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.
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| Maren Buckett |
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| Jenny Loo |
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| Nicole McDonald |
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| Vicky Kalokathis |
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| 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
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