Roadsideikebana

ORIENTAL LILY

Sat, 15 Jan 2022 05:57:49 +0200

Last week I posted two photos of ikebana works created by my friend Michael. Here is one more that he had sent at the same time.

It took me a few moments to realise the context of this ikebana by Michael. His previous photos, which I showed on last weeks posting, were of the exercise "Complementing a work of Art". However, this ikebana is of a different exercise. It is an ikebana showing "Colours in Contrast". The vivid blue of the painted dried material and the vase are opposite on the colour wheel to the orange of the flowers and the Fire Croton, Codiaeum variegatum leaves which are snuggling on the right rim of the vase. The simplicity of the design and the use of only two contrasting colours make this a striking ikebana.

At the beginning of December I participated in the "Sogetsu Awakening" on-line exhibition by the Sogetsu School Branch of New South Wales, to belatedly celebrate its 60th anniversary. The link above will take you to the page which shows a video of the exhibits. If you scroll below the video you will see the individual photos and artists statements where you can study each image at leisure. My contribution was an ikebana of three Banksia flowers and leaves in a black lacquer-ware vase which I posted on this blog on 12th December.

After the exhibition I re-worked the materials in a vase by the Canadian Potter Janet Keefe.

This time I added three stems of Coastal Sword Sedge, Lepidosperma gladiatum, giving this new ikebana a sinuous rising movement.

When I was thinking about the Sogetsu Awakening exhibition, I remembered an ikebana I created in 2010 that I would have liked to re-create. However, I was extremely busy with the renovation of our conservatory at the time and could not source appropriate material.

Here is the ikebana that I made and photographed in 2010, that I think suits the theme of Sogetsu Awakening. The materials are Tree Philodendron, Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidium, and Oriental Lily. Ceramic bowl by the Victorian ceramic artist Petrus Spronk.

Greetings from Christopher

15th January 2021

(Happy birthday Laurie (and wedding anniversary))

PINK HYDRANGEAS

Sun, 09 Jan 2022 05:18:47 +0200

My friend and Sogetsu Ikebana colleague, Michael from Florida USA, recently sent me some photos of his ikebana. I recognised the two examples below as the Sogetsu Book Five exercise of "complementing a work of art". At a Victorian Branch Sogetsu workshop on this theme in 2017, Mr Umemura commented that he thought a more accurate translation of this topic was that the Ikebana and the art work should be in conversation with each other.

In this first example Michael has used a black and an 'off-white' contemporary ceramic ikebana vessel. The linear aspect of the design is very strong. He has introduced a mass of curving red lines, which are secured with black plastic ties that pick up the black lines in the abstract art work, while the red lines contrast with the straight lines in the painting. Some yellow flowers also pick up the yellow of the painting.

The red-brown tones in the next ikebana are a very good match with the colours in the painting, as is the green of the foliage. The black sphere on the lacquered board is a modern incense burner that picks up the black circle of the painting in three dimensions. It is a great touch, which also balances the overall composition.

* * * * *

In the garden the richly-pink Hydrangea has flowered profusely this year. I decided I should make at least one Ikebana featuring this material before I run the risk of heat stress ruining the blooms.

I have set the flowers in this large grey-glazed cylinder by Graeme Wilkie, from Qdos Gallery in Lorne. The grey makes a great foil for the intensity of the pink flowerhead. I have used some stems of the almost leafless Strelitzia juncea in strong geometric shapes to contrast with the spherical form of the flowers.

Greetings from Christopher

9th January 2022

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM SPIKE

Sun, 02 Jan 2022 04:41:12 +0200

On New Year's Day, guess who came visiting?

Yes, Spike! In the early evening I was about to go out to water the more delicate northern hemisphere plants, after the second consecutive rather warm dry day, only to find him at the door. It has been the kind of weather that brings the flying ants out to swarm, which may have been another reason for Spike to come into the garden.

However, a little later I discovered he was thirsty. I have been keeping the Hydrangeas well watered, given the weather. So their saucers were full of water...

...at just at the right height for a thirsty Echidna!

This New Year I decided I would make a traditional-looking New Year's ikebana. Two of our neighbours have very large Pinus radiata trees in their gardens. So tall, in fact that it was difficult to find an upright branch. However, one lower branch was beginning to curve upward at the tip.

The other materials are Hydrangea, a bright red Geranium, and some gold Mizuhiki. I made the vase some years ago from a piece of large diameter bamboo that I bought from a plant nursery.

While I enjoyed this exercise, I was also keen to express the feeling of Australian summer in a New Year's ikebana. The material I wanted to use...

...was the flower of this Eucalyptus cornuta. It is one of two large trees at the bottom of our garden. Although E. cornuta is not indigenous to this area, these trees pre-date the building of our house in 1984 and were already established in 1978, when I bought the block of land; which explains the metre wide trunk. E cornuta comes from the south coast of Western Australia, like its cousin E. lehmannii.

The tree is about 10m high and, as this photo shows, has a large spreading branch. A couple of weeks ago I noticed the newly-opened flowers from our bathroom window.

They have such an interesting form and a really lovely honey-like fragrance, which I enjoy when I walk past the ikebana. The flowers, in the photo above, were well above my head height and I was only able to cut one small stem with three opened flowers.

The rest of the flowers were still "in bud" and each single flower in the cluster is covered by a long narrow operculum, which cover the greenish-yellow stamens, as you can see in this photo.

The cascading form of the side branches lent themselves to a nageire (tall vase) style ikebana, to which I added some more gold mizuhiki. The vase is by the Victorian potter Arnaud Barraud.

Best wishes for the New Year of 2022.

Christopher

2nd January 2022.

