Masterclass No. 4

 

Bredenia's arrangement

Hello all,

Today's masterclass was particularly challenging for the participants, who arrived having no idea of what was expected of them. As usual, I provided materials and containers for each one but it was by lottery that it was decided who would get which materials.

I instructed them that they would each do a demonstration of their arrangement. I gave a talk about demonstrating, drawing from my rather lengthy experience. I allowed them as much time as they needed to, first of all, plan an arrangement with materials they had not seen before and to prepare it for a demonstration.

They, then, took turns to demonstrate and, I'm happy to say, they all did well. I feel it is very important to practice demonstrating Ikebana. For some people, demonstrating in front of an audience comes quite naturally but, for others, it can be daunting. The only way to get over this is to practice as much as possible, especially in the safe environment of class. Good demonstrations are very important for teaching purposes but, also, for promoting Ikebana to the general public.

Lucy's lottery number was 1 and her materials were three different types of big, strong leaves, which necessitated making an arrangement with leaves only. Her container was a large, lacquered, asymmetrical suiban, red on the inside and black on the outside. Lucy was quite inventive with the mechanics she employed.

Bredenia drew the number 2. Her materials were cotoneaster berry branches, from which she painstakingly removed all the leaves, hydrangea stems that are turning golden and two Asiatic lily stems. Her container was a tall ceramic vase. 

Vicky drew the number 3. She had two monstera deliciosa leaves, wisteria vine and two stems of Asiatic lilies. Her container was a particularly strong and heavy ceramic vase with a split down the middle.

Susan was next and she had a low container with several holes at the top. She had a generous bunch of umbrella grass, enough to practice with and then to demonstrate and two stems of mauve chrysanthemums.

Akemi drew number 5. She had corky elm stems, the tips of which she snapped to create an interesting shape, chrysanthemums and amaranthus. Her vase was ceramic with splits on either side.

Christine drew number 6. She had a ceramic, nageire container, Siberian dogwood, alstroemeria psittacina leaves and 2 iris stems. She used a horizontal fixture to secure the tall, curved stems to the vase, creating a beautiful space.

And last but, by no means, least was Jenny. She had a modern, triangular, ceramic container, aspidistra leaves, wisteria and 3 iris stems. Jenny used a stick in the shape of a fork inside the container to support the very slanted iris stems.

The class ran to almost double the normal time but I had expected that it would and had warned the participants. We also had to contend with the safety requirements imposed on us due to the latest restrictions. We wore masks,  There was one table per person, thus keeping the required distance between them, I have a QR code that everyone used to check in, I sanitised all the surfaces and cordoned off the house from the studio. Despite all that, we had a very pleasant and productive lesson. I look forward to more.

Bye for now,

Emily

14th June, 2021

 

Hello all,

We have had some seriously damaging weather last week and in particular on Wednesday, which left thousands of homes in some outer Melbourne and country towns with fallen trees, blocked roads and no power. In some cases power has not been restored and won't be for a while yet because of the damage done, not only to power lines but also transformers and power poles as well. I can't imagine how people are coping in this dreadful cold without heating.

My student, Dianne lives in Trentham, a town that was particularly badly hit by the storms. Apart from having to cope without power, their water was contaminated for some days and they were advised not to drink it. Dianne considers herself lucky because, apart from her electric heating, she also has a wood heater and was able to invite some neighbours to her home to stay warm. Three large trees had fallen on her property. Below is the photo of one of them. Fortunately they did not fall on her house or studio.The added tragedy is the loss of these magnificent trees that would have taken decades and, in some cases, even longer, to grow.

Back to ikebana, I'm continuing making arrangements with few or no flowers. The photo at the top of the blog is made with agaves and cotoneaster berries. I have to confess that, despite my securing the large agave with a horizontal fixture, it fell backwards but, fortunately, didn't break the container. I was able to put it back and took even greater pains to secure it. Keeping fingers crossed.

I looked around the garden for interesting materials and decided to make a green arrangement using curculigo leaves and aeoniums. As is often the case, later when I looked at the arrangement, I had a change of heart. I  wasn't very pleased with the use of the aeoniums so I replaced them with the camelia.

