28th June, 2021

 

Hello all,

As I was planning for arrangements for this blog, I was beginning to despair because of the lack of materials, in particular flowers. However, Once I went into the garden and looked more closely, I found more than enough materials, prompting me to chastise myself for being so spoilt by my usually overabundant garden.

In the above arrangement I used an interestingly bent stem of prunus mume (Japanese flowering apricot) and camellias. I chose the ceramic vase because it related well to the shape of the stem.

Last week, Vicky and Peter arrived with some long branches of silver birch in their car. A neighbour of theirs had prunned their copse of these elegant trees and had left the cuttings on the footpath. So, they were up for grabs. The wall arrangement, below, is the first one I made. I used Brushfieds Gold camellias with the cascading birch.

The magnolia soulangiana branch in the arrangement, below, was cut on 3rd May and I have used it in a number of arrangements since then. When I cut it the buds were small and very tight. As you can see, in the warmth of the indoors, it has now flowered and, coincidentally, so has the cymbidium orchid of almost the same colour. I also used some sprays of nandina domestica buds. I hasten to add that the buds on the tree, outside, are still very tight and will not be flowering until spring.

The original

This next arrangement had me somewhat embarrassed. I found the monstera deliciosa flower and two fruit and thought they were the beginnings of an arrangement. It took some effort to secure the very heavy flower and fruit and was quite pleased by the result. That is, until later that evening, when I was editing the photograph and noticed that the fruit looked ....ahem.....positively....phallic! 

Try as I might, I could not arrange the two fruit in any way that would not look ....embarrassing, so I replaced them with a leaf and breathed a sigh of relief.

The improvement

The original

We are very lucky, here in Melbourne, to be living in a warm temperate climate with four distinct seasons, absolutely perfect for ikebana. At the moment, my camellias are starting to flower, the bulbs I planted are a long way from flowering but the orange tree is laden with fruit, which are, not only delicious, but great for ikebana. Care must be taken in arranging them, however, as they are very heavy.

I leave you with this simple arrangement of my very prolific, pink camellia (name unknown) in an 'Arrangement with one kind of material'.

,

Bye for now,

Emily

21st June, 2021

 

Hello all,

Well, here we are right on winter solstice and, true to form, we're having some pretty cold temperatures, especially at night. I had to bring a couple of potted plants inside until spring. My arrangement, above, reflects the season. I had to combine a number of corky elm branches together to create the look of one. They normally grow splayed out with smaller branches on either side of the central one. They are not very interesting used in their natural form, so I combined them and bent them to create the curves. I wanted to use this delicate, pale pink camellia with it in a strong, ceramic nageire vase.

There has been so much negativity surrounding us recently, that I felt we needed a little bit of fun with out ikebana, so, on Nicole's request, I set the theme of 'Miniature Ikebana'. This was introduced to the Sogetsu school by Kasumi Teshigahara, second Iemoto. There is something quite appealing in miniatures of all kind not just ikebana. We seem to be drawn to little things but why? Here's a quote from Simon Garfield's In Miniature: How Small Things Illuminate the World - 

"We create miniature universes in which to bury ourselves.  What can possibly be the appeal? The answer lies in our desire for mastery and elucidation. The ability to enhance a life by bringing scaled-down order and illumination to an otherwise chaotic world - a world over which we have little control - cannot be overvalued."

In ikebana, when using very small materials we are, necessarily, looking more closely at the details, thus appreciating and understanding them more. It's also a great deal of fun in looking for, finding and collecting tiny little vases from all around the world. Opp shops are the best sources for such things. In class there was a much more animated discussion about the vases than the arrangements.

Maren Buckett

Jenny Loo

Nicole McDonald

Vicky Kalokathis

Lucy Papas

The next two photographs are of my arrangements. In the first I used tiny little perfume bottles, the tallest of which is 4 cm.

When photographed on a board all together, it is difficult to see the individual arrangements properly, so I'm including a photo of each one, below.

Shaneen's curriculum lesson was 'Fruit Bearing Branches'. She used masses of mandarrines and yellow kniphofias in a heavy stone container.

