6th June, 2022

Hello all,

For last week's class the theme for the advanced students was 'A Floor Arrangement'. Above is my example. I used two mahonia branches only in a heavy container with with splits on two sides. There was enough interest created by the flowering branches that any more flowers would have been superfluous. Or, to quote Kawana sensei, merely decoration.

Nicole used a single, spreading, bare, magnolia branch in a nageire vase and leucodendrons. We could not, successfully, photograph her arrangement in situ because the pale coloured branches were lost in the background, so we placed it on the roller blind I use for photography.

Vicky used kiwi vine and chrysanthemums in a large glass bowl. She chose to make a low arrangement and placed it under the stairs.

Bredenia also chose to place her very tall arrangement under the stairs. She used two gymea leaves and three strelitzia reginae flowers in two, triangular suibans.

Lucy was absent from class but she did the exercise at home. She made a tall arrangement, which she placed in a corner, using bird's nest ferns, nandina domestica nana and spear grass in a tall ceramic vase.

Mary's curriculum theme was 'Intertwining Plant Materials'. She used red dogwood branches (Cornus

Sibirica Alba), through which she wove dietes leaves. Two disbud chrysanthemums added the floral interest and completed the arrangement.

Wendy had the same theme and she used twisted willow (Salix matsudana 'Tortusa') in two, U-shaped, ceramic containers at some distance from each other. She intertwined the fine branches and added cotoneaster berries to the back and Asiatic lilies in the space created towards the front.

Lei's lesson was 'With Vines Only'. She used a jasmine vine with leaves on it, as well as a bare kiwi vine in a ceramic container with several openings. The chrysanthemum's added the colour.

During some recent, wild and wooly weather a large branch broke away from our fig tree. It still had a few figs on it, which inspired the arrangement, below. I used a mass of pink nerines and agapanthus in a ceramic container with two openings.

I usually write and post my blog on Monday nights. However, this week I will be attending a high school reunion that night, so, I'm posting a little earlier. We have a standing arrangement to meet every year on the first Monday of June at a local pub, with the only exception having been the last two years, due to Covid.

I'd like to share a little reunion anecdote with you. Some years back I walked into the large room at the pub, which is usually slow, being a Monday night, and I looked around to find our group. There was only one table in the far corner of the room with a group of old people sitting around it. I kept looking around to find our group when I noticed one of the 'old people' waving to me. And that's when the realisation hit me like a  sledge hammer - WE ARE THE OLD PEOPLE! If it wasn't so tragic, it would have been hilarious.

Bye for now,

Emily

DEMONSTRATION #1

 

Hello all,

As part of our exhibition I conducted two demonstrations. In this post I'm sharing the arrangements from the first one. For the above arrangement I demonstrated the technique of joining bamboo into scalene triangles first and then joining them into a structure. I had prepared the arrangement in advance because it would have taken far too long to do it in front of an audience. I worked the bamboo through the container taking advantage of the three openings. I finished it with three crucifix orchids.

The demonstration was shortly after Orthodox Easter, which inspired the arrangement, below. I used red died Easter eggs in a triangular shaped, glass vase and wisteria loosely wound in a way to represent a 'nest'. The cosmos added lightness and life to the arrangement.

In the basket arrangement, below, I wanted to demonstrate the lesson 'Paying Attention to the Shape of the Container'. I used curved agapanthus, stripped of their seed pods, nandina domestica nana and chrysanthemums.

This next arrangement is simple but quite striking. Just two leaves and a flower of strelitzia reginae in a ceramic container. I also used some small aspidistra leaves at the base.

In our area we have an abundance of pine trees (Pinus radiata), planted by the original residents who were predominantly German. I wanted to make at least one arrangement with pine and spent an hour and a half walking from tree to tree, looking for just the right branch. I setted on the one below and, for the demonstration, after a great deal of trimming and removal of superfluous needles, I showed the mechanics of securing this very heavy branch on to an appropriately strong container. I, then, needed equally strong flowers to complete the piece and for that I'm grateful to my son's neighbours, who, very kindly, let me have five proteas from their tree.