GREETINGS AT CHRISTMAS TIME

Sun, 26 Dec 2021 08:19:51 +0200

At one of the recent term three classes with my Geelong students, the topic for the senior students was to make an ikebana with a feeling of containment or enclosure. By coincidence, and the time of the year, three of the students used Agapanthus as their principal material.

Tess's ikebana focused on the materials apparently arising from the confinement of her contemporary ceramic ikebana vessel. Her principal material is Agapanthus, still in bud. The material is from her garden and all of the stems had a curious "S" curve at the top. The second material, also emerging from the vase, is a succulent flower massed at the base of the work.

Helen M has used Agapanthus 'gathered from the wild', which also had some curious curves. These were emphasised by their placement on opposite sides of this double necked vase. This makes them appear as a single wandering movement almost diagonal to the upward movement of the principal stem.

Maureen inverted a single flowering stem of Agapanthus in a narrow glass vase, with the stem reaching strongly upward. She then created a sense of enclosure by draping three Agapanthus leaves that, by their curve, seem to be holding the vase and the flower it contains.

Ellie placed a small mass of pink buds within the opening of this donut-shaped vessel. She then emphasised the sense of containment by inverting a blue painted branch over the vase. The use of two shades of blue on the branch gives it an extra vividness that brings it alive.

I could not help but comment on how the branch reminded me of an Australian Leafy Seadragon.

* * * * *

This year I particularly wanted to make a Christmas decoration that was not reminiscent of a traditional tree; that is, not cone-shaped. I was also wanting to use a bare branch or some driftwood. As I was searching about the garden, I suddenly noticed the framework that I had created in early October for the online, "From Melbourne" exhibition, organised by the Wa Ikebana Festival committee.

This is the frame work I had created, in which, for the exhibition, I had massed some blossom of Golden wattle, Acacia pycnantha.

I was delighted to find that the framework fitted perfectly when balanced on the top of the two pillars of the living room sideboard. I have added Christmas baubles in silver and gold and some short, iridescent cellophane streamers.

Depending on your time zone, I do hope that you have had, or are continuing to have, a Happy Christmas. I wish you peace and good health.

Greetings from Christopher

26th December 2021

CHRISTMAS RENKA

Sat, 18 Dec 2021 13:39:24 +0200

While in the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne a couple of weeks ago, my attention was caught by the racket made by a large number of Rainbow Lorikeets squawking while feasting in one particular tree.

The tree turned out to be a South African Weeping Boer-bean, Schotia brachypetala. Interestingly, the "Weeping" part of its name refers to the copious amounts of nectar the flowers produce. No wonder the Lorikeets seemed to be going crazy.

When I came across a second tree with slightly less dense flower and leaf cover, I was able to get a decent photo of this Lorikeet...

...and this one feasting away. With their green back and wings the Lorikeets are very often hard to see in among the foliage, let alone photograph.

Earlier in the day I held the final 2021 class for my Melbourne students at Margaret's house. As only five students were able to attend I decided that we should make a Renka. This is a collaborative ikebana, progressively built up by a group. Each participant, in succession, has a limited time to make their ikebana in response to what has been created before them. They can take their inspiration from the line, movement, colour or feel of the developing ikebana.

The idea of Renka was developed by the third Sogetsu Iemoto, Hiroshi Teshigahara. It is modelled on the classical, linked poetry form called Renga, when brief stanzas of poetry are improvised in response to a previous stanza.

Above is our Renka as it finally evolved. I began the process as it was an unfamiliar exercise for the students. We had all brought material for a Christmas ikebana but had to choose an unfamiliar vessel from Margaret's collection of vases. With a maximum of 15 minutes working time I began by arranging a large dried stem of Kiwi Vine, three stems of Alstromeria psittacina, and a small sprig of variegated Holly, Ilex aquifolium in my chosen vessel. It is in the small black vessel made of three ceramic loops, just to the right of the centre.

Just to the left Margaret added a strong curving line of variegated Miscanthus that leans to the right, teamed with hot pink Begonia, red crucifix orchid, grape vine leaves and some red Christmas baubles. Marcia added the strong line of Christmas lily on the right with a curving branch of pine. Eugenia added long-needle pine and a black zig-zagging branch line with Christmas baubles on the far left. At the back lefthand side Marisha added a branch of pine that curves to the left, some white flowers and red berries. On the righthand side at the back Jacqueline added the strong line of split New Zealand flax that leans to the left and a mass of pale green carnations.

One of the things that became apparent in the process was that the "less is more" principle is necessary to create harmony and to prevent the final work looking over-loaded. Unfortunately, the top of the work had to be cropped a little because it extended above a black overhead light pelmet.

Greetings from Christopher

18th December 2021

BANKSIA AWAKENING

Sun, 12 Dec 2021 12:06:10 +0200

Following on from last week's posting, this time my Geelong students ended term four of 2021 with an "ikebana at home" exercise. The class members met at the home of my student Tess. They had been asked to bring materials for an ikebana and were asked to include red and/or white flowers. Each student was allocated a location to make their ikebana by drawing a number from a hat, which indicated one of the eight designated locations. After considering the locations and the materials the student had brought, they then selected a vase they had never used before from Tess's collection.

Maree's ikebana was located on a chest of drawers in a bedroom. She had prepared some white paper lanterns which she wrapped around a stem of tortuous willow. A single stem of white gladiolus stood at the back of the willow and two red carnations created colour focal points low in the arrangement.

Jo arranged her ikebana on a shelf, also in one of the bed- rooms. This freestyle ikebana is very close to a "Slanting Variation Number Three, nageire style". The materials from her garden are Japanese maple and a very long stemmed red Geranium.

On a side-table in the entrance hall, Christine arranged a silver-sprayed Palm inflorescence. To this she added some red succulent flowers, red-sprayed dried leaves and green glass baubles.

