'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