Hello all,

In the arrangement, above, you could be forgiven for thinking I used painted wisteria but you would be wrong. The material is red dogwood (cornus Siberica alba), whose stems turn a deep red colour in winter when its leaves are all gone. Two or three years ago I had twisted some long stems around  a thicker one to create these shapes. I had forgotten about it but discovered it recently, to my great delight. Unwinding and removing the curved stems was quite challenging as they are quite thick and difficult to bend and there were many side shoots that had to be removed first amongst the tangle that is this shrub.

Having created the structure, I was looking around for flowers to put with it when I noticed my neighbours' red hot pokers (kniphofia 'Winter Cheer'). They were a little past their best but they had to do because I had nothing else in my winter garden. When I asked Marisa if I could have a couple, she gave me three. I'm blessed to have generous neighbours.

Below is the announcement for a workshop that I will be running, which was organised by GAAD (Greek Australian Artists Directory). Initially, I will demonstrate a number of arrangements and, then, I will demonstrate the Basic Upright, being the first lesson in the Sogetsu curriculum. Participants will be provided with containers, kenzans and fresh materials to complete their own arrangement. If anyone, who is not already taking ikebana lessons, would like to try their hand, this would be an ideal opportunity. The person to contact is Catherine Alexopoulos - cathopoulos@gmail.com

Mary's lesson last week was 'Glass Containers'. The curve on the kniphofia stems dictated the arrangement.Its simplicity belies the difficulty in creating it.

Dianne's lesson was 'Mass and Line'. She used prunus branches for line and leucadendrons and nandina domestica berries for the mass, in a ceramic container.

Wendy's lesson was 'Vegetables and/or Fruit in an Arrangement'. She used kale, brussel sprouts, chilies and a stem of flowering prunus. She placed her materials on a wooden tray with a woven surface and had a small container for the branch to be in water.

Lei's lesson was Japanese Narcissus. She followed the instructions in Book 5 to remove the leaves and flower from the sheath, rearrange them and put them back into the sheath. She, then, created this simple but beautiful arrangement...

...but that didn't satisfy Lei, so she made another, quite delightful arrangement using miniature narcissus and spider plant (chlorophytum comosum). Her container had us all drooling.

Shaneen's lesson was 'jika-dome (direct fixing). In a glass vase she placed pittosporum branches with white leaves. This is an aberration probably due to shade. She also used yellow narcissus and small flowered leucadendron.

For the advanced students I had set the theme Kakebana, Tsuribana. Kakebana is a wall arrangement and tsuribana is a hanging one. 

Vicky's kakebana was made using a small, round, ceramic container in which she placed red dogwood branches, pieris and clivia nobilis.

Bredenia made a hanging arrangement in a basket and used narcissus and asparagus fern trailing down.

Nicole also made a wall arrangement using a basket designed for that purpose. She used prunus branches in bud, rhododendrons and jasmine.

Lucy used for the first time a wall container which is a much treasured gift. It is a long and thin, wall container made by Kid Ching, one of our members and a ceramicist of some repute. She used nandina domestica, euphorbia, aspidistra leaves and an orchid that she grew herself.

Because I make a wall arrangement every week in the entry of our house, I chose to make a hanging one. This bamboo container is ideal for the task. I used hellebores and crucifix orchids with curved stems. Unfortunately, the hellebores didn't last very long. Next morning they were drooping down. The biggest difficulty was finding a place to hang it without a busy background. Photographing was made even more difficult by the spinning of the arrangement.

I leave you now because the Matildas are playing Denmark and half time is finishing. Here's hoping they're as successful as last week.

Bye for now,

Emily