MASTERCLASS # 23

 

Hello all,

On Saturday afternoon, feeling quite lethargic, I sat on my recliner to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony. And what an event it was! You gotta hand it to the French, they have style in spades. To quote President Macron - "BRAVO!" Of course you have to imagine it with a sexy, French accent.

So, there I was marveling at the spectacles when I dosed off. I was rudely woken up by the loud, grating sounds of chain saws across the road. Most people would have been annoyed - not me! I know that where there are chain saws there are potential materials. And sure enough there were.

It was an SES group of volunteers cutting down trees that were damaged in a recent storm. This included an old pine tree.

Now, I wouldn't dream of bothering these wonderful people who do such vital, and  dangerous work by asking for cuttings but I didn't have to. It was sheer serendipity that three pine branches had landed on my side of the street. A sure sign that I was meant to have them, so I did. The pine tree was old so the tufts of needles are small and there are no needles along the stems, that would, normally, need to be removed.

The arrangement, above, was made with one of the branches. The branch is outside the container but that's not a problem because pine can last without water for some time. The two cymbidium orchid stems completed the arrangement.

The next four photos show the process and mechanics I used. I'm sure many of you will be familiar with this technique but I'm including these details for the less experienced of my readers.

Original branch and container

Stick with wire attached in the middle

Stick inserted horizontally inside container

Wire brought over the branch and tightened
to create tension, thus holding the
branch in place

At this month's Masterclass I provided each participant with pine branches, cotoneaster berries and oranges. They were to choose a container and create a freestyle arrangement. Below is my example. I used a very tall vase to accommodate the draping of both the pine and the berries.

Cimbie's pine was more upright but the berries required some height. She used only one of the holes of her ceramic container and turned it sideways to minimize its size.
 

Vicky used one of my self made containers, which has a 'lip' at the top, allowing for the heavy branches to be secured in place.

Lucy, also, used a tall vase with a focus on height.

Mary made a freestyle arrangement using some of my left over berries and oranges, to which she added red coloured chrysanthemums and green, clivia berries.

Wendy's class lesson was 'Arrangement with Plants on a Wall.' She used a dried branch, dried fern fronds, sprayed gold and cootamundra wattle.

Bye for now,

Emily

CAMELLIAS AND BARE BRANCHES

 

Hello all,

Some of you may have noticed that this post is a day late. That's because we were without internet for 24 hours. We only become aware of just how depended we are on this service when we're deprived of it. Sam, who works from home was impacted dramatically. As for me, I decided to spend this beautiful, sunny day in the garden but, even that, was affected. I couldn't listen to my favourite radio program or Spotify, nor could I look up the phone number of the nursery I wanted to call with a gardening question. We were very relieved when the technician arrived and fixed it all. Phew!!!

At last class the advanced students were asked to make a freestyle arrangement using bare branches (fresh) and camellias. 

The two examples, above, were mine. The branch on the first one was growing from the root stock of my weeping elm. I'd been meaning to remove it for a very long time, so that, by the time I did, it had grown quite big. I trimmed it to shape it and, when I placed it on the table, it covered almost the whole surface. The camellias are from my aunty Elizabeth's garden.

The silver birch branches in the second arrangement were also from aunty's garden. The camellias are mine. I hadn't planned on making a second arrangement but, when I saw the bare tree with little catkins on the branches, I couldn't resist. And the container was ideal for them.

Jenny's magnolia branches and camelias in the pink tsubo vase were just delightful.

Nicole used pussy willow branches before the characteristic, fuzzy nubs appear and camellias in a ceramic container.

Having finished quickly, I asked her to make another one and encouraged her to get out of her comfort zone and make something less naturalistic. Below is the result.

Vicky used nectarine branches she found by the roadside, and placed them inside and outside of the ceramic container. Her vibrant camellias were placed to one side, leaving the left side of the container clear.

Lucy also made two arrangements. Below is her first using lichen covered, pear branches with her camellias in an ikenobo style container. Unfortunately the curve forward of the large branch is lost in the photo.

And her second - a newly acquired, wall container that she was keen to use. Again she used pear branches with her camellias.