Lei's lesson was 'With Flowers Only' She used carnations, anthuria and some mauve flowers, whose name I don't know.

Wendy's lesson was ' Straight and Curved Lines'. She used Siberian dogwood, umbrella grass and gerberas.

Bye for now,

Emily

Masterclass No. 4

 

Bredenia's arrangement

Hello all,

Today's masterclass was particularly challenging for the participants, who arrived having no idea of what was expected of them. As usual, I provided materials and containers for each one but it was by lottery that it was decided who would get which materials.

I instructed them that they would each do a demonstration of their arrangement. I gave a talk about demonstrating, drawing from my rather lengthy experience. I allowed them as much time as they needed to, first of all, plan an arrangement with materials they had not seen before and to prepare it for a demonstration.

They, then, took turns to demonstrate and, I'm happy to say, they all did well. I feel it is very important to practice demonstrating Ikebana. For some people, demonstrating in front of an audience comes quite naturally but, for others, it can be daunting. The only way to get over this is to practice as much as possible, especially in the safe environment of class. Good demonstrations are very important for teaching purposes but, also, for promoting Ikebana to the general public.

Lucy's lottery number was 1 and her materials were three different types of big, strong leaves, which necessitated making an arrangement with leaves only. Her container was a large, lacquered, asymmetrical suiban, red on the inside and black on the outside. Lucy was quite inventive with the mechanics she employed.

Bredenia drew the number 2. Her materials were cotoneaster berry branches, from which she painstakingly removed all the leaves, hydrangea stems that are turning golden and two Asiatic lily stems. Her container was a tall ceramic vase. 

Vicky drew the number 3. She had two monstera deliciosa leaves, wisteria vine and two stems of Asiatic lilies. Her container was a particularly strong and heavy ceramic vase with a split down the middle.

Susan was next and she had a low container with several holes at the top. She had a generous bunch of umbrella grass, enough to practice with and then to demonstrate and two stems of mauve chrysanthemums.

Akemi drew number 5. She had corky elm stems, the tips of which she snapped to create an interesting shape, chrysanthemums and amaranthus. Her vase was ceramic with splits on either side.

Christine drew number 6. She had a ceramic, nageire container, Siberian dogwood, alstroemeria psittacina leaves and 2 iris stems. She used a horizontal fixture to secure the tall, curved stems to the vase, creating a beautiful space.

And last but, by no means, least was Jenny. She had a modern, triangular, ceramic container, aspidistra leaves, wisteria and 3 iris stems. Jenny used a stick in the shape of a fork inside the container to support the very slanted iris stems.

The class ran to almost double the normal time but I had expected that it would and had warned the participants. We also had to contend with the safety requirements imposed on us due to the latest restrictions. We wore masks,  There was one table per person, thus keeping the required distance between them, I have a QR code that everyone used to check in, I sanitised all the surfaces and cordoned off the house from the studio. Despite all that, we had a very pleasant and productive lesson. I look forward to more.

Bye for now,

Emily

14th June, 2021

 

Hello all,

We have had some seriously damaging weather last week and in particular on Wednesday, which left thousands of homes in some outer Melbourne and country towns with fallen trees, blocked roads and no power. In some cases power has not been restored and won't be for a while yet because of the damage done, not only to power lines but also transformers and power poles as well. I can't imagine how people are coping in this dreadful cold without heating.

My student, Dianne lives in Trentham, a town that was particularly badly hit by the storms. Apart from having to cope without power, their water was contaminated for some days and they were advised not to drink it. Dianne considers herself lucky because, apart from her electric heating, she also has a wood heater and was able to invite some neighbours to her home to stay warm. Three large trees had fallen on her property. Below is the photo of one of them. Fortunately they did not fall on her house or studio.The added tragedy is the loss of these magnificent trees that would have taken decades and, in some cases, even longer, to grow.

Back to ikebana, I'm continuing making arrangements with few or no flowers. The photo at the top of the blog is made with agaves and cotoneaster berries. I have to confess that, despite my securing the large agave with a horizontal fixture, it fell backwards but, fortunately, didn't break the container. I was able to put it back and took even greater pains to secure it. Keeping fingers crossed.

