26th September, 2022

Hello all,

Last week I visited my elderly uncle and untie, bringing them some dinner, when I noticed their cherry tree and magnolia tree in full bloom beckoning to me. They readily allowed me to cut some branches from both but I was careful to only cut a small amount from each. I checked with google for the name of the magnolia and, I think, it is Magnolia Soulangeana Rustica Rubra. Whatever the name it is quite delightful and the flowers have lasted for four days, which is unusual for a magnolia.

Their cherry tree actually produces fruit and is not just ornamental, however, the fruit are only enjoyed by the birds. I arranged the branch in a basket and added bright red rhododendron and camellia flowers. I see it as a very happy, spring arrangement.

For class last week I decided to take the advanced students, including myself, back to basics and set them the exercise Variation No. 8 from Book 2. In this exercise two basic arrangements are made and then placed together to create one. I asked them to make one nageire and one moribana. I made a Variation no. 4 slanting style, moribana, reversed, using diosma and arum lilies. And a Basic upright, nageire using wax flower and arum lilies.

Jenny Made a variation No.1 Upright style, moribana using the pink colored Toona Sinensis and red roses. The other arrangement is Variation no. 4 horizontal style, nageire reversed, which is made up of a beautiful but, rather, foul smelling pear blossom branch and red roses.

Nicole used pussy willow and alstroemeria in Variation No. 4 upright style, nageire and Variation No. 4 slanting style, moribana, using an Australian native branch, the name of which I don't know. The alstroemeria is a connecting element in the arrangements.

Lucy used some large branches of Photinia x fraseri and green goddess lilies in both arrangements. One of them is Variation no. 3 slanting style nageire and the other, Variation No. 4 slanting style, moribana, reversed.

Vicky, also, used the same materials in both arrangements. Variation No 3 Slanting style nageire and Variation No 6 slanting style, moribana. Her materials were Mexican orange (Choisya ternata) and oriental lilies.

Mary and Shanen happen to have the same curriculum theme. The challenging exercise of 'Using a Variety of Materials'.

Shaneen used seven different materials but was able to prevent her arrangement from looking western by grouping her materials and allowing some space in the middle with some stems showing. She, also, left part of the lip of the container free of materials.

Mary used 5 materials and she, too, grouped them and created asymmetry with the tall elm branch. The space around the Ikenobo style container is, also, very important.

Wendy's class theme was 'Lines at the Base'. She used yellow broom and Dutch iris, with the clean lines of the stems coming out of the centre of the container. She chose the materials because the yellow of the iris picked up the yellow of the broom.

Lei's curriculum theme was 'Disassembling and Rearranging the Material'. She cut the stems of the sunflowers into small pieces and threaded a thick but malleable wire through them and, then, bent the wire with the stems into the shapes in the photo, below. The position of the sunflowers is most pleasing in this, rather quirky vase, which has a slight lean to one side.

Bye for now,

Emily

SAM'S SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY

 

Sam blowing out the candles with his two, beautiful assistants.

Hello everyone,

I usually try to keep the personal content in this blog to a minimum but this is a once in a lifetime event and I had to share it. Sam is turning seventy this month and we, the family, planned a surprise birthday party for him. I'd booked a restaurant as we couldn't have it at home and invited 70 people. It took a great deal of subterfuge and a number of ruses to prevent him from guessing what we were planning.

Because Sam works from home, I could make no preparations here, so I had to keep inventing reasons to go to Vicky's place so we could work on the cake, which looks simple enough but was, in fact quite challenging. 

All our efforts were rewarded because the party was a resounding success, especially for the birthday boy, who was totally surprised. It helps that he is just about the most trusting person I know. Everyone at the party was commenting on how good it was to catch up with friends after such a long time. The kids were particularly excited at the idea of a surprise and were very good at keeping the secret. A couple of them even had a speech for their papou. 

I wanted a floral arrangement next to the cake and, because of lack of time, I reworked one I had done for my demonstration at the Box Hill Town Hall. Originally, the bamboo was green and, as it faded, it became quite dull, so I sprayed it black and used anthuriums instead of the crucifix orchids. I also added some alstroemeria psittacina leaves.

And now back to ikebana. A lovely family has recently moved into the property adjoining the back of ours. The previous owner had managed to alienate all the neighbours and we were  all delighted to see him go. Anyway, there is a mature weeping mulberry on this very large property, which I can see from my balcony and which I have always coveted. Benny, the neighbour, seems so friendly that I felt I could ask if I could cut some of the underneath stems. Well, he was so generous, he brought out a chain saw and cut two very big pieces and offered to cut more if I wanted it. Needless to say I was extremely grateful and as soon as I get a minute I'll bake some biscuits for them. The first arrangement, which featured in last week's post is made with the very twisted, thick part of the underside of the plant.

The second one is with a very big branch of the 'weeping', exterior part that I had to trim substantially but which still remains big. The giant  euphorbia were grown and given to me by Lucy and were ideal to balance with the size of the branch. I find the new leaf buds on the branch particularly charming. They have grown bigger since the photo was taken.

In situ on the dining table.

