MASTERCLASS #39

 

Hello all,

A friend of ours, Angie, gave us a large number of place mats in different colours, suggesting that we might use them in ikebana. Well, I thought it was a great idea for our Masterclass. I gave each student two place mats together with 3 other, plant materials. They were to select their own container.

I made the arrangement at the top of this post using place mats, spent agapanthus and nandina domestica nana.

Examples of the place mats

During the class I stripped one of the placemats as an example for the students and, after the class, I thought I'd use it in an arrangement, below.

Lei cut out the centre of one of her place mats and rested it on a trimmed monstera leaf bringing two gerberas through the hole of the place mat, behind the leaf.

Lei, having finished early and having some materials left over, made a second arrangement, below.

Vicky stripped the leaves from the Siberian Dogwood branch (Cornus Siberia alba) and used all of her allocated materials in a rather large container with a small opening.

Cymbie used the two place mats but only one of her NZ flax and one of her Gerberas. The unusual container is made of resin and, I suspect its original use was as a candle holder.

She, too, finished early and had a leaf and flower left over. She made a second arrangement by stripping the flax leaf and placing it and the gerbera in a container in the shape of rings. This arrangement addresses the exercise 'Paying Attention to the Shape of the Container.

Akemi cut up one of her place mats in a very intricate design of triangles. She stripped the leaves from the weeping willow and created curved lines, which then, created spaces. She placed her two, spent agapanthus behind the place mat and the two gerberas at the front.

Bredenia had two branches of cotoneaster berries, from which she, too, stripped the leaves. She, then, placed them in a stainless steel trough. She cut up the place mat and rested it on the branch. She added two, spent agapanthus flowers to the back and the two gerberas at the front.

Lucy' tall arrangement began with a pine branch (pinus radiata), which took some doing to secure in the correct angle in the tall vase. She then added the place mats and the two hydrangeas in between the two mats.

I'd like to make two points here. Firstly that, when using an unconventional material, it should be the main focus of the arrangement and not something to be added on like 'decoration', to quote Kawana sensei.

And secondly, I've observed over the years that, when we have the opportunity to make a second arrangement, after our main exercise is done, the arrangement is often better than the first. I believe this is because the pressure to perform is off, our minds are open and we are able to take more risks.

Oh, one more thing - I'm very proud of the work my students produced.

Bye for now,

Emily

BEAUTIFUL PORT DOUGLAS

 

Ruffled fan palm (Licuala grandis)

 This fan palm appeals to the dressmaker and the ikebanist in me. I’d love to use it in an arrangement and I’d also love to make a pleated skirt with it. 

Hello all,

My sisters and I and our men spent 8 days in Port Douglas in Queensland. For my overseas readers, this is a tropical part of Australia and a popular holiday destination. Here the vegetation is lush and vibrant, with palms, tropical foliage and brightly coloured plants creating a rich, green backdrop everywhere you look. At Niramaya Villas & Spa, where we stayed, this is elevated into beautifully maintained gardens—calm water features, manicured lawns and dense tropical plantings that made the ikebanist in us swoon. In terms of flowers there are not as many as we have down south but the myriad of colourful foliage more than makes up for it.

My favourite plant is the lipstick palm (Cyrtostachys Renda) with its scarlet to bright red stems and contrasting, green foliage.

On our first foray into the town I was quite taken by this shrub with rather large, jasmine-like flowers. Thanks to AI, I was able to identify it as Wrightia antidysenterica.

I managed to resist the temptation to use some of the abundant materials for ikebana. However, on the last day I gave in. The villa in which we stayed has a garden, which backs onto some boggy ground. I cut some materials from the very back, where it would not be noticed and created two arrangements using vases which were at the villa.

The dry, black material in the arrangement below, is an inflorescence, which fell to the ground, most conveniently for me. It came from the grey coloured palm (Bismarckia Nobilis). The rest of the materials are heliconia - leaf and flower and some unfamiliar, green leaves. I used thread from my sewing kit to tie the inflorescences together and managed to position them at the top of the vase.

