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