27th September, 2021

Hello all,

I have Green Goddess and arum lilies in great abundance this time of year and I love using them. The arrangement, above, has 12 green goddess lilies and 9 arum lilies. The hand made, glass vases are much prized for their beauty but mostly because they were a gift from my daughter and son-in-law more than a decade ago. I feel there is enough connection between the two arrangements with the matching vases and similar flowers but I wanted to use the wisteria vine to add another element and further connect them. There were tiny leaves on the wisteria when the photograph was taken, which have grown since and are continuing to grow, adding yet another element.

I love the flowers of the cymbidium orchids but I find them very difficult to use in ikebana as their stems are very rigid and will not bend. Their shape, basically, dictates the arrangement. Case in point - the arrangement, below. Having placed the orchids in the metal, wall container, I went looking for complementary material to finish the arrangement. The bamboo oldhamii (Bambusa oldhamii) that is growing in a large pot on our doorstep has some fine, pendulous stems that worked very well in my arrangement, as I had them draping forward, over the orchids. And I was quite happy with the result but not with the photograph. Having lost the depth, it looked messy. 

So, out into the garden I went, looking for some other material. I settled on the variegated New Zealand flax, which gets a great deal of use. The arrangement became more dynamic and more to my liking.

We, ikebanists, love the gnarled, twisted or distorted materials, in other words, the imperfect. I came across two such materials, an arum lily and a strelitzia reginae leaf and decided to use them together. 

My Japanese maple tree is just outside my studio window and I've enjoyed watching it go from bare branches to slowly filling with fresh growth and leaves. Its branches tend to grow horizontally, making it ideal for a 'Horizontal Arrangement'. I used rhododendron flowers, primmulla and Iris Japonica in a tall, ceramic vase.

I have a small tree of Magnolia Liliiflora nigra, which has been struggling for some years, ever since it had its roots disturbed by some necessary digging. It produced only a handful of flowers this year but I couldn't miss the opportunity to use them.

I've had difficulty growing birds nest fern in the past but the last two years I've had it growing in a pot on the balcony and it's doing very well. So much so, that I could afford to cut a couple of fronds. I used clivias for the mass and crucifix orchids for lines in a ceramic container.

At the beginning of the year I had given my hairdresser some crucifix orchid plants and she gave me some of her miniature orchids (name unknown) in return. I was seriously chuffed when I noticed one of them had brought out 2 flower stems. I, certainly, did not expect flowers so soon. Each flower is only about 10 mm in diameter but they are quite delightful.

I received notification that the Delhi Sogetsu Group have organised a demonstration by Master Instructor Kosa Nishiyama on 6th October at 12.00pm India time and 3.30 pm Japan time. In Melbourne it will be at 4.30 pm.

I met Nishiyama sensei at an Iemoto class in 2014 in Tokyo and we seemed to hit it off. She was extremely kind and generous to me whilst I was there and we have kept in touch ever since. I'm quite excited at the prospect of seeing her demonstrate 

Ms. Kosa Nishiyama began studying Sogetsu Ikebana in 1972 and is now a Sogetsu First Grade RIJI Teacher, a Sogetsu Headquarters Master Instructor, a member of Ikebana International, and a Fellow of the Nippon Ikebana Art Association. Sensei Nishiyama has been teaching the Men’s Executive Ikebana Class at Sogetsu headquarters since 2010.

Ms. Nishiyama hosted the first exhibition of “Seijo Flower Atelier” in 1999. She designed the stage decoration at Oji Hall and held a solo exhibition at the Cera Trading Co., Ltd. Showroom. She created arrangements in the vases of Yutaka Nakamura for his ceramic exhibition at Takashimaya and participated in the Hong Kong Flower Show 2017 as a demonstrator. 

Bye for now,

Emily

20th September, 2021

 

Hello all,

We have one bright red and one bright pink rhododendron, both of which are looking spectacular right now. These flowers are so big and bold that they require little more than to place them in a vase. My mother is particularly fond of them. However, I find the stems quite interesting and tried to showcase them in the arrangement, above.

Our Sogetsu group was scheduled to have a workshop earlier this month but had to be moved to an on line format, yet once again. Akemi Suzuki, who was to run the workshop, chose the topic of using two or more containers that would be interlocked or touching, creating one arrangement. Please click on this link to see Akemi's examples as well as the contributions of members. https://sogetsuikebanavic.weebly.com/recent-workshops

I found this exercise interesting and enjoyed playing around with different combinations of containers, finally settling on the one below. However, I have been somewhat preoccupied of late and forgot to send my photo to our director, Christopher.

I used one ceramic and one stainless steel container, two strelitzias reginae, alstroemeria psittacina leaves and coloured wisteria vine. Getting the metal container to balance was quite tricky, as I had to keep adding water to each side of the container until I reached an equilibrium.

 

My strelitzia reginae plant has produced a good number of flower buds. I've been watching very carefully to catch one of them just before unfurling. I find the promise of the flower to come very appealing. I made this very simplified and minimalist arrangement, which lasted all of 2 hours, then the petals flicked out and changed the look completely.

The golden elm is also in flower and quite stunning in its lime green garb. With time the petals will turn brown and fly all over the garden. They get into every nook and cranny, they stick on spider webs and make a mess of my balcony and paths. So, I'm enjoying it now while it looks lovely. I used some of it for my wall arrangement. I also used cymbidium orchids in a metal container.

