, my use of cane to reference the lines of kimono. I used hydrangeas, as seasonal flowers that might be seen on an autumnal print for kimono and berries of the Portugal laurel.

At the end of the meeting my colleague Lara Telford gave me her branch of chestnuts, which she had used in her arrangement. I don't, normally, have access to this material, so I was delighted and, as soon as I got home, I had to arrange it. I secured it in a very tall glass vase and added hydrangeas and kniphofias. I was quite happy with the piece but the lime green colour of the chestnuts quickly turned to brown. I suspect it's because its stem was not in water. You can see Lara's original arrangement if you click on the link, above.

The next three arrangements are just me playing with material that had popped up in the garden. All three main materials have the capacity to surprise me. They seem to pop up almost overnight.

Kniphofias and hosta leaves

Nerines, agapanthus leaves and dietes  leaf

My one and only belladonna lily with wisteria and alstroemeria psittacina 

Another delightful surprise in my garden is the dogwood tree with berries that look like Christmas baubles hanging from it. After consulting Google I discovered that they are edible. So I tried them and was disappointed by their bland flavour. However, they are marvelous for ikebana. Unfortunately, in my wall arrangement, below, you can't see the interesting, forward sweep of the stem. I also used sedum and iceberg roses. When the fruit ripen they become quite soft and, every-so-often they fall to the floor with a distinct 'plop' and flatten partially.

Some students' work -

Shaneen's arrangement 'To be viewed from all Sides'
Smoke bush, elm and Port St John creeper

Maren's coffee table arrangement
New Zealand flax, nerines and alstroemeria 

Lei's arrangement 'Repeating similar Shapes and Forms'
Palm leaves and burgundy coloured  pineapple lilies

I leave you with this next photo of my hosta flowers and leaves. You have to look closely to see the white flowers against the pale background. I would not call it an arrangement, as such but merely placed in the container. Its natural beauty is sufficient for me.

Bye for now,
Emily