Amongst the offcuts from the pine branch I noticed one that had potential. I demonstrated how, by removing a number of side shoots, I brought out the beauty of the little stem. Then, I placed it in a small container, which I bought in Greece in 1988, long before I knew about Ikebana.

Side view to show the depth

The next arrangement is an example of three different lessons from the curriculum - 'Paying Attention to the Colour of the Container', 'Disassemblying and Rearranging the Material' and 'Repeating Similar Shapes and Forms'. I used dried bamboo and hydrangeas in a self-made, ceramic container.

For my last arrangement I used an obi which I folded into rough pleats. For this I have to acknowledge Missei Ishikawa sensei, who, in a zoom demonstration had used three obis folded this way. Although I used her idea of the obi, my arrangement is quite different. I used a very heavy, stone container into which I secured the obi. Because I could not use water in the same container, I placed a vase behind it, into which I placed flowers. For the demonstration, I used dark pink cosmos but, by the time I brought them home and reset the arrangement to photograph it, the cosmos had perished. Hence the button chrysanthemums in the photo. The cane added te necessary line and space to the arrangement.

Last Friday, Lucy, Vicky and I attended an End of Life Celebration for Judith Cougle, a student of mine, who passed away this time last year. Because of Covid, her family could not give her the send off she deserved, so they had postponed it to exactly one year to the day of her passing. Judith had planned all the details of this event, wanting to spare her family the anguish of 'What would mum have wanted'. This included her asking me to do the flowers. It was an honour to be asked and, of course, I accepted. In all of her communications, Judith followed her signature with the sunflower emoji, so I made sure that in two of the arrangements, I used sunflowers, which were then given to her friends at the end of the ceremony.

In the eulogies her family and fiends spoke of Judith's many, admirable qualities and achievements but what I remember most is her warmth. I have a vision of her looking up at me, as she was a little shorter, with a broad smile and partially squinting eyes. Judith was not just my student but also a friend. My sisters and I connected with her on a personal level and we will miss her.

Judith with her only son, Callum

Judith with Maisey, the light of her life

Bye for now,

Emily

23rd May, 2022

 

Hello all,

The theme for Wednesday's class was 'Complementing an Art Work' and was chosen by Jenny. She picked one of the abstract paintings by Piet Mondrian for which he is best known. She placed the print between two plastic containers, inspired by Mondrian's paintings, which she bought at the NGV. Jenny used umbrella grass stems to reflect the lines in the painting and trimmed the flowerheads of the umbrella grass to tie in with the contemporary look of the art piece.

For my example of this theme, I struggled to find an art piece of mine that I have not used this way in the past. Then, I remembered my sculpture sitting on the lawn in our back yard. This is a big sculpture, as tall as me, so it was challenging to say the least. Fortunately, I have a clump of gymea lilies with the large, strong leaves tipped with russet brown colours, reflecting the rusted steel of half of the sculpture. In order to get the height I needed, I joined two leaves lengthwise, extending the length. The gymea leaves were particularly well suited for this application because they can survive without water. I hammered steel rods into the ground and wired the leaves onto them.

Bedenia used a  small sculpture of the New Zealand symbol, 'Koru', a new fernleaf. She used 2 strelitzia reginae, dried leaves, which she sprayed gold, white nerines  and alstroemeria psittacina leaves in a lacquered vase.

Vicky's tower of rocks was her art piece. She used a dried, strelitzia nicolai leaf that was sprayed lightly with blue and placed around a tall glass container. She added three leaves of the Chinese Money Plant, Pilea peperomioides and a single anthurium.

Lucy referenced John Olsen's painting - 'Giraffes with Balloon'. She used dried branches, ginkgo biloba and a monstera deliciosa leaf, in a ceramic vase.

Shaneen's curriculum theme was 'Arrangement with Plants on a Wall'. She used a dry branch, Singapore orchids and nandina domestica nana.