Tess used one black and one white ceramic bottle of the same shape. In them she arranged some red flowering Melaleuca branches and added two small white Snapdragon flowers at the neck of the black bottle.

On a side-table in the same room Maureen arranged some cascading stems of Agonis flexuosa, from which she stripped all the leaves to show the lines. Red Alstromeria flowers make a focal point at the base of the stems.

On a small side-table in the living room Helen M created a slanting arrangement using pine and two, red pincushion Leucospermum,

In responding to the red and silvery-grey Japanese print of two fish, Ellie chose this black triangular vase for her ikebana...

... Her materials are pine needles and small white chrysanthemums. She added the silver-painted structure made from bamboo skewers to reflect the lines of the calligraphy.

Helen Q made this table-centre ikebana using blue Spruce with a focal cluster of silver baubles. The tall glass vase has grey vertical lines.

After discussing each of the ikebana, we all shared a relaxed evening meal.

* * * * *

Over the last week the New South Wales Branch of the Sogetsu School has held an exhibition in the Calyx at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. The live exhibition was supplemented by an online exhibition to which Sogetsu members were invited to participate. The theme of the exhibition was Sogetsu Awakening, to reflect the experience of coming out of the many, lengthy Covid lockdowns endured in Australia and around the world. This link is to the Online Exhibition.

Here is my ikebana for the exhibition. Using three Banksia flowers, I have tried to express a sense of the materials arising from within the vessel and their movement as they stretch, writhe and move toward each other. The black-lacquered vessel is by Hiroyasu Takizawa.

Greetings from Christopher

9.05 pm. (running late) 12th December 2021

FASCIATED AGAPANTHUS

Sun, 05 Dec 2021 00:40:07 +0200

I have come at last to the end of teaching classes for 2021. On Thursday the final class for my Torquay students was held in my house. The challenge for the students was to make an ikebana in one of my vessels in a suitable location in the house with materials they had brought with them. I was interested to note that each of the students chose unusually shaped vessels for their ikebana.

Coralie had done some at home preparation and had sprayed the tops of three straight, dried stems of Agapanthus with silver paint. These she arranged in each of the full depth spaces in this difficult to use modern blue-glazed vessel. She added some bright red Nandina berries at the top of the Agapanthus and a curving branch of Cyprus across the top of the vessel.

Róża used a ceramic, "moon-shaped" vessel to arrange two leaves of New Zealand flax, a stem of small white unidentified flowers and a Christmas ribbon. She was focused on creating an elegant space between the flax leaves and allowed the flowers to cascade forward below the level of the shelf.

Judy used a single flower stem of New Zealand flax from her garden, and a small flowering branch of Grevillea robusta. She chose the modern-style ikebana vessel for its interesting shape and turquoise glaze. Her attention was also on the space between the two "S"- shaped curves in the materials.

Marta was drawn to the curve and the shino glaze in this vessel by Graeme Wilkie. She has followed the curve with a line of Spruce and has a small focal mass of creamy-white unidentified flowers, red Alstromeria, and an almost invisible large white poppy on the right. The ikebana was arranged on the sideboard with a busily carved wooden background where the poppy was clearly visible. My eyes did not see how it disappeared into the white background when I moved the work to take this photo! Sorry, Marta.

* * * * *

Over the past month I have noticed that the Agapanthus plant I used last on a post back in May has again produced some flowers with fasciated stems and exceptionally large flower heads. With permission from the owner I picked three of these flowers to use in my ikebana. I was particularly interested to emphasise the curve just below the flower.

This is the first ikebana I made. I used a box shaped vase that I was able to place on its side and have set two flowers as though they are growing out and up from the opening. It was quite a challenge to secure the very heavy stems so that they arise from the vase without touching the sides. I used a small ceramic block to support the stems near the mouth of the vase and at the other end a cross-bar to hold the bottom of the stem down. The vase is by the Victorian ceramic artist Mel Ogden.

As the arrangement was very wide, I re-worked the materials adding a third flower to create an upright ikebana in this traditional ceramic suiban . At the base of the ikebana I have added some shortened Aspidistra leaves as the ikebana looked too flat on the lefthand side; they also give the work depth, both to the back and coming forward.

Greetings from Christopher

5th December 2021

PLAYING WITH TRANSPARENCY

Sun, 28 Nov 2021 02:21:44 +0200

On Thursday the class for my Torquay students focused on incorporating transparent or translucent material in their ikebana.

Róża had brought a huge lacy tree philodendron, Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum, leaf. I encouraged her to manipulate it to alter its appearance. She carefully cut the lamina of the leaf on one side, and part of the second, leaving only the larger veins. The result was a striking sculptural form.

I suggested that it needed a focal colour contrast. Her fellow student, Marta, gave her a sheet of orange cellophane that was formed into an irregular ball-shape.

Marta's ikebana used two stems of ginger to make a vertical ikebana. A length of fine green mesh linked the stems and a small succulent created a focal point.

Coralie created a structure with black plastic mesh supported in two glass box-shaped vessels. Three palm leaves provided a contrast, "bringing the sculpture to life".

* * * * *

At the beginning of the week I attended the first face-to-face meeting of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana, Victorian Branch, since April. The theme of the meeting was to make an ikebana in a clear glass vessel using leaf material only. This excluded leaves on a branch. I was interested in the presenter, Angeline Lo's, suggestion of finding new fixing techniques. In this situation the fixing needs to be hidden or to become part of the ikebana itself.

I used two vessels with flat surfaces. About two weeks earlier I had cut some stems of Umbrella grass, Cyperus alternifolius, the "leaf-head" on some of which, had turned an attractive shade of yellow. I have placed one of these with a fresh, green leaf-head in the circular vase at the right rear. It was cut so that it could sit flat against the surface. Another I cut in half and then cut the ends so that they lined up with the edges of the rectangular vase. In each case the leaf is supported by its central stem that is wedged between the front and back surfaces of the vases. I added the variegated Aspidistra leaf to create sense of movement. However, on later reflection, I think it is too visually heavy and is not well integrated.