And the offcuts were not to be discarded. The gentle curves of those long stems worked well in the striking, lacquered suiban. The arum lilies follow the lines of the stems and I kept the alstroemeria psittacina quite low so as not to obstruct the curves of the stems.

My aeonium produced a flower, which I've been wanting to use for some time and today was the day. The red dogwood (Cornus Siberica alba) has been a deep red colour all winter and now is producing bright green leaves on the tips of the red stems. Gorgeous! So I put th two together in a large, ceramic vase.

Another charming plant is my leafless wattle (acacia aphylla), especially this time of year when it is in flower. Unlike most other wattles, its flowers don't grow in clusters but are like individual little gems. It is a small plant so I cut a small piece. The yellow edged petals of the tulips pick up the color of the wattle and the ceramic vase was, also, chosen for its colour.

It is now 11.30 pm and I'm quite exhausted, so I'll wish you all a good night.

Emily

12th September, 2022

Hello all,

For the theme for the advanced students I delved into 'The Fifty Principles of Sogetsu' and chose No. 45

'If the flowers are the main feature, the container should be subordinate to the flowers.Likewise, if the container is the main focus, then the flowers should be secondary to it.'

In my arrangement, above, the flowers and wooden structure are quite dominant, whereas the black suiban, despite its large size, fades into the background.

In my arrangement, below, the opposite is the case. I made the container in my early days of ikebana, before I realised that a very ornate container requires a simple arrangement, therefore, it gets little use.

It does not follow, however, that for this exercise one needs to use an ornate container. My example, below, shows a simple container with subordinate flower and stems.

Jenny's spring flowers were the dominant feature in her arrangement, below. 

Vicky used a heavy, glass vase, dried New Zealand flax and an anthurium. The vase is obviously the dominant feature.

Bredenia, also, chose to feature her ceramic vase by keeping the dietes leaves low and the clivia buds to the back.

Lucy wanted to challenge herself by making both types of arrangements using the same material and the same container. In the first she gave emphasis to the camellia flowers.

....And in the second to the container.

Shaneen's revision lesson was 'In a Suiban without a Kenzan'. Always a challenging exercise but she managed it very well. She used a dark leafed crocosmia, contrasting with the variegated pittosporum and a single Green Goddess lily. The structure was well balanced, without the stems resting against the edges of the container.

Wendy's curriculum lesson was 'Sketching and Arranging', where a student is required to, after studying the material and container, sketch the arrangement they wish to make and, then, make it. All too often, the finished  arrangement is not quite the same as the sketch. But that's OK because it is the exercise that's important, more so than the end result. Wendy used poppies and New Zealand flax.

Mary's curriculum lesson was 'Only One Kind of Material'. In this exercise the choice of material is important as there has to be enough interest in just the one material to create a good ikebana. Luckily, my prunus elvins was in full bloom and fit the bill beautifully and her ceramic container was a perfect match.

Bye for now,

Emily

MASTERCLASS # 12

 

Hello all,

For today's Masterclass I provided each attendant with a large branch of corky elm and five green goddess lilies. They were to select their own containers for their arrangement. Although they look dry, the branches were fresh, making them malleable, able to be bent and reshaped.

 Prior to class I, also, challenged myself with the same exercise. The result is the arrangement, above. The branches were very straight but I was able to bend them to create  the repeated curves

Christine created sharp angles, which were accentuated by the removal of smaller, subordinate branches. She used only two, fully opened lilies in a heavy, ceramic container, which has a split down the middle.

Vicky used a doughnut shaped, ceramic container with three openings. She curved the branches from either side of the container but maintained the asymmetry by placing more branches to the left than to the right. The three lilies completed the arrangement.

Jenny, also, used a container with a split down the middle. She manipulated the branches minimally and fed the branch through the opening. She added three lilies not quite unfurled.

Lucy used a triangular container and created the first design.

... but then, she tried adding more corky elm. They were both smart arrangements but, after some discussion, we could not decide which version we preferred, so I've included both here. 

Bye for now,

Emily

ARUM LILIES

 

Hello all,

I run my regular classes on the first and third Wednesday of each month. On some months, such as August this year, there were 5 Wednesdays all told, which meant that there were two weeks free of classes. This is an explanation for the absence of students' works in this and the previous posts. At such times I have to work a little harder to produce enough material for the blog on my own.

In the above arrangement I used a structure that I had created in the past and which I enlarged by adding more pieces to it.The material is the New Zealand flax flower spike, which, when dry is light and, generally, straight, making it quite easy to work with. I was able to suspend the structure without it resting on the table because it is so light.The strelitzia reginae added more drama to the piece and, in contrast, the nandina domestica nana added softness.

I had removed the dry seed pods in order to use the straight stems but could not discard them. I made a small arrangement with them and two of my tulips.

A couple of weeks ago I made the wall arrangement, below, using camellias and weeping willow branches, which are just starting to produce leaves. I absolutely love this stage of the willow. The tree looks as though it is wearing a sheer, green veil. The arrangement looked quite charming with the willow reaching almost to the floor.

When the camellias died, I removed them and reworked the arrangement, adding arum lilies instead.

