Julie completed a basic naturalistic nageire exercise in a tall vase. The particular difficulty in this case is that the student had also to practice the method of demonstrating ikebana. In the Sogetsu school it is a requirement that the demonstrator faces the audience and creates the ikebana from behind. The ikebana shows the autumn to winter transition, with most of the leaves on the branches having fallen.

Marisha's exercise was to incorporate artificial material in her ikebana. She has used a sheet of pink translucent wrapping-paper that shelters some of the materials and picks up the colour of the small Thryptomene flowers. Dendrobium orchid leaf stems provide the lines in the ikebana. 

Jacqueline's exercise was "Deconstruction and Re-arrangement" of the materials. She separated the petals, leaf clusters and stem from red roses. These elements were then placed to make a small table-top installation, with a bottle of red sparkling wine and a glass that spills red petals.

Eugenia made triangular forms with Umbrella Grass, Cyperus alternifolius. The contrasting material is a Bromeliad flower and the spent flowerheads of Clivea with small red berries - one of which emphasises the end of a line made by an Umbrella grass stem.

Margaret's ikebana was set in contrasting vessels of the same shape that have been linked together to create a sculptural form. The simple design made with just three leaves of variegated New Zealand Flax has a strong sense of movement. To maintain the strength of the design, no floral material is added.

Here is my simple ikebana of two Coastal Banksia flowers,       B integrifolia, in a bowl-shaped vessel by the ceramic artist Greg Daly. I have added three small side stems of Tree Fern, Dicksonia antartica, to give some additional mass to the space within the bowl. The bowl itself has a rounded base so that it sits at a slight angle. It has a rich yellow and turquoise lustre glaze. The yellow and green of the plant materials complement the vibrant glaze.  

Instead of arranging the beautiful branches in a natural way, they now tell a new story. Jo used the leaves, fruit and the branches as separated elements that suggest something different. The vessel lies on its side. On top are three Pomegranate fruit, one cut in half, with their stems projecting away to the back. A stream of leaves issues from the vessel, within which a single fruit can be partially seen.

The senior students' exercise was to make an ikebana with "repeating shapes and using two vessels". 

Christine challenged herself by using three white vessels, each of which had a hole that went through the middle. The main material is Spear Grass, Xanthorrhoea, which has been used to create the main structure as well as linking the vessels. Green carnations and Gypsophila are used to make a focal point.

Tess developed an abstract design using circles cut from succulent leaves that were threaded onto skewers. She also added discs made from Pomegranate fruit to create a subtle red contrast. The straight green leaves give height to the design and, because they cross, link the two vessels.

... created this beautiful contemporary ikebana when he joined one of my classes. I had lent him a vessel by my ikebana friend and ceramic artist Janet Keefe from Canada. Lennart massed the Banksia flowers and placed them to be seen from the 'top' so that they became a mass of circles. 

This photo was taken while I was absorbed in conversation with Nick about the elements of the design and lighting.

This is the finished work that I photographed, after Nick had made all the needed adjustments and taken his seriously high quality photo. I feel the final work speaks about the subtlety of the colours in the Australian landscape and I find the beautiful  sweeping movement of the bark very satisfying.

Greetings from Christopher 

Maree had painted two small chopstick sculptures pink and purple and set them in this modern ikebana vessel with two Strelitzia flowers. By threading the flower stems through the sculptural forms they complement and contrast the colours in the flowers.

At the beginning of last week the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana held a workshop on the theme of 'Incorporating "Unconventional Material" in an autumn ikebana'. Given that the garden here at Torquay is lacking useable autumn leaves I had to think of alternatives. 

It was then that I noticed my neighbour's Pincushion Hakea,     H laurina. Having permission to 'help myself', I collected three small branches. 

 ...and grow among a dense cluster of leaves. As can be seen in this photo they grow every which way. That is great for making a mass; however, it obscures the flowers. When it came to creating my ikebana I needed to to a lot of pruning. One of the additional beauties of this plant is that the leaves themselves are beautiful. They are stiff and have elegant curving lines.

