29th March, 2021

 

Philip and Shirley Keon

Hello all,

This past week has been a sad one with the passing of two members of our kebana community, Cherie Glaser and Philip Tobin Keon. 

Cherie was one of the earliest members of both our Sogetsu group and Ikebana International. She began her studies with Norman Sparnon. I did not know Cherie very well, as she was a little before my time but I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to see her at our last Sogetsu meeting, when she came, despite ill health, with the help of her daughter. I enjoyed speaking with her and was most impressed by her positivity.

Philip and I were taught by the same teacher, Carlyne Patterson, albeit not at the same time, so we knew each other fairly well. He had a very unique, creative style both in the work that he did and his sartorial sense. He was always immaculately attired and was never afraid of colour. If I had to find one word to describe Philip, it would be 'dapper'. 

When I was asked to make the coffin arrangement for Philip's funeral, I consulted Shirley as to what she wanted from me. She said she wanted it to be flamboyant and spectacular and to forget the 'less is more' policy. I remembered that Philip liked to use a particularly bright, almost electric blue colour in his work and decided to use the same colour.

I had four dried, strelitzia nicolai leaves which I sprayed gold on the outside and painted blue on the inside as the basic structure. I then added two bunches of white Oriental lilies and two bunches of yellow dahlias. I also used monstera deliciosa leaves cut sharply and placed as a kind of skirt around the oasis holders. To top it all off, I used dried and sprayed gold agapanthus stems to simulate fireworks. I would like to think that Philip would have approved.

On a happier note, my granddaughter Hermione had a birthday and celebrated it at a venue which specialises in Harry Potter themed parties. As you can probably guess, Hermione was named after Hermione Granger of Harry Potter fame. 

The naming of this child is interesting. Her mother, Jeannine, loved the Harry Potter books as a child and wanted to name her first daughter Hermione. As it turns out, my Greek name is 'Ermioni', the female version of 'Ermis', the messenger God of Olympus. The English name Hermione is derived from 'Ermioni'. This was a lucky coincidence for Jeannine because her husband, Dennis, would not have agreed to the name had it not been, also, his mother's name. You may well ask why I am now called Emily. It's because the teacher, who enrolled me into the primary school I went to straight off the boat, could not pronounce 'Ermioni' and announced that I would be called 'Emily'.

The birthday girl as Hermione Granger

Three more witches - Aria, Althea and mum Jeannine
as Professor McGonagall

And now for some ikebana.

My smoke bush has brought out a flower, completely out of season, much to my delight. I arranged it together with one of the three pomegranates that my little tree produced.

Very large glass vase with agapanthus
heads inside and outside the vase.
The line is New Zealand flax

Bird's eye view

Half of monstera deliciosa leaf, Japanese
anemones and amaranthus

Bye for now,

Emily

22nd March, 2021

 

Hello all,

The arrangement, above, is an autumn one. The berries (cornus capitata) are popular with birds, so I use them as soon as they change colour from green to orange before they are devoured by our winged friends. The hydrangeas are late flowering ones and the Japanese anemones are at their absolute best.

At our last Ikebana International meeting a number of our Japanese members showed us how to put together an origami box and, then, use it as a  container for ikebana by placing some water holding bowl inside it. They had provided the paper and a variety of fresh material from which we could choose. For my box I used two different coloured pieces of paper and, when I got my arrangement home, I put it in this black wire structure for a bit more interest.

Here's a little heartwarming story of today's technology and social media to counter some of the very bad ones. At my first Masterclass Jenny Loo did the arrangement, below, using heavy pear branches. She, subsequently, posted the photograph on her Instagram account. Someone from somewhere out there was so impressed by it, that she or he was inspired to paint it. Try as I might I could not crop the photo of the painting to exclude the text. My apologies.

The original arrangement

The painting

At the end of the last Masterclass, there was a container and materials left over. They had not been used because of a student's absence. I gave the materials to Lucy, who has a very small garden and relies on mine for most of the materials she uses. The container is a very unusual one and the material was a curved agapanthus. On the spur of the moment I decided to challenge her to make as arrangement where the stem of the heavy agapanthus came out of the narrow opening of the container without resting on either the rim or the loop of the container. I would have accepted resting if anyone had used it in  class because it would have been much too difficult in the two hour session to come up with the necessary mechanics. Lucy, however, relishes a challenge and, having managed to do it myself in the past, I knew it was possible and that she would do it also. She said it took her all afternoon but she managed it. Bravo!

Close up of the opening and loop

I did something very similar in 2015 and had posted it on this blog and, since I don't expect you to remember it, here are the photos again.

The mechanics

A new and very beautiful, yellow nerine flowered and I was looking for a setting to do it justice.

