MASTERCLASS #14

 

Hello all,

The simple arrangement, above, was made with one Pinellia pedatisecta leaf and an agapanthus flower. The container is ceramic with a coppery patina. It reminds me of the Elizabethan collars that royals used to wear.

Saturday's Masterclass, albeit small, was productive and enjoyable. I provided each attendee with a  hawthorn branch with berries and two New Zealand flax leaves. Two of the girls were also given two curved stemmed agapanthus flowers. Vicky has countless curved agapanthus in her garden, so I gave her a branch of leucadendron, instead. They were to choose their own containers and could decide how much of the provided materials they would use.

Cym chose my self made, ceramic container into which she arranged her materials horizontally. She used both the agapanthus and New Zealand flax leaves and a sprig of the hawthorn berries.

Christine's approach was minimalist. Her challenge was to keep the stems of the agapanthus and berries high up in the tall, glass vase where they would be concealed by the solid white part. There was another sprig of hawthorn berries to the back, which is not visible in the photo. Another challenge was to keep the very heavy agapanthus from resting on the edge of the vase.She achieved both very nicely.

Vicky went for a vertical arrangement and, by not removing the leaves on the hawthorn and leucadendrons, she kept the look naturalistic. The opening at the top of the ceramic container goes only half way.

Having collected the hawthorn berries at some risk to life and limb, as they grow in a ravine, I wanted to play with them, also. In the first arrangement, below, I gave myself the same materials as the other girls but ended up using only one agapanthus and two stems of hawthorn in a self made, double container.

In the second, I collected all the berries that had fallen in the boot of my car and, using scissors, I painstakingly cut each one away from the stalk. It's important not to pull the berries out because the opening that is created causes the berries to absorb water and sink. They, also, decompose more quickly.The fallen berries were not enough, so I added to them from another branch. Then I floated them in two glass containers and added a stem of Japanese anemones.

In the wall arrangement, below, I reused Cycad fronds from a previous arrangement. Unfortunately, the yellowing colour of the centre of the fronds is not visible in the photo. I also used the first of my self seeded, amaranthus inflorescences together with hydrangeas which are changing colour. The overall look is quite autumnal.

Mary's class theme was the last lesson in Book 4 - 'You in Ikebana'. This theme is a purely personal one for each ikebanist. Mary is drawn to naturalistic arrangements and chose Japanese maple branches, dahlias and white roses in a ceramic, tsubo vase.

Bye for now, 

Emily