Click on this link to other images of the Sogetsu Branch workshop.

Greetings from Christopher

28th November 2021

ROSA ALBERTINE (AGAIN)

Sun, 21 Nov 2021 00:33:35 +0200

With the further easing of Covid-19 restrictions we have recently been able to catch up with friends at home.

I made this welcoming ikebana for one of Laurie's former work colleagues, and her husband, whom we had not seen for some time. The sculptural structure is made from disposable hashi (chopsticks) that have been wired together. I used two Dietes leaves to create the ovoid line and added some stems of Forest Bell Bush, Mackaya bella, as a focal accent.

In the garden recently...

.. we were delighted to see a male Gang Gang Cockatoo in the Grevillea robusta. They seem to be less 'nervous' than other cockatoos, but are quite uncommon in our garden. When I first heard its call it was in the large red flowering Melaleuca viminalis, (formerly Callistemon viminalis) and was well-camouflaged because of its colouring. The bird seemed quite interested in what I was doing as I got out my phone to take this quick snap.

Elsewhere in the garden the Albertine Rose, that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, has lifted some branches above the Pandorea Pandana vine and is now flowering well.

I particularly like the contrast between the darker outer surface, and the pale inner surface, of the petals as well as the delicate fragrance of the flowers. I chose these flowers as the main subject of an ikebana that I demonstrated to my Torquay students this week.

The exercise was to make an ikebana in a suiban, without the use of a kenzan and to be viewed from above. This is useful when you want to set the ikebana on a dining, or other low table. The technique I demonstrated was the using of materials braced across the suiban in such a way as to be able to support the floral materials. When this method is used it is important that the supporting materials become an integral part of the overall design.

Here is the ikebana on the dining room table the day after it was originally made. I was pleased to see that one of the buds had opened overnight, increasing the size of the flower mass. However, the water surface still makes up about one-third of the ikebana giving it a light fresh feel.

Greetings from Christopher

21st November 2021

IKEBANA IN A SUIBAN WITHOUT A KENZAN

Sun, 14 Nov 2021 05:16:18 +0200

This morning, Sunday, we visited the Royal Botanic Garden Melbourne to see how the Lotuses were developing this season.

Some of the new leaves had unfurled sufficiently to sit on the lake surface and, as you can see, capture some of the overnight rain.

A little further along I noticed these reeds and their reflections in the water. This reminded me of a photo I took in the lake at the Sale Botanic Gardens, three years ago.

I was really fascinated by the reflections of the reeds and the pink-tinged clouds as the sun was setting. The image reminded me of the Sogetsu curriculum exercise of making an ikebana with straight lines. Nature has done it before we ever tried.

* * * * *

On Saturday I attended Emily Karanikolopoulos' “Master Class” workshop.The class is modelled on the process Mr Kawana uses at classes in his Tokyo studio. Materials and vessels are provided along with other equipment for fixing. So the students have to work with unfamiliar materials and vessels. In the case of a whole day class, the student has to work repeatedly with the same material making several ikebana arrangements one after another. As I have said previously, the aspect which I enjoy is having to work without a preconceived plan.

When we arrived at the class each participant had to draw lots for a prepared bunch of materials and a vessel with which we were to work. The exercise was to make an ikebana in a suiban without using a kenzan.

My materials included a dried branch with many side branches that were relatively parallel. In the photo it is just visible on the table top to the left of the fresh material. The fresh material included two very straight stems of Coastal Banksia, B. integrifolia, and a straight stem of Oriental Lily with a bud and two fully-opened flowers. The vessel was a wide white glass bowl with a slightly domed centre.

I was able to cut the dried branch into two pieces, one of which I inverted to stand with the additional support of the strongest Banksia stem which angles down to the right side in the suiban. I deliberately inverted the stem so that from a standing position the pale underside of the leaves would be visible. The low angle of the photograph looses this aspect. Two leaves on the right side of the Banksia stem clearly show the pale underside as well as the rich green of the top of the leaf. The second piece of the dried branch was placed at an angle across the upright materials. I cut one of the Banksia stems into short sections to create a mass at the top showing only the pale undersides of the leaves. In the photo, the pale undersides look like flower petals but they are, in fact, leaves. Then I placed the oriental lily at the back so that the flowers are mostly obscured, just providing pink contrast to the underside of the leaves. I was reasonably happy with my technique in this exercise, but think the design aspect could be improved.

Greetings from Christopher

14th November 2021

BACK TO CLASSES

Sun, 07 Nov 2021 11:17:46 +0200

One of the orchids in last weeks posting was identified by my student Coralie; it was the Tall Leek orchid, Prasophyllum elatum.

With the end of the most recent Covid lockdown and the arrival of Term Four, I have been able to commence classes again in Torquay and Geelong. In Torquay I set the students the task of making an ikebana arrangement with three different materials.

Judy arranged two branches of Prunus with three 'Pinwheel' Leucadendron and two bare branches of a third unidentified material in a suiban.

Róża arranged a single flower of Echium with a blue-grey leafed succulent and four Lavender flowers. The interesting vase was quite difficult to use because it is narrow front to back,

Coralie arranged a single flowering stem of Japanese water iris, iris ensata, three stems of Germander, Teucrium fruticans, and a small branch of Bluebell Creeper, Billardiera heterophylla. The exercise turned out to be a lesson is the use of a cross-bar fixture, and the pattern of her ikebana is similar to a traditional seika arrangement.

At the Geelong class four of the students were challenged with having to make their ikebana in fifteen to twenty minutes. Then each student exchanged their material with one other and their vessel with another, different student. The process was deliberately designed so that in the second step the materials had to be arranged in a vessel that was not intended for them.

