26th July, 2021

 Hello all,

I made the above arrangement after the white petals of the strelitzia nicolai died. They don't last very long, certainly not as long as the common strelitzia reginae. But the remaining, boat-shaped bracts are very strong and sculptural, extending their use in ikebana. The arrangement reminds me of a ballerina.

In my last post I mentioned Christine's Illawarra Flame Tree (Brachychiton acerifolius), which I used in one arrangement. But I had another large branch, which I could not let go to waste. Having just pruned the apple tree, I was left with many long, straight bare stems and decided to put the two together. Bending the apple stems was not an option, so they had to be used straight. Here's the result.

The leaves of the Illawarra Flame tree are changing colour and, after I finished the above arrangement, I was drawn to the shape and colour of the individual leaves. On the shelf was a hand-blown glass container, which was made to my specifications some years ago and, which had an almost identical colour to the leaves. Putting them together seemed natural and the clivia berries add a splash of colour.

I almost missed the flowering of my garrya elliptica because it produced very few catkins. I have observed that this small tree alternates between flowering profusely one year and very parsimoniously the next. This year it's the latter. Still, I managed to get a couple of arrangements from it. And, of course, I couldn't go past camellias as  complementary materials.

With Brushfields Yellow camellia in ceramic vase

With kamo-hon-ami camellia in a kintsugi repaired
ceramic vase

I made this next arrangement some weeks ago but didn't get to share it. For want of a better word, I'm going to call this material a 'palm pod'. This one has a very convenient split down its length, into which I was able to insert a partially dried and heavily trimmed strelitzia nicolai leaf. 

In this time of contstand doom and gloom, let me share with you my very pleasant Sunday afternoon. After taking care of household duties and mum's needs, I went into the garden for a couple of hours, which I enjoyed enormously. Then I went around the garden and collected random materials, which I took to the studio and started playing. It's rare that I start my ikebana without any idea of what I want to do but I enjoy it when it happens.

One of my favourite Greek singers, Tolis Voskopoulos, sadly died recently, which prompted me to seek out his music on YouTube. Sam and I used to listen to his very romantic and moody music when we were 'courting'. So, picture me, in my studio, steeped in romantic nostalgia, happily creating ikebana. I, even, did a couple of turns on the floor to the music of a 'zeibekiko'. I was like the proverbial pig in ........

So, here's what I ended up with. Just when I thought I couldn't find a new way to use the umbrella grass, I came up with this. Using a clear glass container has its benefits and its drawbacks. What's inside the container should be an integral part of the whole arrangement, I wanted to feature the lines of the stems but I did not want to have the ends of the large mass showing. I managed this with a slight optical illusion. By placing the ends right on the water line, they seem to disappear. How cool is that!?

Bye for now,

Emily

19th July, 2021

 

Hello all,

Covid is dominating all our lives in so many different ways. In our relatively small world of ikebana, it was the cause of the cancellation of two events.

Last Saturday we were scheduled to have an Ikebana International General Meeting, during which we were to have as a guest speaker the artist, Ema Shin. Please click on the name to view her artwork. We were going to make arrangements referencing her work. Unfortunately, we missed out on all of this but I went ahead and made the arrangement, above, anyway. With the lockdown we can't buy flowers, so I had to rely on my trusty garden. The stem is dried ivy, which was peeking over the fence from my neighbours side. My extendable cutter came in very handy. I sprayed the stem red, then looked for a flower. It was pure luck that I had just the flower I wanted growing in a pot in my dining room. And the early flowering clivias finished the piece.

Today we were scheduled to have a Sogetsu meeting and I was supposed to run the workshop. I had chosen  a combined theme of two lessons in Book 3 - 'The Shape of the Container' and 'The Colour of the Container'. It can be quite challenging to be conscious of both at the same time and I was looking forward to seeing the different approaches of the members.

We are looking to reschedule the workshop, as always, hoping that there will not be another lockdown. I had done some preparation before the lockdown was announced, so I'm including the photo of one piece. My photography has failed me yet once again. I took at least a dozen photos trying to capture the true colour of the chrysanthemums, which is very close to the colour of the vase. But I also wanted to capture the iridescent glow of the lichen on the box thorn, which relates to the shape of the container. So, here are two versions.

At our last Masterclass Christine Dunmead brought me a couple branches from a tree I had not seen, let alone worked with before. She informed me that they are from an Illawarra Flame Tree (Brachychiton acerifolius). I looked it up and it's gorgeous when it flowers, after it drops its leaves but also very attractive when in leaf. The leaves are deeply lobed, green and glossy and they grow in clusters at the end of the stems. It's always a challenge to work with unfamiliar material but I was keen to give it a go.

The arrangement I made looks relatively simple but to get the top-heavy branch to stay upright and not swivel downwards required some mechanics. So here's a little tutorial. I screwed a small stick, the width of the inside of the container, to the bottom of the stem, so that when I placed it in the container it wedged in like a horizontal fixture, holding the stem upright. Because the openings of the container are much smaller than the length of the stick, I made sure that the stick can swivel to allow it to fit through the openings and then swivel back inside of the container. 