With an abundance of arum lilies, I wanted to use them in different ways. This time as a mass. They are big flowers, creating a big mass and, therefore, requiring big branches for balance. The loquat tree provided the heavy branches and I split and interlocked them in the tsubo vase. This method is called Kousa-dome. 

And I couldn't do a blog about arum lilies without using some, whose stems I had manipulated into interesting, curved shapes. I, also, used sprigs of geranium leaves in a ceramic container.

Bye for now,

Emily

SPRING BULBS

 

Hello all,

I was supposed to be writing this blog on the balcony or by the pool of a luxury hotel in Port Douglas but Covid put paid to that.(Insert strong expletives here!). Two days before we were due to fly north Sam tested positive. He spent the intervening days strictly isolating in his office and me dancing attention, providing all his needs. It was a valiant effort by both of us but, I guess, it was inevitable that I would catch it too. This morning I tested positive. (More expletives!) So, instead of balmy tropical weather we're coping with wet and miserable Melbourne. This is not an attempt to elicit sympathy. I know that many of you have had to deal with Covid, I just wanted to vent.

After the winter months of a serious dearth of flowers in the garden, my bulbs have exploded into flower and I have dozens and dozens of narcissus, a few tulips, arum lilies and hyacinths. Because I grow these bulbs in pots, I remove them when the leaves have died down and store them until next autumn, when I plant them out again. This makes the bulbs strong and I get big, healthy flowers and leaves.

In the arrangement, above, I felt that the white of the containers and the kiwi vine was a perfect foil for the deep blue of the hyacinths.

I know that some people dislike the smell of narcissus but Sam and I love it. I placed the arrangement, below, on the kitchen island bench and every time I walk past it I am assailed by the strong fragrance. You may be interested to know that I wired the leaves to be able to curve them in such a way.

Tulips are probably the most temperamental of the bulbs but I've had a modicum of success with them. I just used horsetail, Equisetum hyemale, in my next arrangement because I wanted to keep the main focus on the tulps.

I use my corkscrew hazel (Corylus avellana 'Contorta') very sparingly as it is painfully slow growing. However, one of the branches was growing too low and had to be pruned. It is at its best this time of year with its squiggly, bare branches and dangling catkins. Hence my arrangement, below. I used pink hyacinths and narcissus in a metal container.

Here's another use of the narcissus. This time with large, fleshy leaves of the Haemanthus Coccineus lily and kiwi vine in a ceramic container.

Of course there are other materials, also, in the garden. I had cut the orange branch intending to use it in a nageire arrangement, however, the fruit were so heavy and the stems so thin that I had to rethink my original idea. I created a morimono, instead. The two little pumpkins were from a plant that had self seeded, most likely from the compost and the camellia is Brushfield's Yellow. The glass piece they are sitting on has two holes and sits on a container with water in it, accommodating the camellia.

Bye for now,

Emily

WINTER ARRANGEMENTS

Hello all,

Let me start this post with an explanation. Those of you who had subscribed to my blog in the past and have been receiving emails of the blog as I posted it, would have noticed that the said emails had stopped for a while. This was not my doing. Changes were made by Google, which necessitated  changing the email sender to follow.it.  This was done by my clever brother-in-law, Peter, who is not only the best handiman I know but, also, a genius with computers. I won't go into the details, mainly because I don't understand them myself, and because I don't think it's necessary. Suffice it to say that the emails will resume arriving as before but under the heading follow.it. 

To those who are not currently subscribed but may wish to, it's quite simple. When you access the blog in the normal way, you can enter your email address in the 'Subscribe' slot and the email with the blog will come to you automatically. I should point out that this is how it works on your computer or tablet. However, on your phone you would need to scroll down to the very end of the blog and click on the highlighted Follow my blog.

So, now back to ikebana. For last class the theme for the advanced students was 'A Winter Arrangement in two or more containers. This is very similar to 'Seasonal Arrangement' but more nuanced. There are materials available this season that don't necessarily depict winter.

The arrangement, above, is mine. I used bare magnolia branches, cymbidium orchids, camellias and alstroemeria psittacina leaves in two ceramic containers.

Nicole used pussy willow (Salix Caprea) and arum lilies in two ceramic containers.

Jenny used three glass containers, Siberian dogwood (Cornus Siberica Alba) and camellia.

Vicky's was a very tall arrangement, using silver birch and leucadendrons in matching ceramic vases.

Lucy used two large, bamboo containers. This created a challenge because, although the containers were large, they were not heavy enough to carry the heavy branches she wanted to use. It took a bit of doing but she managed to balance them both visually and actually. She used bare pear branches, wattle in bud and camelias.

Bredenia's two containers were a recent gift from her daughter and she was keen to use them. She used a bare lilac branch and camellias.

Shaneen's lesson was 'With Branches Only'. She created interest by contrasting the redish colour of the coprosma with the green of the murraya paniculata and by keeping the stems at the base clean.

Lei's curriculum theme was 'A Simplified Arrangement'. She used a piece of kiwi vine and a darling, little camellia in a ceramic container.

Mary's lesson was 'Vines'. She, also, used kiwi vine with a mass of gerberas and alstroemeria psittacina leaves in a tall vase.

Bye for now,

Emily