The workshop was led by Akemi Suzuki. She provided the members with Japanese paper ribbon which came in a variety of colours. Akemi demonstrated a number of different ways the ribbon could be manipulated and used in Ikebana. 

12th June 2022

In my Geelong class...

In her second ikebana Christine set stems of Nandina berries with a branch of Manchurian pear, Pyrus ussuriensis in a modern, footed, ceramic ikebana vase. 

Helen M inverted a stem of Cotoneaster berries which she set in a square-section glass vase. To keep them in place she made a hana kubari, that is, a flower-fixing device made from botanical materials that becomes part of the design. In this case it is made from a stripped stem of Cottoneaster.

Helen M also made this simple ikebana using a stem of Eucalyptus, a bunch of Pittosporum undulatum berries, with a single leaf left on the Pittosporum branch.

Tess also used a tall stem of Cotoneaster frigidus, which she used to create an elegant line, and some masses of Pittosporum in a contemporary ceramic ikebana vessel.

On Tuesday last week I attended the monthly meeting of Ikebana International Melbourne. The guest speaker was Judy Hajdu, one of the Chapter members. Judy presented a slideshow about Gardens in Iran, which she toured in 2017. 

I wanted to reference Iran with my ikebana at the meeting, so I used some objects I had at home that came from Iran. I bought the two hand-blown goblets some years ago. The small inlaid box, in which I keep potpourri, was the gift of an Iranian friend. A single camellia flower with some buds on the long stem reference the garden theme. It is split onto a cross-bar at the level of the water surface to support the stem and prevent it from rotating. 

This link is to the Ikebana International Melbourne Chapter meeting.

Greetings from Christopher
14th May 2022

It is not officially winter until next month here. However, on the coast in the last week the temperatures have dropped. What has really made it feel wintery is the wind-chill that has made it necessary for me to rug up.

Grey skies and strong wind from the south do produce a wintery feel. 

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The exercise I set for my senior students last week was to make an ikebana incorporating fruiting branches with some "unconventional material" (artificial material).

Christine also used Lemon for her fruiting branch. Her "unconventional material" was from a loose weave synthetic bag.

 

Ellie used painted wire mesh for her "unconventional material", with red dwarf Nandina domestica leaves and a branch with two Pomegranates, Punica granatum. 

Maree's exercise was from the Book 3/4 curriculum, 'a composition of curved lines'. She used eucalyptus stems that were bent and arched across a suiban with two contrasting lines of Heliconia, psittacorum. This is also an example of an ikebana in a suiban without a kenzan. 

Follow through this link to see some photos of the exhibition organised by Emily Karanikolopoulos, which finished yesterday after its second week.

Last week I attended Elizabeth's class for which the exercise was an autumn ikebana.

A neighbour had just given me a bag of beautiful bright orange Persimmons, Diospyros kaki. Although they were not on a branch I decided I could use them in a non-naturalistic ikebana. I used bamboo skewers to secure a small mass of them at the mouth of this black vase to which I added a second mass of gathered Liquidambar, Liquidambar styraciflua, leaves. Then I placed two stems of Miscanthus seed heads from the garden at an angle giving the ikebana a different texture and additional height.

This week I set my students the exercise of making an "Autumn Ikebana". The night time temperatures have certainly started to become cooler over the last few weeks, although we have been blessed with some warm days. Thus perfect autumn weather with no wind and bright sunshine.

I must admit when I think of autumn my first thought is of the leaf colour change in many northern hemisphere deciduous plants.This thought is really a reflection of my Anglo-Australian heritage where we were taught as children that leaves in autumn would change colour. The truth is that I hardly ever saw such a thing until my teens.

Róża used three stems from her Blueberry bush and two Hydrangea flowers. Set in a wide ceramic bowl, this ikebana was best viewed from above.

Maureen had been offered some Lotus pods by a friend, which became the starting point of her ikebana. Fruiting branches or stems are another material that is appropriately suggestive of autumn. She has then added New Zealand Flax and Canna leaves to the handmade ceramic vase.

