31st May, 2021

 

Hello all,

Well, here we are in lockdown for the fourth time and, although we know the reasons for it and we know what to do, it's difficult not to be frustrated. Just last weekend I had three events cancelled. One of them was a Sogetsu event - a day of workshops with a guest presenter from Brisbane, Vernisher Wooh. Like everyone who booked for this event, I was looking forward to the social as well as the ikebana aspect of it and am, therefore, quite disappointed.

Although I could not meet up with my ikebana colleagues, I could still make the arrangements that Vernisher had chosen for the workshops.

The first was making an arrangement 'Using One Kind of Material'. A quick walk around the garden and I came across a number of suitable materials. My first choice was the mahonia, which is in full flower and has interestingly shaped branches because the willow tree fell on it some years ago and bent it. This means that some of the branches grow horizontally. I picked a rather large branch from which I removed superfluous leaves and a couple of side branches. As the stem is horizontal, it sits quite high in the container and requires a vertical fixture to keep it in position.

Mahonia stems with leaves can last a very long time in water. In marked contrast, the flowers start to drop the very next day. After the third day, I got tired of vacuuming yellow flowers from the table and removed the flowers all together. The stems still look great.

I couldn't resist making a second arrangement with these leucodendron stems, which have interesting curves. I wanted to emphasise these curves and the colour, so I removed more than half the leaves that were growing along the stems. I removed all of the leaves at the bottom keeping the lines at the entry into the container clean.

The second exercise was to have been a combination of two themes - An ikebana arrangement using materials representing the autumn/winter transition and incorporating Book 4 Lesson 20, 'You in Ikebana'.

I gave considerable thought to this challenge, Autumnal arrangements bring to mind branches with leaves changing colours. This almost invariably leads to a naturalistic arrangement, which is all well and good but, in this case I had to incorporate 'Me' in this arrangement. Although I love and practice all forms of ikebana, the style I'm most drawn to is the minimalist/modern one. Here's what I came up with:

The stems are from my weeping elm. The one on the right sits a little further back from the one one the left, giving some depth. Unfortunately, this is lost in the photograph, making the arrangement look a little too minimalist. I, actually like it this way but I know that some of you would prefer more. So, I went out into the garden looking for something, other than a flower to add. The white camellia bud was something I was prepared to accept.

Last week, when travel was still allowed, I came across a flowering hakea tree that was almost past its best. I was able to find three stems with good flowers and some buds and I brought them home. I reused the chrysanthemums that Toula gave me to complete this simple but, for me, pleasing arrangement.

This next arrangement goes under the category of playing. The dried piece was lying around in the ikebana room when I picked it up to take to the store room. It never made it. I placed it in this, self made container, then had to consider materials to add to it. The container has a narrow neck, so thin stemmed materials would be best. Enter the crucifix orchid, of which I used three stems.

I mentioned my prunus mume, Japanese flowering apricot, last week because it is just coming into flower. This seems quite unseasonal because the blossoms look like spring blossoms but they arrive at the beginning of winter. I wanted to use this material for a large arrangement in my newly acquired container, a Mothers' Day present from my children and because I like them best when they are just starting to flower. When the flowers are fully open, the tree looks wonderful but in an arrangement the stems are not so good, as they keep dropping petals.

Although pleasing, this arrangement looks incongruous to me. The blossoms look like spring as do the camellias but the hydrangeas are definitely autumnal. The cosmos looks like it belongs to spring or summer.  This is quite a large arrangement - The main branch is about 1.3 metres in length and sweeps forward. I've included a photo of the side view to demonstrate.

In this next arrangement I did a bit of manipulation of the stems of prunus mume. I noticed the way a number of side shoots were growing in one direction and, wanting to emphasise that, I removed others, which were growing in  different directions, then bent the long stem and secured it with wire. My rose's last hurrah came in very handy to finish this piece.

Stay safe and well, everyone.

Bye for now,

Emily

24th May, 2021

 

Hello all,

Mum was sweeping the path in the back garden where the succulent, above, was in her way so she broke some pieces off and tossed them in the bin. Fortunately, I saw them and retrieved them and, together with the pomegranates that had to be cut to be saved from the birds, I was able to create an arrangement. Both materials are long lasting, so I expect to have this arrangement for a long time. Good for exhibitions.

At our recent Ikebana International meeting a workshop was conducted by Felicia Huang, a practicing teacher of the Ohara school. Felicia demonstrated two moribana landscape arrangements using winter branches. I direct you to our II Blog for more information and photographs of Felicia's work as well as that of the many members.

For my part, I took along an arrangement I made previously using a horizontal piece of magnolia but this time I used tulips instead of the floating camellias.

I found Felicia's work quite inspiring, in particular her use of fine and delicate branches, whereas I usually am drawn to more bold and strong materials, as is evidenced by my use of the magnolia.