In the following sequence of photographs the first image is of the original ikebana in the creator's own vessel. The second image shows the original material re-arranged in a different vessel.

Helen M created her ikebana with tonally matched materials of a lichen-covered branch, orange Alstromerias and an orange-tipped leafy branch. The tsubo vessel has an iron-grey crackled glaze.

Christine simplified and re-arranged Helen's materials in a pewter-coloured metal vessel emphasising the space under the branch.

Ellie made a vertical ikebana using some Persoonia longifolia, (sold by the florist as 'Snoddy grass'). The wonderful Wikipedia has taught me that it is actually a small tree or shrub from the south of Western Australia in the region between Albany and Perth. She contrasted the green with a vibrant red Ranunculus and unidentified material being a tight inflorescence of lime green spheres and what looked like very small red fruit.

Helen M re-arranged Ellie's material in a larger suiban creating a sense of horizontal movement by crossing the stems.

In a black suiban, Christine created a vertical ikebana with two tall stems of iris, two seed heads of Watsonia, and Nandina flowers and leaves.

Maureen simplified and re-arranged Christine's materials in a suiban. She created a focus on a bud and single flower under the arching seed head of the Watsonia.

Maureen created a vertical ikebana using two Agapanthus flowers and two budding stems. These protrude above three encasing broad, deep-green leaves.

Ellie shifted the focus of Maureen's materials to a single line of a stem in bud. She then reversed the movement of the line by creating gentle curving lines with the leaves that brings the eye back to the two small flowers at the neck of the vase.

A completely different exercise was Tess's challenge. She had to create an ikebana for a particular space and chose the shelf in front of the mirror in her bathroom. Tess showed me a photo of the space and then approximated it in the class room by bring a framed mirror.

Tess's materials were leafy stems of Bamboo and a single orange rose. She created a light open mass with Bamboo using a cross-bar fixture in a Raku-ware vase.

The classes, as always, hold a challenge. The results are delightful; all the more so, when not planned.

I chose this faceted Bizen vase by Hiroshi Toyofuku to set two flowers and buds of Rosa Albertine with a bare branch of the Japanese Flowering Quince. I managed to strike a cutting from our original Albertine Rose, a few years ago. The original had to be removed because of construction works. The cutting survived but is now at risk of being swamped by the Pandorea Pandorana vine on the same fence.

The roses are arranged naturalistically and I have tried to reflect the vase's faceted surface by the use of the Flowering Quince branch. The in-house critic (and editor of this blog) commented that there does not seem to be any space showing at the opening of the vase. In fact it is the dark area below the roses on the left.

Greetings from Christopher

(8.10 pm) 7th November 2021

PINK AND BLUE

Sun, 31 Oct 2021 04:04:33 +0200

The Spring weather has been extremely variable lately. A week and a half ago, on a very warm and sunny morning, we were surprised to see...

...an Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) at the mouth of Spring Creek in Torquay.

These photos are a little blurry as they were taken with my phone camera and have been zoomed-in a great deal. Just as we were about to walk on, a group of pre-school children were being escorted by their teachers for an outing to the beach. What excitement this rather unusual spectacle created!

Several days later, on a chilly afternoon, our friends Heather and John took us for a walk through a section of the Anglesea Heath where they had come across a number of endemic native ground orchids. In preparation for our brief expedition I took a sheet of white A4 paper to use as background to photograph these very small flowers. Without a plain background my camera struggles to focus on such small subjects and chooses larger materials beyond them.

Above is a Small spider orchid, Caladina pava.

Unfortunately the next two are not identified.

The next, below, is a Duck orchid, Caleana major.

This extraordinary flower is new to me. I was utterly amazed when John sent me the photo below, a day or two earlier.

When I looked-up this orchid on Wikipedia, I was surprised again to learn that it is not an endemic plant but is also found on the North Island of New Zealand.

Now to ikebana.

At the beginning of this week the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana held an online event substituting for our October meeting. The subject set for our workshop, by Aileen Duke, was to "make an ikebana arrangement using 'unconventional (non-botanical) materials' with a focus on transparency".

The starting point for my ikebana was some clear plastic tubing, which was coiled and somewhat stiff.

I had to find a way to make it more interesting with a looser loop. Thus the two blue, bottle-shaped vases. Then I needed colour and remembered some plastic file covers I had in the home office. The cones, made from the file covers, allowed for a sense of lightness by standing the pink one on its point. I was pleased with the sense of movement generated by both of the bottles being off-centre from their bases. The tension between the bottles and the tubing held everything in position. I was fortunate to have a pot of Bougainvillea, in a closely matched pink, in flower. I enjoyed this exercise because it took me beyond my usual ikebana material choice and caused me to explore something new.

More images from the workshop can be seen through this link, Sogetsu Victoria October on-line workshop.

Greetings from Christopher

31st October 2021

TWO GOOD REASONS TO VISIT GEELONG

Sun, 24 Oct 2021 02:48:23 +0200

On Thursday we headed into the Geelong Art Gallery to see the exhibition of paintings by Frederick McCubbin. The exhibition celebrates the gallery's 125th year and features McCubbin's 1890 "A Bush Burial", an iconic painting, and the first major work to be purchased by the gallery. McCubbin was a member of the Heidelberg School of Australian artists who painted, en plein air, and are sometimes referred to the Australian Impressionists.

With some time to spare we then ventured to the Geelong Botanic Gardens where we had a picnic lunch.

At the entrance to the gardens, which were established in 1851, is a group of wonderful Queensland bottle trees, Brachychiton rupestris. To give a sense of scale, particularly of the diameter of the tree, I asked Laurie to take this photograph.

Also in the garden is another favourite tree of mine, a Ginko biloba that was planted in 1859.