Cymby concentrated on the curves of her Siberian dogwood branches and added a single camellia and its buds. The ceramic container has holes on either side but Cymby placed it with the narrow side facing the front.

Bredenia used corky elm branches outside of the ceramic container at the front and at the back as they don't need water. The camellias, of course, were in the container.

Like Lucy, Mary used lichen covered, pear branches. She secured them up-side-down in a heavy, ceramic suiban and added the camellias to the left, leaving space to the right of the container.

I feel I should point out that the simplicity of all of the arrangements belies the skill required to make them. Those of you who have used camellias will be familiar with the difficulties involved in placing them so that they face upwards or to the front and that the backs of the leaves are not shown.

Wendy's class theme was 'In a Suiban without a Kenzan'. She used magnolia, prunus and kutamandra wattle in a large ceramic suiban. She balanced them very well without having the branches resting against the edge of the container.

Bye for now,

Emily

15TH JULY, 2024

 

Hello all,

I drove past a large clump of ginger (Hedychium Gardnerianum), the  flowers of which had died and were replaced by bright orange seeds. I had to have some. 

Gingers have large leaves growing along either side of the stem. I removed all of them, exposing the long stems and placed them in a self made, ceramic container. I added the strelitzia leaf with an equally long stem. This would be a good example of the theme 'Lines at the Base'.

At a recent class Lei's lesson was 'Complementing an Art Piece'. She chose this print by Katsushika Hokusai - 'Ono Waterfall On The Kisokaido.

She driftwood and variegated New Zealand flax and two ceramic containers.

Mary made a freestyle arrangement using aspidistra leaves and chrysanthemums, from which she removed all the leaves, giving the piece a more contemporary look. The container was particularly appropriate because the extended lip concealed the kenzans making it unnecessary to use jushi and leaving the stems clear at the base.

Reusing materials. 

The strelitzia nicolai flower in the arrangement below, was used in an arrangement at our workshop with Ray Bywaters. The fern fronds dried quickly, so I made a completely different arrangement. Then, once the petals had dried, I removed them and, no longer needing to be in water, I turned what was left up-side-down over the tall metal container. The clivia flowers and berries (Clivia gardenii) were in an arrangement I had done for my daughter's family while their house was for sale. When the other materials of that arrangement had died the clivias were still viable, so I included them in this arrangement.

Second iteration

First iteration

Final iteration

My aunty, Elizabeth and her husband Nick, had moved into an aged care facility about two years ago. They always had a manicured garden with a good selection of plants and flowers. I visited their garden earlier today and was very sad to see it so neglected. Despite the neglect, there were a number of plants from which I took cuttings...

..the roses, below, are actually mauve in colour, not pink as they appear in the photo and have an intoxicating fragrance.

The roses in the next arrangement are from my 'Queen Elizabeth' shrub, which I pruned recently.

My leucadendron is looking particularly attractive with its yellowing flowers and red stems. I removed all the leaves from the stems to reveal their lines and rich colour  and placed them in the same, ceramic container as at the top of this post. To finish off, I added a couple of sprigs of nandina domestica nana.

A few weeks ago I had included in my post the flyer for the Antipodean Palette exhibition, which is currently on and will be until Sunday, 21st July. The official opening was last Saturday and I went along, accompanied by my granddaughter, Hermione.

It's the first time I exhibited at such an exhibition. Mine was the only ikebana arrangement in a room full of paintings. It created quite a lot of interest and I found myself engaged in a few conversations about it.

Hermione and I with my exhibit

Bye for now,

Emily

JEANNINE'S BIRTHDAY

 

The birthday girl, Jeannine

 

The birthday cake made by me and, yes,
including the stiletto 

Hello all,

My beautiful daughter-in-law, Jeannine, recently celebrated a milestone birthday with a party with her closest friends and family. The venue was delightful, the food delicious and plentiful and the open bar was much frequented by all.

It really was a most enjoyable evening with dancing until closing time. The mini bus that Dennis, Jeannine's husband, had hired to take our immediate family to and from the venue, was a great idea for many reasons.

