MASTERCLASS #30

 

Hello all,

I must confess, after so many years involved in ikebana, it's rare that I get excited about some material not previously seen but that's exactly what happened when I walked up my daughter's driveway on mother's day. In her garden I saw what appears to be agave attenuata with a flower spike. The flowers attached to the spike had dropped off, leaving the leafy bits on the end. Of course, I had to have it and couldn't wait to get home and play with it. I managed to secure it upright in this heavy, self made container and looked around the garden for other material to use with it. I tried and rejected a couple of them and then settled on the small agave leaves.

For our recent masterclass, as always, students had no idea which materials they would have to work with. After studying their materials, they were able to choose a container.

Lei had three protea flowers in different stages of opening, three NZ flax leaves and a branch of eucalyptus that I was not able to identify. She chose a tall, rectangular container, placed sideways and created a sharp, modern design with the flax. She, painstakingly, worked on the stem of the protea to make it curve downwards and placed it to peek out behind the flax. The soft, eucalyptus material created a contrast against the sharp lines of the rest of the arrangement.

Akemi had two tall, pomegranate branches and a large branch of orange cotoneaster berries (Cotoneaster franchetii). The container with the split down the middle presented some challenges but Akemi managed it quite well.

Bredenia had two, tall branches of the orange cotoneaster with a lot of leaves. She thinned out the leaves considerably, then snapped the tall stems, bending them downwards. She, then, placed the three proteas in a naturalistic style, close to the lip of the ceramic vase.

Vicky used two of her flax leaves, creating a single line and placed the proteas extending forward, something that's lost in the photograph. At the very back Vicky placed the eucalyptus material.

Cymbie had fig branches from which she removed all the leaves and placed them over a retro, purple, glass container. She added one of her three hydrangeas to the side.

Lucy was absent from class but she came and picked up the materials I had for her and made an arrangement at home. She used only two of the four materials - spear grass (xanthorrhoea) and cumquats in a large, glass container.

And now for this week's camellia arrangement.

Bye for now,

Emily

AUTUMNAL ARRANGEMENTS

 

Hello all,

This is a gorgeous time of year for ikebanists in Melbourne, with its temperate, oceanic climate which features crisp, sunny days, mild temperatures (although you wouldn't think so the last few days) and stunning colourful foliage. So I set the theme of an autumnal arrangement for the advanced students.

Of course, I went to town with it. When I have an abundance of materials and the ideas that go with it, I can't resist making many arrangements. Often I don't have enough surfaces to display them and they just sit on a studio table.

The arrangement at the top of this post is an attempt to make something more contemporary. The brown bits on the gymea leaves gives an autumnal feel as do the hydrangeas, which are white when fresh but change to this pink blush as they age. This arrangement also fits into the themes of 'Colour of the Container' and 'Shape of the Container'.

The one, below, is quite large - about 1.2 metres across. The branches are persimmon and, because they were so big, I needed the large mass of sunflowers. The last element is amaranthus.

The next arrangement doesn't have an obviously autumnal look but, I feel, it is because this is the season for both elements. This, also, fits with the theme of 'Seasonal Materials'

This was a particularly difficult arrangement to make. I needed a container that could support the heavy fruit. This, resin one, holds enough water to give that balance. The challenge was to secure the heavy branches without resting on the oval ring at the top. It took some 'engineering' to achieve it.

Vicky, true to form, made another large arrangement. Her materials were ornamental grape vine and oriental lily buds. The tall, glass vase is coloured, thus concealing the stems inside.

Lei used ornamental grape vine, smoke bush, Virginia creeper and chrysanthemums in a tall basket.

Lucy was away from class but, as a keen ikebanist, she made an arrangement at home and sent me the photo. She took a unique approach to this topic. She collected oak leaves and glued them together in a sculptural design. She added two umbrella plant leaves as the fresh material. Poor Lu!  She used a hot glue gun for the job and burnt her fingers in the process. The things we do for ikebana!!

Mary used two containers. In one she placed a persimmon branch with a pronounced curve, unfortunately lost in the photograph. In the second container, positioned far at the back, she placed the chrysanthemums, reaching forward in the space created by the stem.

Last week I received a bunch of red roses, sent to me for my birthday by a friend in Germany. I was quite delighted. I made two arrangements. In the first I used a small section of a large philodendron leaf (philodendron maximum) and placed the roses in a row in a contemporary style.

The second arrangement started with the strelitzia reginae leaf that had a natural tear. Also, being a young leaf, it had a red spine, which picked up the colour of the rose. I placed a single rose peeking behind the tear of the leaf.

And now for this week's camelia arrangement.

Bye for now,

Emily

 

Hello all,

At our last class I had set the theme of 'Fruiting Plant Materials' for the senior students. In my arrangement, above, I used cumquats, cotoneaster berries and hydrangeas.

And, since my pomegranates were ready to pick, I couldn't resist making some more arrangements. Fruiting branches lend themselves mostly to naturalistic arrangements but I wanted to challenge myself to make a more modern one, below. I removed all the leaves from the pomegranate branches and placed them in this quirky, footed container. I had to place some metal weights into the container to counter the heavy fruit. I, also, employed some serious mechanics to ensure that the branches did not rest on the edge of the container. The small mass at the opening is made up of cathedral begonia leaves.

In the next arrangement I used a creeper that I was not able to identify and cathedral begonia leaves with the pomegranates.

Vicky used three, newly acquired, metal vases, into two of which she placed fig branches. She brought along dahlias but chose not to add them to the arrangement and I agreed with her.

Nicole used mainly branches of cotoneaster, the berries of which were not quite ripe, hence the orange colour instead of red. The colour, however, was ideal to go with her Paul Davis vase as well as the nandina domestica nana.

Cymbie used kefir lime branches, from which she, painstakingly, removed all but a few of the leaves. She chose a double container but used only one side. The dahlias added the floral focus and colour.

Mary, also, chose kefir lime branches in a nageire container. Her floral focus were the white lisianthus.

Dianne's class theme was 'Arrangements for Special Occasions'. She chose to depict the winter solstice as she has a friend who has a birthday around that time. Her materials were - a bare but still fresh branch, nandina domestica nana and hydrangeas. She used a heavy, ceramic container with a split down the middle.

Wendy's class theme was 'Relief Works'. Her aim was to depict fire works, having painted her board blue and her dried agapanthus in shades of yellow, orange and red, representing the exploding fire works.

And, again, I leave you with a camellia arrangement.

Bye for now,

Emily