Dianne's lesson was 'Special Materials and Arrangements for Festive Occasions'. She chose to celebrate the winter solstice. She used stephanandra, nandina berries, sedum and leucodendron.

Lei's lesson was 'A Variety of Materials'. She used a metal container she bought at headquarters, which has a very narrow base. She built up the volume of her materials up high, giving the impression of floating.

Wendy's Lesson was 'Composition of Surfaces Made by the Massing of Lines'. She used umbrella grass for the 'surface' and roses to complete the arrangement in a  ceramic suiban.

Mary had the same lesson as Wendy. She used agapanthus stems to create surfaces and disbud chrysanthemum's in a ceramic suiban.

Mary's previous lesson was 'Composition of Surfaces by Using Leaves'. She used New Zealand flax, gymea leaf, monstera deliciosa leaf and white lisianthus peeking through the splits of the monstera leaf, in a ceramic suiban.

Bye for now,

Emily

IKEBANA - A MOMENT IN TIME #3

 

Hello all,

Here is a Virtual Tour of our exhibition, supplied by Jacquie Nichols-Reeves from Artspace at Box Hil Town Hall. As it is attached to another exhibition, you will need to click on the right hand side of the image for our exhibition and go from there.

https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=x6ewbAhEYgy

I have a few more photographs from our exhibition to share with you. The above arrangement was Bredenia's. She used a driftwood-like material balanced on a ceramic vase and with it she massed yellow chrysanthemums at the front and nandina domestica nana to the back.

Jenny, in her arrangement below, used dried rhododendron branches and hydrangeas in autumn colours, in a large ceramic container.

Nicole's miniatures were a big hit with the public. People are often drawn to the 'cuteness' of the miniatures. My mother is one of them. Over the decades she has seen countless ikebana arrangements in mine and my sisters' homes but she never comments on them. Except for the miniatures. She, absolutely, loves them.

Lucy's metal sculpture, below, is made using a material from the building trade called 'reo chairs'. This is an example of the lesson in Book 5 - 'Composition Using Unconventional Materials'.

In contrast, Lucy's second piece, below, was a large, naturalistic, freestyle arrangement. She used ginkgo biloba for her main branches, pomegranates and lisianthus in a tall, ceramic vase. Over the two weeks of the exhibition, Lucy had to change the flowers more than once. She later replaced the lisianthus with white hydrangeas.

Cym's second arrangement was in a large glass cabinet with only a 35cm depth. She used dried, lichen covered branches, a stem of cordyline, dried amaranthus and philodendron chango leaves in a heavy ceramic container. For the second week, Cym replaced the cordyline with two, large New Zealand flax leaves.

Christopher's second arrangement was displayed in a glass cabinet.during the exhibition but, here, it has been photographed out of it. It is a birchwood sculpture with nandina domestica nana and 2 sedge leaves in a large, contemporary, ceramic container. This container is, understandably, much prized by Christopher. It was created by Echizen Potter, Yutaka Nakamura and was acquired by Christopher in 2011 whilst on the Norman and Mary Sparnon Endowment Scholarship.

Christine's arrangement lasted for the two weeks of the exhibition without requiring any maintenance. She used a dried, vine-like material, sprayed black and a single sunflower in a small, ceramic container.

Dianne's arrangement is from the curriculum. It is 'Variation no. 2 Slanting style Moribana'. She used leucodendron branches and roses from her garden in a ceramic suiban.

Lei's arrangement was also from the curriculum - 'Using Only One Kind of Material' and that was Umbrella grass (Cyperus Alternifolius) in a contemporary design.

Wendy's 'Vertical Arrangement' was also from the curriculum. She used gladioli stems and agapanthus leaves in a ceramic container. In contrast to Christine's arrangement, Wendy's flowers were short lived and had to be replaced several times. Wendy was very diligent in making sure that the flowers were always fresh.