I have bamboo growing in a very big pot at the front door. A piece had broken some time ago and I've been waiting for the right occasion to use what was left. The nerine and bamboo came together quite satisfactorily. The charming discolouration happened naturally. The difficulty I had was to cut the bamboo very straight so as to balance without the aid of a kenzan. I used a saw to remove it from the root and then very coarse sand paper to level it off. I treated the bamboo by placing it in  cup of boiling, salted water for about 15 minutes. This seems to stop the leaves from curling and drying. It's been six days now and the leaves are still fresh.

I used the offcuts from the bamboo in another arrangement but I treated them also with the salted, boiling water before arranging them.

And I leave you with this little arrangement that I'm particularly fond of. The leaf is bamboo with a delightful stripe 

down the middle and a dark pink nerine.

Bye for now,

Emily

15th March, 2021

 

Hello all,

At our last class my student Shaneen gave me two very long bird's nest fern leaves and the challenge was on to use their full length. The container I selected made it extremely difficult to secure the heavy leaves so that they did not tip forward or backwards. But I can be very stubborn and, after an inordinate amount of time, I did. The luscious, white, belladonna lily complemented the frilly leaves very well.

The Ikebana International Mumbai chapter had a virtual exhibition. There were two themes, the first was Spring or holi, Festival of Colours. And the arrangement, below, was my contribution. It was not easy to find spring materials at the end of summer but I managed to get some freesias and we can always get Dutch Iris. Also, my Viburnum tomentosum shrub had a few white blossoms, completely out of season, which helped. One large branch of the willow had lost most of its leaves during a particularly hot day and, subsequently, brought out new ones. It looked just the way it does in spring.

I had done a second spring arrangement to give Mrs. Agarwal a choice. This was the one not used. I used more of the willow with Iris and freesias in a self made container.

The second theme was to use Mitsumata or any other painted material. This was much easier. I used a painted palm inflorescence, cosmos and amaranthus.

If you would like to see the exhibition go to https://youtu.be/ZLy5en5Dc3E

With an abundance of agapanthus, I can't help trying new ways to arrange them. Here's another one.

For the wall arrangement this week, I used mahonia, pink roses, pink sedum and red crucifix orchids.

I have to share with you a minor success. You will remember my covering some of our fruit with net bags that I made. Well, our small apple tree was laden with fruit but I was not able to cover all of them. As a consequence, all the uncovered ones disappeared long before they ripened. The ones in the bags, however, grew so big that I had difficulty peeling the net bag away from them so that I could harvest them. 

There is an interesting story to this apple tree. Many years ago, Vicky and I were travelling in the country when we came across a very small apple tree growing on the edge of a precipice, barely holding on and laden with ripe apples. Of course, we collected some of this unusual variety and brought them home and we all loved them. We went back in winter, when the tree was dormant and collected some branches, which we had grafted onto a strong rootstock. We, thus, managed to propagate the tree that did't look like it would survive and now we, each, have a lovely tree in our garden.

Our harvest!

Bye for now,

Emily

Special edition - Masterclass No. 2

Hello all,

The bamboo container in the above arrangement was originally owned by Norman Sparnon. The NSW Sogetsu chapter recently had a sale of a number of Mr Sparnon's containers and I was delighted to have been able to purchase this, very unusual container. I'm grateful to the NSW members for their efforts in organising and, subsequently, packaging and sending the containers. My materials are a single knifophia and pinellia Pedatisecta leaf.

And now for the second Masterclass. Each participant was given a container and materials she had not previously seen and was asked to, as quickly as possible, sketch the very first idea that came to her for arranging said material. Once that was done, I asked them to create something completely different. I instructed them that they could use as much of the materials provided as they chose. This was quite a challenge but they all rose to it and below are the photographs of the end results.

Vicky used two large strelitzia reginae leaves, three sunflowers and dietes leaves in a heavy stone container.

Susan used canna lily leaves and umbrella grass, flowers and stems separated and flowers cought to create a rough balloon shape. The ceramic container has a partial split to one side. She, also, had some leucodendron flowers, which she chose not to use.

Christine use red dogwood stems, leaves removed, leucodendrons and amaranthus in ceramic container.

Bredenia used a number of aspidistra leaves, curved and cought, crocosmia seed heads and crucifix orchids, creating a rough mass and line arrangement.

Akemi had cornus capitata berries, which by the way, are edible, and hydrangeas in a metal container. The simple arrangement belies the difficulty in balancing the branches, both physically and aesthetically.

Jenny had a large mahonia branch, which reduced in size and placed facing on rather than the way it grew, creating a type of pin wheel effect. She used the dahlias I provided but chose not to use the amaranthus stem.

Lucy's arrangement was difficult to photograph because of its length. She had a heavy ceramic container, a dried gum branch with seed pods, New Zealand flax leaves and aeoniums.

