IKEBANA FROM THE ARCHIVES

 Hello all,

I'm sad to say that I still have not recovered from the surgery I had 18 days ago. I'm currently in a rehabilitation hospital and will be here for while yet. This means that I did not make any ikebana arrangements and, therefore, I have no, new photographs to share with you. So, I thought I'd delve into my quite considerable archives and pick a few photos of spring arrangements from the past.

The arrangement, above, is in one of my favourite containers and, of course, the flowers are arum lilies. It fits the theme 'Using Only One Kind of Material'.

The arrangement, below, is in a metal trough and the flowers are cottage gladioli and  hippeastrums. The vine is sprayed wisteria.

In the arrangement, below, the arum lilies had been manipulated by me to create the curves. I chose the hellebores for their muted colours, allowing the lilies to dominate. The container is a stainless steel trough.

In the arrangement, below, I wanted the container by Graham Wilke to dominate, so I kept the two, aeonium flowers close to the opening and added the sprayed, contorted hazel as the lines.

The ceramic container in the next arrangement is quite delicate and not very stable, necessitating the use of fine materials, Here I used spider plant, Chlorophytum comosum, and azalea.

I adore the lush greenness of the viburnum opulus in the arrangement, below and I used it in a large mass together with the skeleton of an umbrella. This is an example of 'Using Both Fresh and Unconventionnal Materials'.

Two, gorgeous strelitzia nicoli flowers and two matching containers was all that was needed to create the arrangement, below.

Another example of 'Using Both Fresh and Unconventional Material' is the arrangement, below. I placed an aluminium mesh, which I had cut into shape over  a metal conical container, then added two stems of oriental lilies.

In the wall arrangement, below, I used wisteria vine, arum lilies and alstroemeria psittacina leaves.

You can't have a spring theme blog post without including some rhododendrons. The branches in the next arrangement were from my tree, which is about 30 years old. A very good investment.

My final arrangement if of the theme 'A Variety of Materials'. It's quite self explanatory.

Bye for now,

Emily

 

Hello all,

So, it's spring and I'm reaping the rewards of the work I put into the garden during winter. The jonquils, with their heady perfume are in great abundance after I planted dozens of bulbs, staggering them to extend their flowering life.

I was, recently, assembling a metal shelf but didn't need all the shelves. I had three left over and just couldn't throw them away. Looking around the studio, the heavy, ceramic container beckoned. I made the arrangement, below, and placed it on the table. It fitted into the theme 'Using Both Fresh and Unconventional Material'. However, each time I walked past it, I felt there was something not quite right.

Metal shelves, arum lilies, nandina domestica berries and alstroemeria psittacina leaves

It came to me, eventually, that I should have used only two of the metal shelves. A good example of 'less is more'.

My leafless wattle, acacia aphylla. is a rather delicate shrub, which is beautiful all year round but is particularly so in spring. Unlike other wattles the flowers are not clustered together but are separate, looking like little jewels scattered on the branches. The leucadendron seemed to team up well with the wattle in the wall arrangement, below.

My magnolia soulangeana is a large tree, however, the last couple of years it has produced flowers only on the lower branches. I had considered cutting it back last year but thought I'd give it one more year before doing so. It looks like I can't put it off much longer.

In the arrangement, below, I teamed magnolia branches with two stems of cymbidium orchids and some alstroemeria psittacina leaves,

The stachyurus shrub is glorious at the moment. Here is a single stem with a single camellia.

I've been in hospital the last couple of weeks having had surgery and a rather protracted and painful recovery. Today I have been transferred to a rehabilitation hospital to continue said recovery. Knowing that I will be out of commission for a while, I had prepared two posts. One of them I published last week and this one today. Whilst in hospital, Vicky and Lucy brought me flower arrangements, which I wanted to include in this post. Fortunately the room was spacious and was able to accommodate three arrangements.

Vicky's arrangement using Japanese flowering 
quince and aspidistra leaves 

Below are Lucy's two arrangements

Monstera deliciosa, cymbidium
orchid, jonquils and dietes leaves.

Japanese flowering quince and
camellias

Bye for now,

Emily

SPRING

 

Stachyurus chinencis and camellias in self made container

Hello all and welcome to spring.

For our regular class on Wednesday I asked the advanced students to bring materials for a freestyle arrangement of their choice. However, when they arrived and took their places in the studio, I asked them to move one place down, thus having to work with another colleague's materials and container.

Nicole, completely out of her comfort zone, was faced with a large magnolia soulangeana branch which required mechanics to secure it in the container. After trimming, she used a horizontal fixture in this large and stable container. She added sprigs of thriptomene to complete the arrangement. The materials came from Jenny.

Jenny took Lei's materials - dried branches and Asiatic lilies. She secured the branches over the container then placed the lilies strategically.

Ironically, Lucy, who had brought in very big materials, was faced with vases and materials for miniature arrangements, provided by Nicole. She said she enjoyed making the miniatures and likened it to playing.

Lei's material was provided by Vicky. They were large, lichen covered branches, Oriental lilies in bud and nandina domestica nana. The container was a heavy, tall one made of reconstituted stone. Lei drilled holes in the branches and used a dowel to join them.

Lucy's large materials and container went to Vicky, who tends to make tall arrangements, so this was right up her ally. There were two, wooden triangles but Vicky used only one. The gymea leaves were very tall, as was the strelitzia stem, which had to be cut down for the arrangement.

I provided the materials and container for Cymbie. They were stachyurus, jonquils and alstroemeria psittacina leaves. The container has a split down the middle.

