LABASSA DEMONSTRATION

 

Hello all,

As I had announced in my previous post, I conducted a demonstration at Labassa mansion on Saturday as part of our Ikebana International exhibition there.

The photograph, above, is of a simple arrangement with arum lilies that create an optical illusion giving the impression that the stems weave in and out of the holes of the self made, ceramic container.

The next arrangement was an homage to Norman Sparnon. When I joined the ikebana community 34 years ago, Mr. Sparnon had retired but on two occasions he had come to Melbourne for workshops with the Sogetsu group. I felt quite privileged to witness his demonstrations, one of which was with pussy willow which he had bent to create the curves that I now replicated. He had used tulips with the pussy willow but mine are past their best, so I opted for rhododendrons.

In my next arrangement I used part of an obi, the rest of which I made into cushions for my bed. I used clivia flowers and berries. The wisteria vine, that I had planned to use, was forgotten at home, so I had to improvise and used a couple of black canes for line.

And this is what it should have looked like.

In my next arrangement I took advantage of the holes in my self made container to place umbrella grass stems, which I wired together at the top. I had removed the leaves at the top because they would wither very quickly as they would have been out of water. I placed one stem with leaves in the centre where it would be in water and added two Dutch iris.

The next arrangement was a particularly challenging one because it was completely unprepared. I wanted to show the audience the process of trimming and preparing the various elements before arranging. Of course, this exercise is difficult at the best of time and that is why it is at the later section of the curriculum, when students have had a chance to gain some experience.

I used nandina domestica and strelitzia reginae flowers and one leaf.

It's cymbidium orchid time and I got my hands on a number of stems of these gorgeous blooms. It's been my experience with these flowers that, after sitting in an arrangement  for a while, they can kink and thus the top part wilt. So, I try to arrange them in such a way that they have some support, as I've done in my example, below. 

The orchid in the next arrangement did not need to be supported because it grew downwards and was placed downwards. The dry wood is from a cypress tree and the bromeliad flowers are called queen's tears. There is, also a sprig of nandina domestica nana to the back of the arrangement.

Mary made a freestyle arrangement using Siberian dogwood (Cornus syberica alba) and rhododendrons in a heavy, footed suiban.

There are more photos of demonstration and exhibition arrangements that I will share with you in my next post. 

Bye for now,

Emily

9TH SEPTEMBER, 2024

 

Hello all,

First of  all, I'd like to remind you that the Ikebana International Exhibition will be this weekend. It will be held at Labassa Mansion National Trust. We have all been working very hard preparing for it and, in my case, also preparing for a one hour demonstration. The Labassa mansion is so beautiful that it warrants a visit for itself alone. Add to that ikebana arrangements throughout its interiors and it is a must visit. Please come and see it and, if you're there for my demo, please come and say hello.

Last week's class theme was 'Both Fresh and Unconventional Materials'. In my example, at the top of this post, I used a glass object in the shape of a knot and threaded the arum lilies through it. The tall, glass vase was chosen to highlight the stems of the lilies, which are also holding up the glass knot.

Cymbie used New Zealand flax leaves, stripped and wound around blue cellophane in a ceramic container.

Mary brought two, different types of cardboard to class, one was an apple separator and the other corrugated cardboard. 

Mary cut a hole through the cardboard and fed the neck of the tall vase through it. She created an interesting shape by partially cutting through it, then wired it in place. The single rhododendron flower was sufficient as the fresh materials component.

Mary had enough time to make a second arrangement using the corrugated cardboard. She created the shape, below, and added a small, hidden container, into which she placed alstroemeria psittacina leaves.

Jenny brought along three different sized sieves as her unconventional materials. Her ceramic container has holes around it, which Jenny used to great effect by placing the sieves in them, then added branches of cotoneaster and arum lilies.

Vicky brought two sink drainers and placed them vertically, creating a fence-like structure. She, then, wove stems of Japanese flowering quince and camelias through it.