With all of this in mind, for class I asked the advanced students to make what I call a 'Pond Arrangement', which is to say a landscape scene depicting plants growing beside water.  We really enjoyed this exercis and were delighted with the results.

For my arrangement I used driftwood, stones, pine, Dutch iris, baby tears (Soleirolia soleirolii), umbrella grass, cosmos and branches from my prunus mume, which had tight flower buds. Unfortunately, the photo does not show the forward sweep of these branches.

A few days later, with the warmth in the house, the iris are open as well as some of the flowers of the prunus mume.

In her arrangement, below, Maren used similar materials - drift wood, prunus mume, an unknown succulent, umbrella grass, spider plant and jonquils in a ceramic suiban.

Jenny used driftwood, Siberian dogwood,calla lily leaves, ming fern and daisies in a ceramic suiban.

Vicky used Siberian dogwood, fern, umbrella grass and daisies in a large, metallic suiban.

Lucy had a maller suiban and opted for height, using a  piece of bark, prunus mume, Umbrella grass, spider plant, cosmos and lobster flower (Spurflowers Plenctranthus).

Wendy's curriculum lesson was 'Curved lines'. She used Siberian dogwood, Oriental lilies and alstroemeria psittacina leaves.

Lei's curriculum lesson was 'Mass and Line'. She used cotoneaster berries and a prunus mume stem in an interesting, ceramic vase with two openings.

Shaneen's curriculum lesson was 'Vines'. She used jasmine and coleus in a curbed, ceramic container.

I leave you with these two views from our balcony of our back garden in its autumnal splendour.

Bye for now,

Emily

17th May, 2021

 

Hello all,

We've had some particularly cold days recently, a taste of things to come and the deciduous trees around Melbourne have put on a spectacular show. There are many streets around my area, lined with Manchurian pears, which begin to colour unevenly at first and gradually turn a dark red. They are stunning in autumn as well as in winter with bare branches showing the little buds on the ends of the stems and, of course, in spring with their clusters of white flowers. The only down side is the unpleasant smell of the flowers. Well, no tree is perfect!

I made a wall arrangement, above, using Manchurian pear branches and the last of my hydrangeas. The 'container' is a piece of art made of aluminium which was given to me by Lucy in my early days of ikebana and is, therefore, much prised. 

Despite the cold weather, Sam and I have been out in the garden, clearing the vegetable patch and, in the process, harvested the pumpkins. They should be allowed to 'cure' by sitting in the sun for about a week, then being stored away. Before I do that, however, I wanted to have some fun with them. 

I was clearing up after the last Masterclass and came across some of the vertical blinds strip that was left behind by Julie. I picked it up and almost had it in the bin when the compulsive part of me took over and I started playing with it. Below is the result. Julie used this material in a tight, smart arrangement. Mine is a bit more predictable but fun, anyway. I used a single pomegranate and a rather confused clivia, flowering completely out of season.

It was Mothers' Day last week and my mother, who is living with us, was given a large bunch of gorgeous tulips by her grandchildren. Mum loves big, colourful flowers and I wanted to arrange the tulips making a big show of them alone. I settled on this 'tsubo' shaped container with holes all around making it possible to create this flowery ball. They looked lovely for a couple of days but tulips have the annoying habit of continuing to grow and to follow the light, so the arrangement lost its shape but the flowers still looked good and mum loved them.

The first of my arum lilies flowered and I used them with this curved Viburnum Tomentosum stem. The container has a similar curve. An example of paying attention to the shape of the container.

Below is another wall arrangement, using a partially dried strelitzia nicolai leaf, dahlias and cumquats.

I leave you with this cheeky little arrangement using cotoneaster berries and a cosmos flower.

Bye for now,

Emily

10th May, 2021

 MASTERCLASS NO.4

Hello all,

I had to cancel the regular Wednesday class due to the surgery I had the day before, however, I was well enough to run the Masterclass on the Saturday.

This month, I organised a three step exercise.I provided each participant with one or two types of non organic material and asked them to create a sculptural piece. Each participant was matched with the material by lottery, so that, even I, would not know who would get what. They, then, could choose a container to use with their sculpture. And only after the two steps were completed, I brought in a large bucket with fresh materials from which they could choose to complete their exercise. The containers and fresh materials were optional.

I challenged myself with the same exercise prior to class.  The result is the arrangement, above. I used two strips of brown plastic and two smaller black pieces, which had a square hole on one end and a round one on the other, through which I could just fit the long strips. These long strips could bend but with difficulty, creating a great deal of tension, thus holding the pieces together.

After securing the structure, I had a quick look at my shelves of containers and couldn't go past this curved brown vase. The taro leaf added life and colour to my creation.