In the second arrangement, I bent a long, heliconia leaf and added a mass of brightly coloured foliage at the back and some cream coloured ixora chinensis at the front. I placed a plastic water bottle inside the vase into which I placed the stems, so that the materials did not rest on the sides of the vase. 

Another plant in great abundance and which fascinated me is the beach spider lily (Hymenocallis littoralis)

 I took the photo, below on one of my solitary walks through the compound. It took me about half an hour during which I saw no other person. These geese were my only companions. 

We took a number of walks after dinner, when it was quite dark but the strategic lighting of the trees and shrubs gave an otherworldly feeling. The weather was perfect! During the day there are very pleasant sea breezes but at night all is calm and balmy, with only the sounds of night creatures in the trees.  

We enjoyed a number of indulgent meals. The photo, below, is of the six of us having lunch at Osprey restaurant in Thala beach. If you’re traveling that way, I highly recommend it. 

Sisters three - Emily, Lucy and Vicky

Bye for now,

Emily

6TH APRIL, 2026

 

Hello all,

At our recent Wednesday class I had set the theme 'Maze-zashi' - A Variety of Materials. In this exercise five or more materials are used and care must be taken to maintain a lightness of colour and form.

Mine is the arrangement, above. It is, actually, the second arrangement I made of this theme because I forgot to photograph the first. I used six different materials in a self made, ceramic container.

Below is Lei's arrangement. She, too, used six different materials in a ceramic container.

Lucy used seven different materials in an Ikenobo style container which elevated her arrangement, adding to the feeling of lightness.

Nicole, also, used six materials in a ceramic container.

Six seemed to be the number of the day, as that was the number of Vicky's materials, also. Her ceramic container was also in the ikenobo style.

Jenny opted for a ceramic trough for her arrangement and, she too, used six different types of materials.

Wendy's class theme was 'Complementing an Art Piece'. The container she used picked up the colour of the painting and she created angles using the stems of umbrella grass. Her floral focus were two-tone dhalias.

Bye for Now,

Emily

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FLOWER & GARDEN SHOW

 

Photograph curtesy of Lei Wang

Hello all,

2026 Melbourne International Flower and Garden show (MIFGS) has just finished. This is the first year in a very long time that I did not take part, however, four of my students did me proud by exhibiting as part of the Ikebana International Space. This year's theme set by MIFGS was 'Kaleidoscope'. Also, as a linking element for the II exhibits, Japanese fans were to be used. There were 13 exhibits of different sizes and styles, which the judges deemed worthy of the second prize in their category.

The photograph at the top of this blog is of the installation by Jenny Loo and Lei Wang. They made a strong structure with brightly coloured bamboo to reflect those of the kaleidoscope, then added two fans to the back. The yellow chrysanthemums and oncidium orchids added contrast to the bamboo.

The arrangement, below, was made by Cymbie Reeves. She made a giant fan using split bamboo and a textured, partially clear plastic. It's not noticeable in the photograph but the plastic picked up different colours, reminiscent of a kaleidoscope. She also used brightly coloured chrysanthemums, camelias and weeping willow. With the clear, glass vase holding everything up it gave the illusion of floating in  the air.

Photograph curtesy of Lei Wang

Lucy Papas' installation was quite large and, being at the end of the stand, was also viewed from the side. She used a very big, ceramic pot as her container and employed some serious mechanics to ensure her heavy materials were secured in place. She created geometrical shapes with sprayed, corky elm branches to reflect the shapes in a kaleidoscope and created brightly coloured fans with flat pieces of wood. Large branches of pine (pinus radiata) swept to the front and the back and very tall sansevierias added height. The rest of the floral material added colour and mass.

Front view

Side view

Back home, I noticed this somewhat unusual growth on my pelargonium. It was growing in the shade and sent out long stems which fell to the ground, thus the shoots grew upwards. It needed to be cut and I challenged myself to find a way to arrange it ...

.... and here is the result. My nerines have been great this year and came in handy for this arrangement, especially the bent one.