During a very welcome break in the wet and windy weather I stepped outside only to be confronted by the myriad gardening jobs awaiting me. I started with tidying up this fern that had self seeded some years ago but which I allowed to grow because it provides a lovely screen for the water tank. I was particularly taken by the uncoiling of the young fronds and decided to make an arrangement using only one kind of material.

I used the larger fronds in this, much larger arrangement. I removed the leaves from one side and gently curved the stems in opposite directions to create a space in the middle. I, then, used the only flowers available - arum lilies.

But I ask you, have you ever seen arum lilies with such long stems? I'm 160cm tall and one of them is as tall as me! It's a shame I had to cut those long stems away in order to use the flowers with the fern.

Another plant that required tidying up is the wisteria. Half way through my pruning I got the idea for an arrangement and dropped the pruning and switched to ikebana. In my mind this was going to be a much smaller arrangement but, somehow, it ended up quite big. This is not unusual for me. 

I sprayed the smaller, squiggly pieces of the vine an orangy red colour and the heavier, straighter pieces black, creating a contrast of both colour and shape. At the bottom of the garden I found the first green goddess lilies, which look quite good against the red and black. It's one of those pieces which is very difficult to photograph successfully. So, I'm giving you two views. You might be surprised to know that the one on the right looks much better in real life, whereas the one on the left looks better in the photograph.

Another green arrangement is this next one using one curculigo leaf and a papyrus seed head.

Bye for now,

Emily

7th June, 2021

 

Hello all,

So, we're still in lockdown, it's cold and windy and I had an almighty scare, healthwise today. I had my Astrazeneca vaccine last week and yesterday I discovered a bruise and lump on my thigh. Went to the GP, who, like me, thought it was a blood clot but, fortunately, an ultrasound proved that it was not. Phew!!

Ordinarily, when I'm feeling low, the best thing I can do is to go out into the garden. In no time at all I find things to do and materials to use in ikebana and I perk up. This last week I found it difficult to be inspired and I had to put more effort in creating works for this blog.

Flowers are scarce in my garden this time of year. The arum lilies are just starting to flower, as are the camellias but there's little else. However, we, ikebanists, can create arrangements with or without flowers. For the arrangement, above, I used one large strelitzia reginae leaf and three proteas from my son's neighbours' garden. With permission, of course. I placed my self-made, ceramic container on its side, something that had not occurred to me to do until Christopher had used it that way in one of my classes.

I had one protea flower left over, so I used it in this very simple arrangement with a monstera deliciosa leaf.

Berries are in plentiful supply at the moment, so I took advantage of them to create a number of arrangements. In the wall arrangement, below, the stems of cotoneaster berries, from which I painstakingly removed the leaves, drape over the front loop and cascade forward. Unfortunately, this is not very clear in the photo.

In the next piece, I used one stem of orange berries (Cotoneaster franchetii) and dietes leaves.

And, from the offcuts, I found two stems with a right angle bend that sat together very well. I had to coax the camellia stem to follow the same line. Fortunately, camellia stems are bendable. making this quite easy.

One of the more onerous jobs in my garden is the removal of elm suckers. It's an ongoing battle because any that are not removed can, potentially, grow into full sized trees. I removed quite a lot of them on the weekend but was loath to throw away the the long, slender stems, I brought them inside and challenged myself to find a way to use them. I wanted to feature the lines created by the stems in this ceramic container with three openings. I had half coming out from the back and the other half from the front and had them meeting together in a loose weave. I finished it off with a stem of cotoneaster berries.

Front view

Back view

Once I finished it, however, I wasn't happy. I didn't feel the berries were quite right so I went out looking for something else. I found the arum lily buds and replaced the berries with them. I think it's much smarter now.

I hope you all stay safe and warm and positive.

Bye for now,

Emily

31st May, 2021

 

Hello all,

Well, here we are in lockdown for the fourth time and, although we know the reasons for it and we know what to do, it's difficult not to be frustrated. Just last weekend I had three events cancelled. One of them was a Sogetsu event - a day of workshops with a guest presenter from Brisbane, Vernisher Wooh. Like everyone who booked for this event, I was looking forward to the social as well as the ikebana aspect of it and am, therefore, quite disappointed.