Lucy used two different types of unconventional materials - a fine scrunched up wire and plastic tubes. She used both the inside and outside of her glass container and completed the arrangement by placing two crucifix orchids in it.

Nicole did not have appropriate material to work with, so we ventured into the bowels of my storeroom and came up with a couple of pieces. The first one was a very finely woven bamboo, which Nicole draped over a container and added an arum lily and bud. 

Nicole had finished quickly and, since we can't have people sitting around idle in class, I sent her into the garden to get material for a second arrangement. She used the second item she found in the store room - a wooden piece, which she placed diagonally over her ceramic container, adding dietes leaves, one arum lily and one arum leaf.

I leave you with this photograph of a local art enthusiast sitting on my sculpture in the back yard and enjoying the sunshine.

Bye for now,

Emily

2ND SEPTEMBER, 2024

Hello all,

Every year, around this time, I like to celebrate the arrival of spring with a large arrangement of spring blossoms. In this case I used prunus elvins, Japanese flowering quince and arum lilies.

I have so many plants in my garden, which were given to me by friends or relatives and which I treasure. One such shrub is the red rhododendron, from which I cut the branches, below, and which was given to us by my parents when we first moved into the house. Sadly, dad has been gone for 24 years and mum, who is 94 is suffering from dementia and has no memory of anything. These gorgeous blooms remind me of better times.

In last week's blog I posted photographs of the class arrangements using wattle. Unfortunately, my acacia aphylla had not flowered at that time. But it has now and I had to use it. My frilly daffodils, conveniently, flowered at the same time.

I dedicate this next arrangement to my colleague, Swann Lam, who arrived at my doorstep on a day of bucketing rain to hand me three, cymbidium orchid stems. It's been my experience that the thinner stemmed of these orchids need some support to prevent them from kinking downwards due to their weight. The dried, strelitzia reginae leaf has an interesting curl and worked well with both the container and the orchid.

It's been a week of pleasant surprises. Apart from Swann's orchids offering, I also received a number of containers and other ikebana paraphernalia. 

Hazel McNaught had been one of Norman Sparnon's students and in her later years, we became quite friendly. When she had to go into care, I used to visit her and take her out every once in a while. I was her only visitor because the only family she had left lived very far away.

When Hazell passed away, the family asked me to do the flowers at her funeral, which I considered an honour. Fast forward over 25 years and I get a phone call from Norm, the husband of Hazel's Niece, Elaine. She, too, had been an ikebanist and had collected containers, kenzans, etc. After losing Elaine, Norm wanted to give her ikebana 'treasures' to someone who would appreciate them. So, he very kindly, volunteered to bring them to me. Below is my first arrangement in one of Elaine's containers. The pussy willow was also a gift from my student, Nicole and the nandina berries at the back came from Dianne at last class.

When Mary arrived to class last week I sent her out with a cutter and carte blanche to cut whichever branch she wanted from the prunus elvins  and whatever other materials she wanted from the garden. The branch she chose required quite a lot of trimming to reveal a sweeping line and, then, she followed that line with the arum lilies.

 

Mary was quite quick with her first arrangement and was able to do a second. So, out into the garden, once more and she produced the arrangement, below.

 I was invited together with John Meade to an event at McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery. The event is explained below:

 A celebration of public art

This year marks the half-way point of the 25-year public/private partnership program which sees a series of contemporary sculptures installed along the Peninsula Link freeway, near McClelland.

With 7 sculptures installed to date, come celebrate with a special sculpture tour, drinks on Harry’s deck, and a ceremonial lighting of Love Flower, by John Meade with Emily Karanikolopoulos, to honour the occasion

John and me with our baby

John and I were very pleased with the location in which the 'Love Flower' was installed. It has great visibility, especially from the cafe and is enhanced by the trees in the background. Also, it was great to see the plaque with our names on it.

The camellia stem in this next arrangement had such an ideal shape and the flower  looking upwards, that all I had to do was find a container for it. Well, actually, I did have to remove some leaves and secure it in the container without the use of a kenzan.

Bye for now,

Emily