Bye for now,

Emily

WORKING WITH METAL

 

Hello all,

At our recent Sogetsu meeting I conducted the workshop on the subject of 'Working With Metal'. An email was sent out to the members in which I gave only a couple of instructions - 

That this theme is an extension of our curriculum theme in Book 4 - 'Using Both Fresh and Unconventional Materials'.

That the metal should be the main focus of the arrangement, not just an add on afterwards.

I demonstrated four arrangements using different types of metal. In the photograph at the top of this post I used tarnished, copper piping. To create the tarnish I had spread yogurt, unevenly, over it and left it outside for a few days. The container was a gift from my cousin Steve and his wife Nieves and the stunning hydrangeas were supplied by my colleague, Beverly Webster. Beverly lives in an area with acidic soil, hence the intense blue colour of her hydrangeas. Alas, my soil is alkaline and I have been battling it for years by the addition of all sorts of chemicals around the hydrangeas in an effort to change them from pink to blue. The best I've been able to achieve is an insipid mauve.

In the arrangement, below, I used stainless steel tubes and pipes. To secure the tubes on to the wooden board I had attached pieces of bamboo onto it using screws and was able to fit the tubes over the bamboo. I used a small branch of smoke bush (Cotinus Grace) and three nerines. Each of the fresh materials was placed in a plastic, water vial and the vials were pushed into the tubes.

I have used the very old and rusted piece of metal, below, in a couple of ways in the past, including at an exhibition. I'm particularly fond of it and handle it very carefully as it is quite fragile. This time I secured it onto a very tall, ceramic vase and added some of my white hydrangeas which are changing into their autumnal colours. As a final touch, I added three tufts of foxtail grass (Alopecurus).

The next arrangement was partially done at home because it would have taken far too much time to demonstrate the cutting of the wire mesh and wiring the two cones together. I chose the container for its shape. The fact that it was metal was a happy coincidence. The fresh materials were crucifix orchids. I chose them for their lightness to fit with the lightness of the mesh.

I'm very grateful to my colleague, Christopher James for supplying me with the next three photographs. 

Vicky's piece was very dramatic. She secured a thick, dried branch onto a board and attached to it silver duct tubing. For fresh materials she added red dahlias to the back and dietes leaves sweeping forward.

Jenny, clearly, had fun raiding her kitchen for metal utensils to use with her large, metal container. Tying everything together were swirls of a thick wire. She used only one kind of fresh material - agapanthus seed heads, without the seeds.

Lucy kept her arrangement simple but quite dramatic. On a tall, black vase she balanced a sheet of shaped, silver metal. Having cut a hole in the metal, she placed through it the inside part of an agave.

Bye for now, 

Emily

MASTERCLASS #38

Hello all,

At our recent Ikebana International meeting our guest speaker was Chieko Hesta, who is an expert on all things origami. She kindly brought along materials and instructions for all of us to create our own origami tulips. As for the members, we were asked to bring arrangements inspired by origami. 

The arrangement, above, is mine. Origami comprises bending and folding of paper, so I created an arrangement with bends. I joined together a number of umbrella grass stems to create a kind of ribbon, which I, then, bent into a shape that reflected the facets of the ceramic container. I repeated the shape using two variegated, NZ flax leaves and added two nerines as the floral element.

The arrangement, below, was made by our Jenny. It's had to see in the photograph but the curculigo leaves she used are pleated naturally and she bent them to reflect the origami technique. 

And now for our Masterclass. I provided each participant with materials that comprised a large branch, flowers and two black canes. My instructions to them was to use as much or as little of the provided materials and, after studying the materials, to select a container from the shelf. They had no choice in the materials they received.

Jenny had an interesting but, rather, difficult blue juniper branch. I say difficult because it was almost horizontal and quite challenging to place in a container with the stem in water. Haviing secured it in one triangular container, she used one of the two, curved stemmed agapanthus in a separate one behind, having it coming forward. There was some discussion about the naturalistic look of the branch and the modern look of the agapanthus but, the general consensus was that it worked.

