DEMONSTRATIONS AND WORKSHOPS

Hello all,

At our July Ikebana International meeting the Guest Speaker was Takako Routledge on the topic - 'The Way of Tea'. Members were asked to bring Tea Ceremony inspired arrangements.

After the presentation, our Lucy demonstrated 2 'chabana' arrangements, below. These are typically small, simple arrangements to be present during tea ceremonies. One of Lucy's arrangements was in a basket and the other in a bamboo container, which was meant for hanging on a wall. The three photographs are courtesy of Lei Wang.
 

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend but I made my own chabana arrangement, below. I bought the little vase in Plaka in Athens long before I even heard the word 'Ikebana'. We, Greeks, also, have a long history in  ceramics. I placed my single, camellia stem diagonally, reflecting the line on the container and added a sprig of nandina domestica berries.

At the July Sogetsu meeting Akemi Suzuki presented the workshop on the topic "Decorating leaves with gold leaf and gold powder'. Akemi had attended an Iemoto class at headquaters, where this technique was demonstrated and offered to share what she had learnt with the rest of us. Most of us had not done this before and were keen to learn something new.

Akemi demonstrated how to use watered down glue on to the surface of leaves to be decorated, then placed gold leaf or powder onto it. Two large tables, covered in plastic, were placed in the middle of the hall and the members took turns to use the glue, gold leaf and powder. Then we returned to our tables to complete our arrangements. Please go to Sogetsu Victoria for more information and for photos of Akemi's demonstration pieces as well as members' works.

Below is my arrangement. I used an unfurled, strelitzia nicolai leaf. I created stripes, curving diagonally around the leaf, using the glue and gold powder. I then placed two, queen's tears bromeliad flowers in the crevice.

Close up of gold stripes

At home I was inspired to experiment further, this time with gold spray. My concern with these types of materials is that we must avoid using them as just decoration. A good test to check if the material is necessary to the arrangement, is to remove it and see if the arrangement looks complete without it. Having said that, I used a gold spray can to create stripes on a monstera leaf that was cut in half. Below are three photographs capturing the evolution of my arrangement.

First iteration - too wide

Second iteration - too long

Final iteration - just right (I think)

Back to class. Dianne's curriculum theme was 'Paying Attention to the View from Below'. She placed her arrangement of wattle and nandina domestica berries on top of a cabinet in the lounge room.

Mary's arrangement, below, was on the theme of 'Jika Dome'. She used camellia branches and lisianthus flowers.

My leucadendron is looking its best at the moment. It has been in need of trimming for some time but I like to cut it when I can use it in ikebana. 

Below are three arrangements using only the leucadenfron and taking advantage of the angles created by the branches hanging downwards. I trimmed subordinate stems leaving the interesting shapes.

Bye for now,

Emily