Among the interesting characteristics of this tree are the slowly developing aerial roots. I have always thought it looks as though the bark is melting.

Here in close-up are three small leaves growing directly from the trunk.

Meanwhile, back in our garden, I recently discovered two plants that were hidden behind a largish Rosemary bush that grows outside the kitchen window.

This Geranium has actually self-seeded from our neighbour's garden and is struggling to survive under the Rosemary. As a result its branches are quite unusually contorted.

The other obscured plant is this clump of Arum lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica. I did know that this plant was there, however I was quite surprised at how large it has grown over the last year. I think the graceful lines in the lily make it an attractive and quite versatile subject for ikebana.

My first ikebana is the Geranium that I have set in a uniquely curved vessel by Graeme Wilkie. The weight of the vessel allowed me to position the single branch to one side to emphasise the mass of irregularly curving lines. I have added some additional flowers to the naturally growing infloresence nearest to the vessel.

My second ikebana features some of the Arum lilies. I have massed four flowers projecting forward from the vase so that their stems do not show. The second material, on the left side, is a stem of white Pandorea pandorana. The Pandorea flowers did not last long so I re-worked the arrangement.

I think this second version is more interesting because of the space I have created on the right-hand side of the vase opening. It gives the flowers and the single Acanthus leaf a sense of floating.

The vase was made by Mark Bell, of Maine USA.

Greetings from Christopher

24th October 2021

SPRING FLOWERS in a TALL VASE

Sat, 16 Oct 2021 06:41:44 +0200

Last weekend I presented a Zoom demonstration for the Ikebana International Melbourne Chapter. It was the first time we had used a live online format, which provided a challenge. The President, Julie Ireland, and Vice President, Nobuko Kobayashi, were in their respective homes in Melbourne and I was 100 kms away in Torquay. The event was to replace a workshop that could not be held due to the current Covid lockdown restrictions in Melbourne. Fortunately, I was able to use the room in which I normally hold my Torquay classes. The room has fairly good light and plain white walls with no background clutter.

Because of the season I chose the theme of "Spring flowers in a tall (nageire) vase". When I set the topic four weeks ago, I felt inspired because the Red Valerian, Centranthus ruber, in the garden was just starting to flower and the Freesias were prolific. A month later the Freesias were finished!

However, the Red Valerian was taking over the annuals bed. For additional materials I had to go to the florist where I bought white Snapdragon, Antirrhinum, and pink Alstromeria.

For my first arrangement I had decided to follow the Sogetsu curriculum exercise of "Flowers only". This means that branch materials cannot be used. This was just an extra level of constraint that I had imposed on myself, not upon the other Chapter members (including members from five other Schools).

The pink of the Valerian led me to choose this cylindrical vase by Graeme Wilkie, which has a pink flush in its ash glaze. For the particular materials I had selected, I needed to use a cross-bar fixture. As the rim of this vase is thin I used the following technique to protect it from the risk of being cracked.

I have attached the cross-bars to a vertical fixture that is set into a kenzan to stabilise it at the base. This method means that the cross-bars do not exert any pressure on the side walls of the vase.

This is the finished work as I had re-constructed it at home. So, it is a little different from the demonstrated work, with the Valerian being more upright in this case. The cross-bars allow the arranger to keep part of the vase mouth free of materials, which can be seen on the right-hand side.

I had prepared a second ikebana using only Australian native materials from the garden, all of which are technically branch materials. At this time of year the Bottlebrushes, Melaleuca, in particular, are flowering abundantly. They are a very popular garden and street tree/shrubs, widely planted because of their hardiness.

In the garden we have several shrubs and three different colours. Above is Melauca viminalis.

This pink is a (hybrid?) variety of Melaleuca viminalis.

This pale lemon one is, appropriately, Melaleuca pallida.

Elsewhere in the garden is a large coastal tea tree, Leptospermum laevigatum.

I also gathered some Black wattle, Acacia mearnsii, so that I had three different kinds of material for a feeling of spring abundance.

I selected this vase, also by Graeme Wilkie, for the earthy tones of its glaze to harmonise with the materials.

The vase is narrow, from the front to back, and has been irregularly pressed inward at the top. To secure the materials and keep the mouth of the vase uncluttered I created this cross-bar fixture with one long and three short bars. This enabled me to restrict the materials to a smaller section of the vase's mouth.

This blurry photograph was taken from the video of the demonstration. Unfortunately, the base of the vase is cropped. The materials have a strong sense of movement extending out of the vase.

Photos of the members' ikebana on this theme can be seen on the Ikebana International Melbourne Chapter Instagram account.

Greetings from Christopher

16th October 2021

RED-HOT POKER

Sun, 10 Oct 2021 07:02:05 +0200

While walking in the Iron Bark Basin a couple of days ago...

...who should we meet but a cousin of "Spike". I was tempted to label this photo "Masked man and Echidna". As you can see we are still observing Covid Safe protocols.

I recently visited my "Covid-singles-bubble" friend and former work colleague, Shirley, who is preparing to 'down size' into a smaller home. Shirley is a keen gardener, which is an interest we shared from the beginning of our acquaintance. The

Forsythia that I photographed last week was a gift from her. As I was leaving her house Shirley kindly gave me a hand-made ceramic vase by one of the Teasdale potters. I have not been able to positively identify the potter other than to note the stamp on the base says "Lina".

This is an ikebana I made for Shirley using her vase, the Forsythia and two Acanthus leaves. I was surprised at just how well the contrasting botanical elements worked in this simple ikebana.

A few weeks ago I noticed a Knipholia with a really interesting curve in its stem that I thought would make an interesting ikebana subject. The small plant had only one flowering stem and the leaves on this particular variety are rather weak. So, rather than pick the leaves I used some Coastal Sword Sedge, Lepidosperma gladiatum, leaves which are firmer and better lasting.