I looked around the garden for interesting materials and decided to make a green arrangement using curculigo leaves and aeoniums. As is often the case, later when I looked at the arrangement, I had a change of heart. I  wasn't very pleased with the use of the aeoniums so I replaced them with the camelia.

During a very welcome break in the wet and windy weather I stepped outside only to be confronted by the myriad gardening jobs awaiting me. I started with tidying up this fern that had self seeded some years ago but which I allowed to grow because it provides a lovely screen for the water tank. I was particularly taken by the uncoiling of the young fronds and decided to make an arrangement using only one kind of material.

I used the larger fronds in this, much larger arrangement. I removed the leaves from one side and gently curved the stems in opposite directions to create a space in the middle. I, then, used the only flowers available - arum lilies.

But I ask you, have you ever seen arum lilies with such long stems? I'm 160cm tall and one of them is as tall as me! It's a shame I had to cut those long stems away in order to use the flowers with the fern.

Another plant that required tidying up is the wisteria. Half way through my pruning I got the idea for an arrangement and dropped the pruning and switched to ikebana. In my mind this was going to be a much smaller arrangement but, somehow, it ended up quite big. This is not unusual for me. 

I sprayed the smaller, squiggly pieces of the vine an orangy red colour and the heavier, straighter pieces black, creating a contrast of both colour and shape. At the bottom of the garden I found the first green goddess lilies, which look quite good against the red and black. It's one of those pieces which is very difficult to photograph successfully. So, I'm giving you two views. You might be surprised to know that the one on the right looks much better in real life, whereas the one on the left looks better in the photograph.

Another green arrangement is this next one using one curculigo leaf and a papyrus seed head.

Bye for now,

Emily

7th June, 2021

 

Hello all,

So, we're still in lockdown, it's cold and windy and I had an almighty scare, healthwise today. I had my Astrazeneca vaccine last week and yesterday I discovered a bruise and lump on my thigh. Went to the GP, who, like me, thought it was a blood clot but, fortunately, an ultrasound proved that it was not. Phew!!

Ordinarily, when I'm feeling low, the best thing I can do is to go out into the garden. In no time at all I find things to do and materials to use in ikebana and I perk up. This last week I found it difficult to be inspired and I had to put more effort in creating works for this blog.

Flowers are scarce in my garden this time of year. The arum lilies are just starting to flower, as are the camellias but there's little else. However, we, ikebanists, can create arrangements with or without flowers. For the arrangement, above, I used one large strelitzia reginae leaf and three proteas from my son's neighbours' garden. With permission, of course. I placed my self-made, ceramic container on its side, something that had not occurred to me to do until Christopher had used it that way in one of my classes.

I had one protea flower left over, so I used it in this very simple arrangement with a monstera deliciosa leaf.

Berries are in plentiful supply at the moment, so I took advantage of them to create a number of arrangements. In the wall arrangement, below, the stems of cotoneaster berries, from which I painstakingly removed the leaves, drape over the front loop and cascade forward. Unfortunately, this is not very clear in the photo.

In the next piece, I used one stem of orange berries (Cotoneaster franchetii) and dietes leaves.

And, from the offcuts, I found two stems with a right angle bend that sat together very well. I had to coax the camellia stem to follow the same line. Fortunately, camellia stems are bendable. making this quite easy.

One of the more onerous jobs in my garden is the removal of elm suckers. It's an ongoing battle because any that are not removed can, potentially, grow into full sized trees. I removed quite a lot of them on the weekend but was loath to throw away the the long, slender stems, I brought them inside and challenged myself to find a way to use them. I wanted to feature the lines created by the stems in this ceramic container with three openings. I had half coming out from the back and the other half from the front and had them meeting together in a loose weave. I finished it off with a stem of cotoneaster berries.

Front view

Back view

Once I finished it, however, I wasn't happy. I didn't feel the berries were quite right so I went out looking for something else. I found the arum lily buds and replaced the berries with them. I think it's much smarter now.

I hope you all stay safe and warm and positive.

Bye for now,

Emily