Bye for now,

Emily

8th March, 2021

 

Dried agapanthus and roses in ceramic container

Hello all,

The arrangement, above came about in an unusual way.  Vicky, who has even more agapanthus plants than me, brought to class some dried as well as fresh flowers for the students to take home. They were left on the ground outside the garage and, after everyone left, I went to clean up. I picked up the bunch of dried, curved agapanthus to put in the garden refuse bin but I was struck by how lovely the bunch was and couldn't throw it away. I kept it in exactly the shape it was, changing only the black tie and made an arrangement with it.

The bunch as I found it

Last week's class theme for the advanced students was an arrangement 'In a Tsubo Vase'. We concentrated on the different mechanics needed to support the branches. Once the students were finished, I gave each one a stem of amaranthus to add to their arrangement as a surprise element.

My arrangement in a tsubo vase. I used dried and painted acacia aphylla,
Port St John creeper and nandina domestica nana in a ceramic container

Maren used Japanese flowering quince, asters,nandina flowers and
the hanging amaranthus

Jenny used fig branches, dahlias and amaranthus

Vicky likes making this type of long arrangement for her buffet in the dining room. She used liquid amber branches
which, even though she thinned out the leaves, still look very full, roses, Port St John creeper and amaranthus.

Nicole used hawthorn branches, sedum and amaranthus

Bredenia used Japanese maple, roses, alstroemeria 
psittacina and amaranthus

Lucy is particularly fond of the golden elm tree and uses it often. Here
she added roses all the way to the back of the arrangement and the 
amaranthus in a dull silver, ceramic container.

Shannen's arrangement was a revision of 'With leaves only'.

Shaneen used flax, elk horn, calla and aspidistra leaves in ceramic
container

Lei's exercise was 'Sketching and Arranging', where students sketch out the arrangement they intend to make before making it. Invariably, the resulting arrangement will be different to the original sketch, either slightly or significantly. That can be due to the materials, mechanics, student's skill etc.

Lei used cordylines, aeonium and sedum in ceramic vase

It is the season for berries and I have been playing with them. I like using them on the branch with or without leaves but, also, on their own. Two tips when using berries this way - avoid pulling the berries off the stem. Instead cut them from the tiny stalk with scissors. Also, if you're going to float them, test them first in a bowl of water to make sure they all float. If one or two sink to the bottom, it an be difficult to remove them.

Black Portugal laurel berries, crab apples and
New Zealand flax

Portugal laurel berries and hawthorn berries
in two glass vases

Bye for now,

Emily

1st Marc, 2021

Creative, busy bees.

Hello all,

Yesterday I ran an introduction to ikebana class at the Bulleen Art and Garden (BAAG) centre. There were seven quite interested and engaged participants, which made my job easy. I provided suiban containers, kenzans and fresh materials, all of which the participants took home at the end of the lesson. I demonstrated the basic upright arrangement, the first lesson in the curriculum, and then assisted them to create their own. I was very happy with their work and the feedback I received was overwhelmingly positive. There is another such class planned for the 30th May.

By the way, if you're not familiar with BAAG, I recommend checking it out because it is a nursery with a difference. 

My classes, scheduled for the first Wednesday of the month, had to be postponed due to a snap lockdown and were, instead, held the following week. Half the students came on Wednesday and the other half on Thursday because we were permitted only five visitors per day. 

For the advanced students I provided gymea leaves for them to explore the properties of this very strong material and use in an arrangement. Below is my arrangement. I used gymea leaves amaranthus and a belladonna lily in two, matching ceramic containers.

Bredenia used one leaf with browning edges, which picked up the colour of the leucodendron flowers. The ceramic container has a split only at the front, which makes it rather difficult to use.

 

Nicole used two yellowing leaves to complement the yellow kangaroo paws in a ceramic container, which has one large and one smaller opening.

Maren used two leaves and two pineapple lilies in a ceramic container with a large opening at the front and a smaller at the back.

With Jenny's arrangement there was some debate whether she use a flower in her strong modern arrangement or not. It's a personal choice but either would satisfy me.

Without flower

With flower (Dutch iris)

Vicky's very tall and strong arrangement loses something in the photograph. She used Oriental lily buds with the two gymea leaves in a resin container.

Lucy used three leaves, selecting one with browning edges to relate to the aeonium flower behind it. The ceramic container is shaped like a sail and has openings on either side.

Shaneen's curriculum lesson was a revision of the theme 'With flowers only'. She used crucifix orchids, statice and society garlic flowers in a ceramic container.

And Dianne's lesson was a floating arrangement. She used two cordyline leaves and floating Japanese anemones, flowers and leaves.

Bye for now,

Emily