On Saturday there was another zoom demonstration, this time organised by the New Delhi Sogetsu group. The demonstrator was Ms. Koka Fukushima, a Master Instructor of the Sogetsu School. I remember having lessons with her at headquarters in 2014. Before starting her demonstration, Ms Fukushima spoke at length about bamboo baskets - the various weaves, the types of bamboo, care and handling of baskets, etc. I found this information very interesting. 

Ms Fukushima then made a number of arrangements using some of her exquisite baskets and using autumnal materials. So, I was inspired to make a  basket arrangement but I had to use spring materials. The basket I used is quite old and bought in a second hand shop in Tokyo. The only reason I could afford to buy it is because there is damage at the bottom.

When making a basket arrangement it is important to show the handle. However, my basket has a very small handle compared to its size but I made sure that parts of it are visible, even if you have to look really closely.

As is often the case, I'd be looking for something in the garden when something else catches my eye. I noticed three stems of the viburnum plicatum tomentosum with an interesting bend. The stems of this large shrub generally grow horizontally except for the ones at the very top. I wanted to play with these unusual stems and this is what I came up with. I used the rhododendron for its colour in a self made ceramic container.

Bye for now,

Emily

13th September, 2021

Hello all,

Well, spring is in full swing and I love walking around the garden and seeing the new growth, which is accelerated this time of year. In the above arrangement I used viburnum plicatum tomentosum and rhododendron.

I've been having some sleep issues lately and been waking up before dawn. This is a colossal pain but I've enjoyed some stunningly beautiful sunrises. Above is the view from our balcony, which faces east, at 6.16 am.

Last year I planted some cineraria seedlings around the garden for the first time in decades. I love the blues and purples of the flowers, although not their propensity to attract aphids. I allowed some of them to go to seed and then scattered them around the garden beds, expecting some to self seed. Apart from a handful of seedlings that came up in one of my pots, there are none in the garden. But one did come up in this heavy, steel chain sitting on concrete.

Very near it is my pot of haemanthus lilies (Haemanthus coccineus). I cut three leaves, one from each bulb, so as not to deprive any one plant from storing up energy for next year. Whilst I was working on placing one of the leaves, it accidently split on me. Initially, I was annoyed but, then, I decided to use the split and changed my original plans for the arrangement.

Haemanthus lily, cineraria and crucifix orchid in self made, ceramic
container

This afternoon I was surprised to hear the door bell, since visitors are not allowed. I opened the door to a masked gentleman holding a luscious bunch of white flowers. A get-well-soon gift from my sister, Lucy and her partner George. Lucy chose white, disbud chrysanthemums and long stemmed gypsophila. A very good choice.

I have mostly used gypsophila as a mass in the past but with these I wanted to feature the stems. I chose the glass container so that the lines of the stems would be extended to the inside of the vase. Also, the glass, being colourless, it did not interfere with the all white look I was going for.To the non-ikebanists the arrangement looks as though I just placed the materials in the vase but nothing could be further from the truth. Firstly, a considerable amount of trimming had to be done to reveal the lines of the stems and to unclutter certain parts of the arrangement. Secondly, some discreetly placed wiring was required to keep the lines interesting. I trimmed all the leaves from the chrysanthemums so that their stems blended with the stems of the gypsophila.

I couldn't let all the trimmings of the gypsophila nor the crucifix orchids from a previous arrangement go to waste. So, an arrangement of mass and line came together quite easily.

I had two chrysanthemums left and looked around my studio for inspiration. The silver birch branches that I had used in a wall arrangement had dried in the shape they had whilst hanging downwards for some weeks, making them less floppy and possible to use them in a horizontal arrangement.

Just down the road from our house there is a row of very old cypress trees. On my walk yesterday I noticed a branch with an interesting line. I went back with a saw and collected it. Again, a great deal of pruning of superfluous stems and needles was required to reveal the beauty of the branch. The two strelitzias reginae both match and contrast with the vase. The orange petals contrast but the blue stamen, for want of a better word, match the vase.

Bye for now,

Emily

'SPRING CANNOT BE CANCELLED'

 

Hello all,

My student Mary Sutherland, in an email to me, said the following - "Walking around the neighbourhood in these Covid times, I am reminded of the title of David Hockney's book, 'Spring Cannot be cancelled'. What a lovely defiance." So aptly put and so inspirational. My garden is proof of that.

In the arrangement, above, I used unnamed prunus, spiria, banksia rose, Japanese flowering quince and rhododendron.

In the arrangement, below, I used prunus elvins with its dense blossoms and a strelitzia reginae. There is a very important gap between the front and back stems, which is not visible in the photo. So, I included a side view.

Some more spring arrangements.

Unnamed prunus and clivias

Rhododendron and unnamed prunus

The very first of my roses and a New Zealand flax leaf
in self made container

The two arrangements, above, were siting next to each other and, it occurred to me, that they could become one.

I recently took part in a virtual exhibition called Hanadayori 2021 - https://www.ikebanafestival.com/hanadayori-2021 . Requests for particular arrangements were made by people, who were, then paired up with Ikebana artists to make said arrangement.

In my case, the brief from Bon was as follows:

'I would like to see an ikebana crossover with calligraphy, would be nice to see how 2D and 3D art forms collaborate together'.

This falls well into the theme in Book 5 - Complementing an Art Work'. I started with this Vietnamese calligraphy, which, I'm told, means 'Mum'. Then chose the material and after that, the container.

The silver birch branches were ideal for connecting with the brushstrokes of the calligraphy. I used disbud chrysanthemums in a dark, muted colour to capture the mood of the calligraphy. The container, too, was carefully chosen, for its practicality but also for its simplicity. I did not want it to dominate.

Bye for now,

Emily