The stem has been placed against the side of the vase using a forked-branch cross-bar fixture, so that its line continues that of the vase's profile.

I placed three leaves on the underside of the stem so that the line was not interrupted, and looped them back into the vase. This looked a little unbalanced and a little too contrived for my taste so I added a single leaf on the righthand side with a curve in the opposite direction to correct the balance.

This is the completed ikebana. I was pleased with the strength of the design and the harmony of the materials with the vase by Graeme Wilkie. I am reminded of two ikebana lessons that I had been taught in the past. Firstly, when repeating shapes, the loops in this case, they should be of different sizes to maintain the asymmetry of the design. Secondly, when using strappy leaves they will have more impact when placed so that the surface shows rather than their edge.

Greetings from Christopher

10th October 2021

AN ONLINE EXHIBITION

Sat, 02 Oct 2021 09:16:07 +0200

There was much excitement and rejoicing in the household this week with the return of "Spike", the Echidna, to the garden. Spike had not been seen since early in the year.

Wednesday was especially warm and sunny. Undoubtedly the warm weather contributed to Spike's appearance.

Of course our garden is especially attractive as there is no grass to be mown. Only ground covers and a lot of leaf and bark mulch which is home to ants and other many small insects. This second photo was taken two days later. I surprised Spike who had been digging for ants where there is a nest below two of these rocks.

* * * * *

In September, the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School had planned to join Wa Ikebana Melbourne for an exhibition at the Abbotsford Convent. However, it became another Covid casualty and had to be cancelled. Undeterred, the organising committee decided to change presentation and move to an online exhibition. Many of the participants had already partially, or fully, prepared their work.

I had begun my preparation in late August when I noticed some branches on a "Manchurian Pear", Pyrus ussuriensis, that I predicted would be pruned this season. With permission, I cut two strong vertical branches that I thought would make a good framework and stored them in a bucket of water.

Some weeks later when I began to prepare my main framework I noticed that a single, very small, flower had opened.

This is the structure I created by placing the two branches with their growing ends toward each other and interlocking the side branches. The size of the structure was suitable to use with one of my large vessels, a ceramic half-pillow, created by Graeme Wilkie.

I wanted to have it floating above the vessel. The length of the structure was too great for the width of my back-drop; so in this image it is angled away from the camera.

Here is the finished work. I have added a large mass of Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha, blossom, placing it within the cage of the framework. In 'real life' this rather sculptural ikebana worked; however I was not happy with the photograph.

Frustrated but determined, I proceeded to "Plan B". Placing the structure in a large cylinder, also by Graeme Wilkie, worked better as a photograph because it is does not recede from the camera plane so much.

The online alternative exhibition (mentioned above) is called "From Melbourne" and can be viewed through this link.

Greetings from Christopher.

2nd October 2021

PINK FLOWERS AND A PINK SPLASHED VESSEL

Sun, 26 Sep 2021 08:08:07 +0200

As I write it is a glorious Spring day on the Surf Coast. The sun is bright and the air slightly cool with a very gentle breeze, which is something of a relief after a few days of quite strong winds.

This is a view down Spring Creek, about half a kilometre from its mouth on the Torquay surf beach. I love this area especially for the large old Moonah trees, Melaleuca lanceolata, that border the creek.

They are especially attractive to my 'ikebana eyes' for their contorted branches.

In the garden, Spring is evident with the flowering of some of the exotic plants.

This morning I was pleased to see a few early buds of the Cecile Brunner rose.

The lavender, below the Lorraine Lee rose, is making a wonderful mass and taking over a large space by the terrace. This is mostly Lavandula angustifolia. However last year, I planted a L. dentata in a bare patch in the middle. It is too small to distinguish in this photo.

Three weeks ago, the Forsythia, that Shirley gave me, looked like this.

Today most of the flowers have opened. The yellow is so vibrant against the deep green of the Asparagus fern, A. aethiopicus, behind.

Beside the golf links the flowers of the Tamarisk, Tamarix (T. Gallica in this case, I think) are also opening.

This closer view shows the soft pink of the open flower and that some of the buds have yet to open. I decided this would be a good subject for my ikebana this week.

I chose a large ikebana vessel by Graeme Wilkie for two reasons. Firstly the colour of the "copper red" glaze running over the vessel complements the blossom. Secondly the branches I cut were about a metre long and needed a solid base to support them as they cascaded forward. I have added some vibrant pink Geraniums and a single red Melaleuca, M. viminalis, to provide a strong focal point. At the back is a small spray of Banksia, B. integrifolia, to support the geranium and melaleuca flowers.

Greetings from Christopher

26th September 2021

TWO VESSELS

Sun, 19 Sep 2021 04:05:52 +0200

For the second year (in its already fairly long life !!) the Wisteria in the garden has flowered. From reading the Wikipedia article I now know that the plant in our garden is Wisteria sinensis.

Among other things, I have learnt that it is slow to flower and may also be unpalatable to possums. I have great hopes for the future of this vine.

Also in the garden the Callistemon, now re-classified to Melaleuca viminalis, is really starting to flower. I included a photo of this bush two weeks ago when the first flower of this Spring started to open. The photo above is just the top quarter of the bush. As we walk around the neighbourhood it is amazing to suddenly notice all the red flowers that have opened on bushes that, at other times, just blend into the green background. I have been planning to use the Callistemon in my ikebana this week...

...along with some Coastal-beard Heath, Leucopogon parviflorus. This is a large bush in our garden which has just come into flower in the last couple of weeks. To my naked eye the end of the branches are covered in clusters of very tiny white flowers like five point stars. They are only about 5mm across when fully open.

Interestingly, when photographed close-up and then zoomed they look like they are made from white velvet. A branch of these white flowers is the second element of my ikebana.