Although I could not meet up with my ikebana colleagues, I could still make the arrangements that Vernisher had chosen for the workshops.

The first was making an arrangement 'Using One Kind of Material'. A quick walk around the garden and I came across a number of suitable materials. My first choice was the mahonia, which is in full flower and has interestingly shaped branches because the willow tree fell on it some years ago and bent it. This means that some of the branches grow horizontally. I picked a rather large branch from which I removed superfluous leaves and a couple of side branches. As the stem is horizontal, it sits quite high in the container and requires a vertical fixture to keep it in position.

Mahonia stems with leaves can last a very long time in water. In marked contrast, the flowers start to drop the very next day. After the third day, I got tired of vacuuming yellow flowers from the table and removed the flowers all together. The stems still look great.

I couldn't resist making a second arrangement with these leucodendron stems, which have interesting curves. I wanted to emphasise these curves and the colour, so I removed more than half the leaves that were growing along the stems. I removed all of the leaves at the bottom keeping the lines at the entry into the container clean.

The second exercise was to have been a combination of two themes - An ikebana arrangement using materials representing the autumn/winter transition and incorporating Book 4 Lesson 20, 'You in Ikebana'.

I gave considerable thought to this challenge, Autumnal arrangements bring to mind branches with leaves changing colours. This almost invariably leads to a naturalistic arrangement, which is all well and good but, in this case I had to incorporate 'Me' in this arrangement. Although I love and practice all forms of ikebana, the style I'm most drawn to is the minimalist/modern one. Here's what I came up with:

The stems are from my weeping elm. The one on the right sits a little further back from the one one the left, giving some depth. Unfortunately, this is lost in the photograph, making the arrangement look a little too minimalist. I, actually like it this way but I know that some of you would prefer more. So, I went out into the garden looking for something, other than a flower to add. The white camellia bud was something I was prepared to accept.

Last week, when travel was still allowed, I came across a flowering hakea tree that was almost past its best. I was able to find three stems with good flowers and some buds and I brought them home. I reused the chrysanthemums that Toula gave me to complete this simple but, for me, pleasing arrangement.

This next arrangement goes under the category of playing. The dried piece was lying around in the ikebana room when I picked it up to take to the store room. It never made it. I placed it in this, self made container, then had to consider materials to add to it. The container has a narrow neck, so thin stemmed materials would be best. Enter the crucifix orchid, of which I used three stems.

I mentioned my prunus mume, Japanese flowering apricot, last week because it is just coming into flower. This seems quite unseasonal because the blossoms look like spring blossoms but they arrive at the beginning of winter. I wanted to use this material for a large arrangement in my newly acquired container, a Mothers' Day present from my children and because I like them best when they are just starting to flower. When the flowers are fully open, the tree looks wonderful but in an arrangement the stems are not so good, as they keep dropping petals.

Although pleasing, this arrangement looks incongruous to me. The blossoms look like spring as do the camellias but the hydrangeas are definitely autumnal. The cosmos looks like it belongs to spring or summer.  This is quite a large arrangement - The main branch is about 1.3 metres in length and sweeps forward. I've included a photo of the side view to demonstrate.

In this next arrangement I did a bit of manipulation of the stems of prunus mume. I noticed the way a number of side shoots were growing in one direction and, wanting to emphasise that, I removed others, which were growing in  different directions, then bent the long stem and secured it with wire. My rose's last hurrah came in very handy to finish this piece.

Stay safe and well, everyone.

Bye for now,

Emily

24th May, 2021

 

Hello all,

Mum was sweeping the path in the back garden where the succulent, above, was in her way so she broke some pieces off and tossed them in the bin. Fortunately, I saw them and retrieved them and, together with the pomegranates that had to be cut to be saved from the birds, I was able to create an arrangement. Both materials are long lasting, so I expect to have this arrangement for a long time. Good for exhibitions.

At our recent Ikebana International meeting a workshop was conducted by Felicia Huang, a practicing teacher of the Ohara school. Felicia demonstrated two moribana landscape arrangements using winter branches. I direct you to our II Blog for more information and photographs of Felicia's work as well as that of the many members.