And now to ikebana. At last week's class, I had provided the students with branches of conifer which I had found on the footpath at a nearby house. Clearly the owners had pruned the tree or trees quite heavily and left the cuttings outside. I love to take advantage of such opportunities, so I loaded up the car and brought them home.

In my first arrangement, below, I used the conifer in a naturalistic style in a donut shaped container which has two openings, one at the top and one inside the circle. I needed strong flowers to go with it, hence the camellias.

In my second arrangement I used a stem of conifer that appears to have been trimmed over time, much like a hedge with a flat surface. I removed a number of subordinate branches, so as to feature the lines of the stems. Having chosen the container, my first instinct was to look for a flower to put with it. However, Ray Bywaters' words about challenging ourselves were fresh in my mind and I looked around for something different. I settled on the strelitzia leaf for its strength and contemporary look.

Vicky made yet another tall arrangement. She removed almost half of the stems and leaves of the conifer branch, creating a dramatic line and added long stemmed oriental lilies still in bud.

Mary referenced Variation No. 4 with a shin and hikai in a nageire container. 

Lucy turned her stem upside down, after trimming it back to reveal the curve of the stem and placed it over a nageire vase. The partially open oriental lily completed the arrangement. It's important to note that the conifer will last for quite a while without being in water. 

Cimbie spend a considerable amount of time removing subordinate branches and leaves to reveal the reddish brown stems. The large container that she chose was ideal for the heavy branch, however, she had to employ strong mechanics to stop the branch from tipping forward.

Nicole used an exquisite tsubo vase and fixed the stem in that position by splitting it and attaching it to a split vertical fixture. In the photo the flowers appear to be filling the opening but this was not the case. On the left side the rim was clearly visible.

Jenny secured her branch into the corner of her container with the use of a fork shaped stick. She then placed the chrysanthemums behind the conifer stem keeping all the stems together leaving ample space at the top of the container and making a dynamic arrangement.

Similarly, Bredenia secured her branch in a corner of her container and added a strelitzia with a double head.

It's always satisfying when using unfamiliar material and managing to master it. 

Bye for now,

Emily

PRUNUS MUME (JAPANESE FLOWERING APRICOT)

Hello all,

The photographs, above, are of my Prunus mume tree in full bloom and a close up of the blossoms. It seems incongruous to have blossoms in the heart of winter, which makes this tree most desirable for us, ikebanists. Its delicate fragrance is an added bonus.

For last class I provided the advanced students with branches of this tree, as the basis of a freestyle arrangement. They were to bring containers and accompanying materials to complete their arrangement. The branches grow in a rather unruly fashion making them more difficult to arrange than one would think.

My arrangement, below. was to be placed on the coffee table. I used the blossom branches in a slanting style and added a couple of haemanthus lily leaves. There was a sweeping forward movement of the branches which is lost in the photograph.

Shaneen used a ceramic jug as her container and  kept her arrangement relatively simple adding only a couple of small stems of coprosma.

Vicky used a slate container made by her husband, Peter. The design of the container is such that it conceals the small kenzan that is glued inside, thus doing away of the requirement to cover the kenzan and allowing the lines at the base to be unencumbered.

Jenny had a rather wide, ceramic vase and placed her branches so that they swept to one side. She, also, used salvias in deep purple and white, which looked quite lovely but, which are somewhat lost in the photograph. The deep purple doesn't show up against the dark background.

Mary used a ceramic suiban into which she placed branches she had trimmed to emphasize a forward sweep,( again, lost in the photo). She had roses with a pink centre, that looked to me as though they were puckering up for a kiss.

 

Nicole added to the feeling of spring by the use of daffodils with the blossoms. She also added some alstroemeria psittacina leaves at the opening of the ceramic container.

 

Cymbie used two rectangular. glass containers. In the large one she placed the large branch and a much smaller branch, following the same lines in the smaller container. 

Bredenia's arrangement was one 'In a Suiban Without a Kenzan'. She balanced the branches with minimal wirering and added a single strelitzia stem with a double head.

Bye for now,

Emily