As I mentioned last week, on the day following the workshops I gave in Ottawa we enjoyed another, more casual, ikebana activity at the country home of Janet Keefe.
The house has a very large garden that is rather wild in places. This is the sort of garden that ikebanists usually like, for the abundance of naturally growing and often unexpected materials. The activity was set up in the following way:
The participants drew a number from a 'hat' which corresponded with a location either inside the house or in the garden.
After looking at the constraints of the location, the participant then chose a vessel from Janet's collection.
The participants were then taken for a ramble around Janet's garden and shown what plant materials were there for their use. Sogetsu ikebanists will recognise that this is a curriculum exercise, 'Taking into account the place in which the ikebana is to be situated'.
The additional challenges here are:
1. an unfamiliar site that was not chosen by the participant;
2. having to use an unfamiliar vessel; and
3. having to forage for suitable materials in someone else's garden.
Eleanor's space was a small corner between the front door, on the left, and a glass panelled doorway into an adjacent room.
She created an installation work that exploited the glass panelling...
...and flowed between the spaces. Her materials included an unidentified vine, hydrangea and manipulated hosta leaves.
Michael's location was a low coffee table with bright sun flooding into the front room.
His vase was a shallow 'U' shaped tubular vase in which he arranged pine, red berries, a white hydrangea with a pink flush and some very small flowers on long stems. He said he took into account the white elephant pattern on the table and its low position.
This photo was taken after the critique. Mary Lou's space was the hearth in front of a fire place. She decided to create a freestanding structure of birch branches to one side, allowing her arrangement greater height. The materials included hydrangea, hosta leaves and some berries peeking out on the right hand side.
In a small suiban she arranged some driftwood that provided some height and support for a curving vine. White and red flowers provided focal points. She kept her arrangement lower than the picture and took into account the curving lines within the picture.
Anne-Lise's space was by a corner window in a glass-roofed sunroom. This photo was taken by John during the critique.
Anne-Lise made a single material arrangement in a wide bodied raku vase. She chose the material for its lightness so that it connected with the garden beyond.
Leonora's space was outdoors on a small wooden deck in front of a weathered wooden wall. She placed her nageire vase on a piece of dark slate. Her main structural element was an inverted branch. The ends of the branch seemed to float and drew the eye up to the visually strong knot where the branches met. The visual accent was provided by Golden Rod and bull rush. The textural elements of her work harmonised with the location.
Janet's location was on a weathered block of wood under the shade of a deciduous tree. She used one of her own hand-built coil vessels in which she arranged hydrangea and some fine small-leafed material that was colouring toward maroon.
This photo has been badly manipulated to eliminate the feet of the people in the background. In my critique I placed the fine material horizontally because it was obscuring the strong flame-like lines of the top of the vase.
I caught Elaine in the process of considering how to utilise her location. It was on top of a large rock overhung by the branch of a pine tree.
She chose a simple 'log-shaped' vase with a textured surface. Her arrangement of yellow flowers and bull rushes extended to include some bleached wood, among which she has included a sunflower.
I joined in the fun as a participant and scored an outside space among a copse of trees with some large rocks. Here I am wiring some lichen-encrusted bare branches with the help of Leonora.
Having created a branch structure I chose a lovely open bowl for its ability to create a large reflective water surface. I used some long stems of Golden Rod which I bunched. To this I added a small group of long stems with red coloured leaves as a small contrasting highlight.
This photo was taken during my self-critique. I explained that I deliberately had fine branch ends on one side of the structure and the stronger bases of the branches on the other.
This photo by John taken from the 'side' shows the sculpture better than the front and is a good illustration of the difficulty of arranging in an open environment. The materials are easily overwhelmed by the natural world.
This delightful afternoon of ikebana was enjoyed not only by the ikebanists but by partners as well. Sincere thanks to Janet as the host and everyone who contributed to the activity and our shared meal.
Greetings from Christopher and Laurie.
9th September 2018
For more photos from Ottawa click here.
What a wonderful time we had in Janet’s garden and home using her pottery. A very fun afternoon! Warmest regards, Michael
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