My original arrangement using umbrella grass stems only lasted a week and had to be replaced. So, I made another one, using the same technique but a different design. I was looking for a way to showcase the pomegranates that I was able to save from the possums by covering them in plastic bags.

Bye for now,

Emily

9th May, 2022

 

Hello all,

Our exhibition is over and we are all very happy with what we have achieved. It was the first time that I was responsible for an exhibition, even if it was a relatively small one and I had to fight some misgivings of whether I would be able to pull it off. But, of course, I was not alone. Everyone was very willing and eager to be a part of it and to do everything necessary to maintain the arrangements so that they always looked fresh. This is quite an undertaking over a two week period. Also, Jacquie Nichols-Reeves, the curator of Artspace at Box Hill, and her assistants were helpful and accomodating, so that everything ran smoothly.

You may have noticed that I have not posted the photographs of all of the arrangements. There were 20 altogether. I'm having some technical difficulties, which I hope to resolve by the next posting of this blog.

In the meantime I can share with you the photographs of our regular, Wednesday class. The theme for the advanced students was 'Disassembling and Rearranging the Material'.

The arrangement, above, was by Nicole. She used a rhododendron branch, from which she removed all the leaves. She, then placed one flower bud and folded leaves on a kenzan at the back.

Jenny used red stemmed, Japanese Maple - 'Senkaki/Coral Bark' and arranged it, together with the massed leaves, to appear wind swept.

Vicky used Liquidamber branches as their leaves are changing colour in two, matching, ceramic containers.

I decided to use the pine needles that I had removed from a large branch I had used in my first demonstration. I had laid them on some non-stick baking paper in a circle and sprayed them with adhesive. When I looked at the result, it looked like a flat wreath. So I played around with folding it and placing it in a container. I sprayed black the stripped stem of the pine because its natural colour is a very dull grey. I used some golden coloured chrysanthemums to finish the arrangement. 

Wendy's curriculum lesson was 'Surfaces of Leaves'. She used strelitzia nicolai leaves and roses in a ceramic pot.

Shaneen's lesson was 'Paying Attention to the container and to the Place Where the Arrangement will be Put'. She used a variegated Coprosma and chrysanthemum's in two, self made, ceramic troughs.

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Lei's lesson was 'With Branches Only'. We discussed that the ornamental vine she used was not, technically a branch but it was good practice working with the vine, which can be difficult. Shaneen contributed some of her Coprosma to complete the arrangement. Everyone was envious of Lei's container, a recent op-shop find.

Bye for now,

Emily

IKEBANA -A MOMENT IN TIME #2

 

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Hello all,

Our exhibition continues for another week. Some arrangements have had to be maintained by replacing dying materials or being replaced altogether.

My student, Lei Wang, a budding photographer, has, very generously, taken photos of all of the arrangements and is editing them a few at a time and sending them to me. I am sharing them with you as I receive them.

Vicky's arrangement, above, is in a large, glass cabinet, which is only 35cm deep. A challenging space to say the least, necessitating a very flat arrangement. She used large, glossy gymea leaves and two bromeliads, Neoregelia carolinae.

The basket, below, was done by Nicole, who has a particular fondness for this type of arrangement.

The next one is mine and it is a replacement one. You will, no doubt, have noticed that the pine tufts are pointing in all directions. I placed it exactly the way it grew on the tree, which should have had all the tufts pointing up but, not so. The container is ceramic with a handle made of twisted wisteria stems. I particularly like the contrast of the hydrangea colours against the vivid blue of the container.

Shaneen's arrangement, below, is from the curriculum and the theme is 'With Leaves Only. She, very wisely, used materials that last well - Birds nest ferns, cordylines, rhapis palm and canna lily leaves.

Cym used fresh and unconventional materials in her monochromatic arrangement. She used Silver Tiki fern, arrow leaves, Anthuriums, tetragona nuts and soft garden mesh.

These are all the photos I have so far. More to come later.

Bye for now,

A very tired Emily