The challenge is a topic for the September workshop of the Sogetsu Victorian Branch, set by Akemi Suzuki. She has modified the curriculum exercise of making an ikebana, "Using two or more vessels". Akemi's added level of challenge is that the vessels must either: touch, be stacked or interlock in some way.

In thinking about the topic I considered using these three vases by Ray Pearce in this configuration. However, I decided that the uniformity of their shape ended up being restrictive and not very dynamic.

I finally chose this uniquely-shaped vessel by Graeme Wilkie...

...and this small suiban by Robert Schulze. Although they differ in shape and were made by different ceramicists, they both have a shino glaze which helps unify them.

After some experimentation I decided to use Graeme Wilkie's vessel in this position. I had never placed the vessel like this before and what appealed to me was to discover that, on the righthand side, it is supported on a single point. It also allowed me to complement the form of the vessel with the extended curving line of the Calistemon.

My final version was to add the suiban with the Coastal Beard Heath rising in a counter-balancing upward curve. This created a circle of movement and preserved the interesting space beneath the first vessel as well as the spaces created by the materials.

More examples of this exercise can be seen on the Victorian Branch website through this link.

Greetings from Christopher

19th September 2021

CONTRASTING AND COMPLEMENTING

Sat, 11 Sep 2021 05:17:05 +0200

Two weeks ago I posted an ikebana I had made for a 'lockdown-cancelled' workshop to be led by Emily Karanikolopoulos. Emily had set a combined exercise which was to make an ikebana which took into account both the shape of the vase and also the colour of the vase. Each of these requirements are separate exercises in the Sogetsu curriculum. I am returning to that theme today. For my first attempt at the exercise, I decided to use some of the Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha, that is abundant at this time of year.

As you can see from this photo it has rather a lot of large leaves that I had to remove so that the bright yellow was the dominant colour. This was to take into account the colour of the vase, which has a purple appearance.

The vase in question is glazed with alternating, fine red and blue lines which, at a distance, makes it look purple. It is also a rather thin walled vase...

...so I made a crossbar with a forked branch called a kubarigi. My method of setting the cross bar is unconventional. Because I did not want to put any pressure on the walls of the vase, I have wired the branch onto a vertical fixture that is standing upright in a kenzan. I did this because it enabled me to elevate the materials above the rim of the vase with the intention of them reflecting one half of its almost parabolic profile.

This is the finished ikebana. I have added two stems of drying Papyrus sedge, Cyperus papyrus, for the depth of colour that they add to the bright yellow blossoms. The vase is by the Western Australian ceramic artist Pippin Drysdale.

Because the yellow mass did not seem to me to be sufficiently dense for the visual strength of the vase, I made a further attempt at the exercise.

This time I used the curving lines of the virtually leafless Strelitzia Juncea. I thought its strong lines would make a good contrast to the the bold rectangular geometry of the modern vase I chose.

The vase has a deep blue glaze and is perforated with two square holes that are glazed white. Over a couple of days I was keeping my eyes open for some orange flowers that I could mass as the contrasting colour opposite blue on the colour wheel. Then I had one of those 'A-ha' moments when I noticed the Tangelos on the kitchen bench; a great colour and shape contrast. I have added a small lemon at the back to lift the orange colour.

Click on this link to see photos of the Victorian Sogetsu Branch members' response to this exercise.

Greetings from Christopher
11th September 2021

HANADAYORI

Sat, 04 Sep 2021 10:07:02 +0200

Earlier in the week the weather was very warm with a couple of days in the mid-twenties. Beautiful spring weather with only a little breeze. The mild weather enabled me to finish the retaining wall repair which I mentioned in last weeks post.

I am pleased to report that the project was completed without any further damage to my wardrobe or person. (Thank you for your messages of sympathy and mirth.)

I am particularly pleased with the result as I now have a flat space for a small number of potted plants on the brick surface. The pot in the photo above has Haemanthus coccineus, which is recovering well from being divided a couple of seasons ago.

As the weather continued sunny and warm we took the opportunity to have a walk in the Iron Bark Basin reserve.

Being still under Covid restrictions, mask wearing when outdoors is still a requirement.

We were both surprised to see this Scarlet Robin. Although these small birds live in woodland such as Iron Bark Basin, it is a long time since we have caught sight of one. In the photo above the robin is looking to the right and its beak is just noticeable against the branch behind.

In this photo the bird is looking straight at the camera and you can see the white patch above its beak.

Two weeks ago I gave a recipe for the preservation of materials at the bottom of the posting. These are the same Acanthus leaves (over two weeks old) with a mass of Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha, added to the vase. I picked the wattle five days ago and gave it the same treatment. It has also had the advantage of being in a cool space.

Recently I offered to make and photograph an ikebana in response to a request posted to the Hanadayori online exhibition. Members of the public were invited to request ikebana, with no parameters set. 'Andrea' requested an ikebana based on an anime character, Gojo Satoru, and that the colours used should be black, white and blue. In my research I discovered that "...Gojo Satoru is a special grade jujutsu sorcerer..." with astonishing powers.

He seems to be able to fly at great speed and attack 'the baddies' with curses that defeat them.

This was my first ikebana response to the request. I created an inverted wire mesh cone that stands on its apex to which I have added black lines to express movement at speed. White Chrysanthemums suggest his hair. Blue Rosemary and Sea Holly for the colour of his eyes and his clothing that sometimes seems to be blue.

I made this second more conventional ikebana based on the same ideas a few days after the first, when I was able to purchase some blue irises from the florist.

I really enjoyed this challenge of ikebana by request and encourage you to now to view online: "The flowers you have been waiting for are here".

Congratulations to the Wa Ikebana committee and the participants in the project.

Greetings from Christopher

4th September 2021