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