For my part, I took along an arrangement I made previously using a horizontal piece of magnolia but this time I used tulips instead of the floating camellias.

I found Felicia's work quite inspiring, in particular her use of fine and delicate branches, whereas I usually am drawn to more bold and strong materials, as is evidenced by my use of the magnolia.

With all of this in mind, for class I asked the advanced students to make what I call a 'Pond Arrangement', which is to say a landscape scene depicting plants growing beside water.  We really enjoyed this exercis and were delighted with the results.

For my arrangement I used driftwood, stones, pine, Dutch iris, baby tears (Soleirolia soleirolii), umbrella grass, cosmos and branches from my prunus mume, which had tight flower buds. Unfortunately, the photo does not show the forward sweep of these branches.

A few days later, with the warmth in the house, the iris are open as well as some of the flowers of the prunus mume.

In her arrangement, below, Maren used similar materials - drift wood, prunus mume, an unknown succulent, umbrella grass, spider plant and jonquils in a ceramic suiban.

Jenny used driftwood, Siberian dogwood,calla lily leaves, ming fern and daisies in a ceramic suiban.

Vicky used Siberian dogwood, fern, umbrella grass and daisies in a large, metallic suiban.

Lucy had a maller suiban and opted for height, using a  piece of bark, prunus mume, Umbrella grass, spider plant, cosmos and lobster flower (Spurflowers Plenctranthus).

Wendy's curriculum lesson was 'Curved lines'. She used Siberian dogwood, Oriental lilies and alstroemeria psittacina leaves.

Lei's curriculum lesson was 'Mass and Line'. She used cotoneaster berries and a prunus mume stem in an interesting, ceramic vase with two openings.

Shaneen's curriculum lesson was 'Vines'. She used jasmine and coleus in a curbed, ceramic container.

I leave you with these two views from our balcony of our back garden in its autumnal splendour.

Bye for now,

Emily

17th May, 2021

 

Hello all,

We've had some particularly cold days recently, a taste of things to come and the deciduous trees around Melbourne have put on a spectacular show. There are many streets around my area, lined with Manchurian pears, which begin to colour unevenly at first and gradually turn a dark red. They are stunning in autumn as well as in winter with bare branches showing the little buds on the ends of the stems and, of course, in spring with their clusters of white flowers. The only down side is the unpleasant smell of the flowers. Well, no tree is perfect!

I made a wall arrangement, above, using Manchurian pear branches and the last of my hydrangeas. The 'container' is a piece of art made of aluminium which was given to me by Lucy in my early days of ikebana and is, therefore, much prised. 

Despite the cold weather, Sam and I have been out in the garden, clearing the vegetable patch and, in the process, harvested the pumpkins. They should be allowed to 'cure' by sitting in the sun for about a week, then being stored away. Before I do that, however, I wanted to have some fun with them. 

I was clearing up after the last Masterclass and came across some of the vertical blinds strip that was left behind by Julie. I picked it up and almost had it in the bin when the compulsive part of me took over and I started playing with it. Below is the result. Julie used this material in a tight, smart arrangement. Mine is a bit more predictable but fun, anyway. I used a single pomegranate and a rather confused clivia, flowering completely out of season.

It was Mothers' Day last week and my mother, who is living with us, was given a large bunch of gorgeous tulips by her grandchildren. Mum loves big, colourful flowers and I wanted to arrange the tulips making a big show of them alone. I settled on this 'tsubo' shaped container with holes all around making it possible to create this flowery ball. They looked lovely for a couple of days but tulips have the annoying habit of continuing to grow and to follow the light, so the arrangement lost its shape but the flowers still looked good and mum loved them.

The first of my arum lilies flowered and I used them with this curved Viburnum Tomentosum stem. The container has a similar curve. An example of paying attention to the shape of the container.

Below is another wall arrangement, using a partially dried strelitzia nicolai leaf, dahlias and cumquats.

I leave you with this cheeky little arrangement using cotoneaster berries and a cosmos flower.

Bye for now,

Emily