Vicky had a large mahonia stem with two side shoots. She trimmed them back and placed the remaining one, with its long stem in this donut shaped container with three openings. The short stem outside the container adds the illusion of the stem continuing beyond the container. She did not use flowers, as she felt they would have been superfluous. 
 

Having finished early and having materials left over, Vicky made a second arrangement. She used another of her mahonia side shoots and her hydrangeas in a yellow, ceramic vase. And, if you look very closely, you will see the two black canes going through the arrangement. She was the only one of the group to use the canes. 

Lei had two pieces of nandina domestica, which she trimmed very heavily, leaving a very light and lacy effect. She used two matching containers. In the back one she placed the two hydrangeas to be seen through the leafy 'curtain'.

Swann had a large viburnum opulus branch, which she trimmed heavily to reveal  the movement in the branch. It looks as though she just placed it in the container but there was considerable work in making it look that way. The massed roses made the floral focus.

Lucy, also, had a viburnum opulus branch, although it was quite different to Swann's. In this case the stem was long and thin and had been growing downwards. It required a degree of skill and expertise to make it balance the way she did. She had a number of leukadendron flowers but chose to use only one.

Bye for now,

Emily

9TH MARCH, 2026

 

Hello all,

The theme for the advanced students at Wednesday's class was 'Dried, bleached or Coloured Materials'. For my example, above, I looked in the storeroom for inspiration. I found a bunch of dried, fine bamboo to start with, then looked around for an appropriate container. The container dictated what colour I would spray the bamboo, that being brown and how I would place it. I secured half of them at the front and the other half at the back of the container. Having created the dried structure, I looked around the garden for fresh materials, when, to my surprise, I came across the yellow kniphofia. I say surprised because these flowers seem to appear overnight. They were absolutely perfect for my arrangement. I, then, needed some green materials - enter the variegated sansevieria, with its matching yellow edges.

Nicole had an unusual piece of dried material, which looked like coral and which she placed over the kenzan in her suiban. She pushed the stems of dried, red coloured agapanthus and dietes leaves through it to reach the kenzan.

Having finished her arrangement rather quickly, Nicole chose to make a second one. She had a piece of driftwood, which she placed over a nageire vase and added variegated ivy, which she found growing through the fence from our neighbour's garden and which I keep fighting to prevent it from taking hold in my garden. Vicky donated a yellow Oriental lily and the arrangement was complete.

Vicky used bark and a dried piece of contorted hazel (Corylus avellana Contorta), which she placed over the top of her ovoid, ceramic container. She was able to fit the Oriental lily stems through the small opening of the container.

Vicky, too, was quite prolific, making three arrangements but I've included only two of them here. Actually, I'm happy to include the girls' second arrangements because we had many absences and I would have been short of content for this post.

Vicky's material was bleached branches, which look like matsumata but are not. She secured the branches behind the container and placed the dahlias inside it at the front.

Jenny created quite a dynamic arrangement, using dried bamboo, which she wired together to create parallel lines of the thicker part of the bamboo. She added Asiatic lilies in bud and some mandarins. Interestingly, her container was, also, made of bamboo. She placed weights inside it for balance. 

Lucy was absent from class because she was fighting some kind of bug and didn't want to expose us to it. Very considerate! The conscientious ikebanist that she is, she made an arrangement at home and sent me the photograph. She used the same kind of bleached material as Vicky, placing it outside of the ceramic container and added 2 variegated NZ flax leaves and a mass of crucifix orchids.

Mary does not have a garden, so I supply her with most of the materials she needs for class. For this exercise we looked around the garden and found these partially dried strelitzia reginae leaves, with very interesting curls. Mary placed them diagonally in a ceramic, trough container and added two stems of St John Port creeper flowers. This arrangement could, also, fit into the theme of 'Lines at the Base'.

Wendy's class theme was 'Composition with Branches - a Two-step Approach'. In this exercise we create a structure with dried branches, which can stand alone. We then introduce a container and fresh plant materials to complete the arrangement. Below is Wendy's structure, which she created using pear branches....

..... and then she added the ceramic container, into which she had placed red roses and a palm leaf split in half.

Bye for now,

Emily