Wendy's curriculum theme was 'narcissus' from Book 5. In this lesson we take apart the leaves and flowers from the bulb and rearrange them with the flowers positioned lower than the leaves. We then create an arrangement with them. Wendy did so with several bulbs and, then, added spiraea thunbergii to complete it.

And, as a nod to spring, I leave you with this arrangement of camellias and Japanese flowering quince.

Bye for now,

Emily

MASTERCLASS #34

 

Hello all,

At our recent masterclass I threw the attendees into the proverbial deep end. I provided each of them with an entire plant of agave. Some were larger than others but they were each a full plant. 

I love working with agave and have used it in many different ways in the past. In my early years of ikebana, I used to travel quite a distance to help myself to a large clump that was growing by the side of the road. More recently, having planted some in my garden, I have plenty of the variegated type in three, large clumps. Of course, I realise now, that you CAN have too much of a good thing and I had to do a serious cull. Hence the abundance of material for our class. 

Below are two photographs of examples of the plants I provided. There are challenges with using this material, the principle one being the weight. It is, also, quite soft, so that mechanics like wiring are not very successful. Also, using a kenzan is not an option.

I, also, provided each participant with six stems of umbrella grass. They were required to use some or all with their arrangement.

In my arrangement at the top of this post I used a vertical fixture to secure the plant on top of this vase. I chose the vase because of its height and because it has a wide base which gives it stability. Sam calls it my octopus arrangement.

Lei used only two of the leaves from her plant and, try as she might, could not use the umbrella grass successfully. Even though it was a requirement to use it, I agreed that she should not, as the arrangement was complete as it was and anything added to it would be mere decoration.

Cymbie had a similar idea to me but she did not copy me, as mine was hidden in another room for just that reason. I revealed mine at the end of the lesson.

Bredenia had to balance the heavy plant upright in a reconstituted stone container. She used a thick skewer through the plant and wedged it as a horizontal fixture.

Christine chose a very heavy container made of Mexican onyx to match the colour on some of the leaves. From the umbrella grass she used only the seed heads.

Vicky trimmed her very big plant, heavily and balanced it on a large, platter shaped container. She created contrast and asymmetry with the use of triangles made from umbrella grass stems.

Lucy had the biggest plant of all and, she too, had to trim heavily. She chose a container with a split through the centre, into which she wedged the agave. She created a structure of small triangles with the umbrella grass stems, contrasting with the agave.

I made the arrangement, below, without the umbrella grass, before class. This is just me playing and trying new ways to use agave.

At the end of the class I had a large number of agave cuttings to dispose of. However, being the ikebana tragic that I am, I could not throw everything away. I used pieces of the 'heart' of the plant for the arrangement, below. The accompanying material is leafless wattle (acacia aphylla).

Because the agave in the arrangement, below, had been out of water for a number of days, it was soft and pliable allowing me to intertwine the pieces. I was quite happy with the arrangement as it was but, then, I wanted to see what it would look like with flowers, hence the second picture. I felt the arum lilies suited the agave in colour and style. I will let you decide which you prefer.

Bye for now,

Emily

CAMELLIAS

 

Hello all,

At our last class I asked the advanced students to make an arrangement using camellias. As materials go they are much prized in ikebana but there are difficulties with using them. When arranging stems of camellias the back of the leaves must not show. This will require trimming and twisting the leaves so that only the shiny, front of them is showing. Also, often, flowers grow underneath the leaves making them hard to use. The flowers, themselves, can fall very easily, not because they are old but because they are heavy, so we help keeping them from falling by pinning them to the nearest leaf, as per photo, below.

Pinning method

Camellia facing backwards

All the arrangements appear relatively simple but it took considerable effort and expertise to create that simplicity.

The arrangement, above, is mine. I used two, different coloured camellias, and as though to prove the point of the flowers prematurely falling, the one camellia I missed pinning, fell just as I placed the vase on the table.

The arrangement, below is Nicole's. We could not work out from which tree the branches were cut. I'm guessing they are Japanese maple. She secured them onto the tsubo vase and made a mass with her camellias.

Jenny's arrangement is a good example of the theme 'Using Only Kind of Material'. She took advantage of the split in the container in the placement of her branches, making a sweeping line.

Vicky used camellias and Japanese flowering quince in two, different but matching  containers. Apart from making sure that the flowers and leaves faced upwards, she achieved asymmetry, an important element in ikebana. 

Lei used a dry, magnolia branch and camelias in a horse shoe shaped container. She took great pains to ensure that the branches did not rest on the rims of the container's two openings.

Cymbie used a glass, tsubo vase and variegated, red camellias with just one, white, Kamo Hon Ami. 

Lucy's arrangement is also a good example of 'Using Only One Kind of Material'. The glass vase, recently acquired, has a stripy pattern, which conceals the stems inside. Don't tell anyone but the camellias are from a cemetery garden. 

I love the combination of camellias and pine and decided to use them in an arrangement. It was probably not a good idea to use pine this time of year because the trees are flowering, so they have fewer pine needles and drop copious amounts of yellow pollen all around. Because we have an abundance of pine trees (pinus radiata) in our area, our paths, balcony, outdoor furniture etc are covered in a yellow dust all through August. Most annoying.

Camellias, jonquils and straggly looking pine

Dianne's curriculum theme was 'Paying Attention to the View from Above'. By coincidence, Dianne also used camellias - Kamo Hon Ami and added sprigs of prunus mume in bud.

View from above.

Bye for now,

Emily