In her ikebana Ellie used Ornamental Grape vine for her principal line. She also used two pieces of fruit, a bright yellow gourd and small orange coloured pear. 

In the garden last week I was surprised to notice that, this year, two of the Japanese Quince, Chaenomeles, plants had produced a single fruit each.

This one was growing directly on a large branch that I was not willing to cut. However, the second fruit was on a suitably small branch. These fruits are a striking yellow with a rather waxy bloom. A suitable subject for my autumn ikebana

Because of the yellow colour of the fruit I chose this cobalt blue glazed ceramic vessel and positioned the fruit to highlight the colour contrast. The branch lines are from the same bush and the mass is of Hydrangea leaves that have coloured in the cold night air.

Greetings from Christopher

30th April 2022

 

Last week Laurie and I spent four days in Canberra, Australia’s national capital. We visited the National Gallery of Australia to see the exhibition of paintings by Jeffrey Smart. The exhibition is to celebrate the centenary of his birth and is the most comprehensive retrospective of his work ever put together. It is a ‘must see’ if you are interested in Australian art and have the opportunity to visit Canberra.

Later we walked up to Parliament House. I took this interesting view of the axis from the parliament to the National War Memorial on the opposite side of Lake Burley Griffin.

Here is Laurie in the forecourt of Parliament House…

…and again overlooking Canberra from the Black Mountain lookout.

We then travelled on to the Southern Highlands where the colours of autumn are becoming apparent. These following photographs were taken in the garden of the guest house we stayed at in Bundanoon.

  

The Anemones were both the white variety..

...and pink.

The pendulous bell of this small flower was particularly enchanting.

Again “from the archives” this week's ikebana is one I made some years ago. 

It was an early experiment in the then new exercise a "Vertical Ikebana". The materials were some gathered stems of Corky Elm and Ornamental Grape, Vitis, leaves from the garden. The black ceramic vessel is from Seto City in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Seto is one of the Six Ancient Kilns in Japan where pottery has been made for 800 years.  

Belated greetings from

Christopher

11th April 2022

These plinths symbolically present elements of cargo from wrecks of sailing ships that founded on this part of the Victorian coast. 

Adjacent to the Lorne Surf Life Saving Club is this playful work drawing on the form of historical private Beach Bathing Boxes.

Along the Boardwalk is a series of painted wooden sculptures representing activities of visitors to the beach.

I was quite surprised by the despondent/depressed/fatigued representation of this would-be surfer facing the water.

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In my Melbourne class this week...

...Jacqueline's exercise was an arrangement of a variety of materials (mazesashi). She chose to make her ikebana in a trough-shaped vessel. The line of the nearly vertical Gladiolus was the most dominant and led to the creating of interesting spaces between the two groups of materials.

The topic I set the senior students was: Using naturally dried materials as your principal subject, add some fresh material to give it “life”.

Eugenia's principal subject was a dried Dracena leaf with a beautiful curl. She arranged it floating above a unique Bizen pottery vessel and added a mass of richly-toned Statice.

The class members and I were delighted to welcome back Helen N from a prolonged absence. A single large dried lotus leaf has been given a zing by the addition of two camellia leaves.

Meanwhile in the garden at Torquay...

... to my delight the Haemanthus coccineus bulbs have produced multiple flowers for the first time. They look quite dramatic against the greyed mulch.

  

The flowers are amazing for the intensity of colour.
 

I am also delighted by the best flowering yet in our garden of the Goldenrod, Solidago nemoralis (I think in this instance). It has definitely responded to the wet spring and sporadic rain during summer.

This crop is over a metre high because I have grown it in an old cement laundry tub lined with plastic. It has also received copious amounts of water. My Canadian ikebana friend, Leonora, insists it is a weed. But then so are many other beautiful wild-growing flowers. Unfortunately, I left making my ikebana a little late and the material is past its peak. It was also rain damaged by a recent shower and I had to remove some browned parts.