Because I had expected to have plenty of photos for the blog from the two ikebana events, I had not prepared many arrangements during the week, as I usually do. When I went out today, it was cold and cloudy and drizzling. I have to confess that I don't mind this kind of weather. I find it invigorating. So, I walked around looking for inspiration. The variegated leaves of the Arum Halicum, glossy from the rain, looked particularly attractive and I started with them. I was, then, sidetracked by some pesky weeds that had to be pulled out before settling on the two arum lily buds. The ceramic container is a recent op shop find.

I had a bunch of apricot coloured gladiolas left over from the last Masterclass. I'm not used to using gladies and  I'm not sure I did them justice but here they are. The leaves are very large phylodendrons, from which I removed the greater part of the leaf, leaving a small piece with a particular direction on each, creating a sort of pin-wheel effect.

I leave you with this cheeky arrangement made with only one kind of material - Umbrella grass. It also fits the lesson of 'The shape of the Container'. I contrasted the circular shape of the container by the angles of the stems. However, the trimmed flower heads are circular, reflecting the roundness of the container.

Bye for now,

Emily

Masterclass No. 5

 

Hello all,

For today's masterclass I postponed my original plans in order to take advantage of some special material that came my way. I mentioned in my last post that Vicky and Peter brought me some silver birch branches, which had been cut by their neighbours and, which I have, already, used in a couple of arrangements. The following week Vicky rang me to tell me that there were more branches cut and lying on the footpath. So I sent the ever accommodating Sam over to pick them all up, thus providing me with enough material for a workshop.

I had a large branch for each participant, which was allocated by lottery, and I gave them free reign to do what they wanted with them. I instructed them to pick a container, optional, and I had two buckets with fresh materials, from which they could choose, again, optional.

The arrangement, above, was done by a new member of our group, Cym Reeves. I don't think it requires much explanation. I feel it speaks for itself.

I love it when a student gets out of his or her comfort zone. Case in point, the very large  arrangement, below, was done by Nicole, who very rarely does big arrangements. But she was very happy with this one. It is designed to be sitting forward on a table or pedestal, so that the birch cascades in front. The green material is a conifer (name unknown), which she used with the iris.

Sue did the next arrangement, going for height with the striking white colour of the stems contrasting with the heavy dark container. The two iris were just enough to complete the piece.

Just like Nicole's, Jenny's large, dynamic piece was quite challenging to photograph. We had to do some improvisation.

Akemi's arrangement was also difficult to photograph, not because of its size but because of its colour. I took the first photo against a dark background but wasn't happy with it.

Then I took it against a white background and I was still not entirely happy. I would have liked something in between.

Christine chose not to use a container and to have her structure free standing. She used a couple of monstera deliciosa leaves to complete the piece. She used vials with water for the leaves, discretely placed so as not to be visible.

Lucy used two tall, glass vases. There was no need for fresh materials as there was enough interest and movement in the way she cut and placed the birch.

When everyone left and after a little rest, I went back into the studio because I was itching to get my hands onto some branches. I had, selfishly, kept some smaller but thicker branches and I wanted to play with them. I made the structure, below.  I shuld point out that the soft, cascading stems are draping forward.

I, then, decided to go a little further and do the exercise in Book 5, Composition with Branches - A Two-step Approach. In this lesson we are required to create a structure that is free standing using branches and then to use a container and fresh materials with it. I challenged myself to make do with whatever was left over in the buckets. Luckily, I like the blue of the iris against the white of the birch.

Bye for now,

Emily

Symbiosis #2 and #3

Hello all,

My tropical bird of paradise (strelitzia nicolai) is flowering again and I managed to cut one flower using my extendable cutter. Usually Sam climbs a ladder to reach these stunning blooms for me but I'd rather save him the effort and the risk, if I can.

After the successful sale of my first, garden, sculpture, 'Symbiosis', I was encouraged to make two more. I used the same materials, that is polished aluminium and rusted steel. Again, I had hoped that they would have been exhibited at The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, in March this year and, again, Covid put paid to that. So, now, they are gracing my garden, one at the front and one at the back of the house. There is the possibility of exhibiting them at the Bulleen Art and Garden Centre.

The three photographs, below, are Different views of 'Symbiosis #2'

The next two photos are of 'Symbiosis #3'.

I mentioned last week that Vicky and Peter brought me some silver birch branches. Here's one more arrangement using this material. The anthurium is from a pot that I have growing in the dining room.

The wattles are starting to flower all around this area and I cut a couple of stems, one in full flower and one in bud. I used the one in full flower as a mass with a sunflower and in a yellow vase, fitting the theme of 'Colours in a Similar Tonal Range'. It can, also, fit the theme 'Mass and Line'.

I, also, used it to rework a previous arrangement with agave.

Because of its lightness, I used the stem that is just in bud in this basket arrangement. I had to remove almost all the leaves that grow along the stem at the base of each individual flower stem as they looked too dense and heavy. I used Brushfield's Yellow camellias as the hikae making a Variation No 4 Slanting style nageire arrangement. I trimmed the camellia leaves, as well because they looked too heavy in comparison with the wattle stem.

Bye for now,

Emily