Nicole had some very colourful plastic strips, which she glued together with a glue gun. She chose a tall vase so as to elevate her structure and added an aging and yellowing monstera leaf that had been cut into a sharp point.

Julie had a box with rolled up, duck egg blue, vertical blinds. There were, also, some clear plastic pieces which she chose not to use. In her 'tower' she was able to create interesting shapes with different degrees of unfurling. The existing folds that had been created in its packaging added to this. The addition of the small, lopsided vase and the delicate, Japanese anemone seed heads contrasted well with the strength of the 'tower'. And how charming is that one leaf near the base?

Akemi's piece was very sci fi. She took some time to settle on using only one of her materials, which, luckily, had a removable backing revealing a sticky side. She was able to use that to connect the pieces into this rocket like structure. Her choice of stainless steel container and single, New Zealand flax fitted the bill perfectly.

Jenny had some interesting leather-like material from which pieces had been removed leaving a type of wide net. There were also some strips of the same material. She used a hard, plastic piece to support this rather floppy material and used the strips to create space, line and movement. Her choice of container, discretely placed at the back, was appropriate. The green, taro leaves contrasted very well with the orange of the net.

Lucy had only pieces of curved, reconstituted timber. She put my drill to good use to create her structure, which was made up of one large and one small piece.

She chose not to use a container and had difficulty selecting from the fresh materials I provided, as they did not suit. I sent her into the garden to help herself and she came back with the agave. Good choice.

My student, Mary did her last lesson on Book 2, which is a Celebratory Arrangement. She used cotoneaster berries and pine with disbud chrysanthemums and red carnations. Her container is a traditional Ikenobo style with its narrow base and she had to take measures to balance the arrangement, not just visually but physically. It's not clear in the photo but the pine needles, which had to be shortened, are pointing up and slightly forward.

I leave you with one of my autumn arrangements, which give me so much pleasure but are so short lived. The leaves drop very quickly, in fact, the one on the table fell just as I took the photo. I used viburnum opulus, viburnum tomentosum, wisteria, persimmon, cotoneaster franchetii and mahonia flowers.

Bye for now,

Emily

3rd May, 2021

 

New Zealand flax, crucifix orchid and dyed egg

New Zealand flax and dyed eggs. Glass is
always difficult to photograph

Hello all,

It was Orthodox Easter yesterday and, unlike last year, we were able to celebrate with the whole extended family. We were truly grateful to see each other after more than 18 months of separation. Not surprising, the most notable  change was with the youngest members of the family, who seem to have grown several inches. Maybe that's an exaggeration but that's how it seemed to me.

My sister-in-law, Toula, prepared the traditional 'magiritsa', which we have after midnight mass on the Saturday. It is made with sheeps' or goats' offal and plenty of herbs. Toula has mastered this thick soup from years of making it for us. And it was delicious!

The next day was Betty's turn to shine. She and her husband, George, hosted Easter sunday celebrations with about 40 people in their large home and one acre property. Luckily, the weather was most accommodating, so a very pleasant time was had by all. As for the food, there was enough to feed an army, which is just as it should be, according to my mother. I have to confess that I disgraced myself by overeating, yet once again.

So, back to ikebana. Last month's Sogetsu meeting and workshop was led by Emerald Leung and Angeline Lo. The theme was 'Renka' and I direct you to our website https://sogetsuikebanavic.weebly.com/ for a full explanation of the theme and photographs and video of members' arrangements. My two arrangements are below.

Equisetum, cosmos and yellow dahlias in ceramic
suiban

Marigolds, amaranthus and equisetum in
ceramic container

Here's something interesting. In my first arrangement I used black food dye in the water to conceal a number of kenzans. The next day I got a delightful surprise when I noticed that the dye had been absorbed by the cosmos flowers, creating a lacey effect on the edge of the petals.

I had a pot with four nerine flowers, which I avoided using for a couple of weeks, saving them for something special. Today I noticed that they were aging, so I went out into the garden looking for material to use with them. The magnolia soulangiana is looking wonderful right now. It has shed its leaves and has produced buds on its very distinctive, skeletal branches. I cut a horizontal piece and proceeded to arrange it in this large suiban without a kenzan. After finishing it I was not happy. 

I felt that the nerines interfered with the gorgeous line of the magnolia stem, so I removed them and used two floating camelias insead, leaving the line of the branch uninterrupted.

A brief sojourn just outside Melbourne provided me with some hawthorn and cotoneaster berries. The hawthorn berries are much darker than they had been earlier in their season and provided an interesting contrast with the smaller, paler cotoneasters. The chrysanthemums were generously donated by Toula.

I leave you with this little arrangement using agave and Queen's Tears bromeliad (Billbergia nutans).

Bye for now,

Emily