GEELONG JAPANESE FESTIVAL

 

Yesterday three of my Geelong students and I participated in a one day Festival organised by the Japanese Association of Geelong. It was held at the Geelong Show Grounds and offered a wide range of activities, and displays of Japanese material culture. The activities included taiko drumming, cosplay, musical events, martial arts, bonsai and origami workshops. The material culture included contemporary and traditional clothing, domestic ceramics, fabrics and Sogetsu School ikebana. Over the course of the day more than 4,000 people attended the event.

On the stage in this photo are the finalists in the cosplay competition.

Here are half of the passionate bonsai artists who remained at work throughout the day. The other half of the bonsai artists were in a second row of tables behind this one.

In the middle of the hall my students and I had a satisfyingly busy day answering questions about ikebana. We were also surprised to meet people we knew from our community who had an interest in some aspect of Japanese culture that we had not known about.

I asked my students to create two ikebana arrangements each for the event. 

My student Anne made these two examples above, which are exercises from the early part of the curriculum.

Ellie, a senior student, made these two ikebana arrangements. Each being a different way of emphasising water.

Christine, also a senior student, made these two ikebana works. The second one is an ikebana incorporating man-made material; in this case, strips of copper and brass.

My first ikebana uses spent Agapanthus stems from which I have removed the seeds. I added some Leucadendron with red stems and inflorescences. I removed some of the leaves to show the red of the  Leucadendron stem, and placed dried Agapanthus to highlight the inflorescences

For my second ikebana I used two pieces of Moonah  driftwood on one side of the arrangement. Then I set two smallish leaves of Strelitzia nicoli, and three disbud Chrysanthemums on the opposite side. The third Chrysanthemum was  placed at the mouth of the vessel behind the leaves, because the work could be seen from behind. This "neatened the mouth of the vessel" where the leaf stems enter, which is an important teaching in the Sogetsu School. 

The large cylindrical vessel is by Graeme Wilkie.

Greetings from Christopher
20th April 2026

 

EMPHASISING THE DIAGONAL LINE

Late last year we had some very strong wind-storms which badly damaged a large Pomaderris bush . It was sited against a side fence in the garden that screened the neighbouring property. After removing the damaged branches I decided that I really needed to replace the whole bush. The gap left was 2.5 metres in diameter.

My remedy was to fill the space with two small Banksia praemosa plants and two hybrid Grevillia plants. Gardening does school us in the practise of patience.

Elsewhere in the garden...

 ...I was surprised to notice one of the Japanese quinces Chaenomeles japonica had produced a large yellow fruit, 7cm in diameter. 

When I looked more closely I counted 10 fruit altogether. Possibly enough to make a single small pot of marmalade!

Recently I had picked a number of Aspidistra leaves for some ikebana practise. I then placed them behind a door in a vase with some water and forgot about them. 

Six weeks later I found they were in a transitioning stage as they started to dry. I thought the colours were particularly beautiful and their lines most elegant. I set them in a red glazed vase by Alistair Whyte in a recessed shelf. The translucence of the leaf on the right was richly enhanced by the overhead light.

This year the Belladonna lilies Armaryllis belladonna, were about three weeks late from their usual flowering. I am sure the delay was caused by the drier-than-usual summer. Their pink trumpets were very eye-catching and ideal for an ikebana arrangement.

Above is my ikebana from two weeks ago. The Golden Rod Solidago canadensis needed to be replaced. However, the Agapanthus stems, which had started to turn yellow, still looked fine.

I started by trying to fill in the triangular space between the dried flower-heads with the Belladonna flowers. However, only one stem was long enough. This meant I needed to change my idea. Instead, by leaning two of the Belladonna stems to the left, I was able to create a cascading diagonal line of flowers above the leaning Agapanthus stems. This created a very different movement to the first ikebana.

Greetings from Christopher

12th April 2026
 

PHOTINIA

Autumn is in the air, warm sunny days with little wind.

Laurie and I had a walk through Taylor Park in Torquay, where I took this photo of a large flock of ducks. After I took the photo I noticed that a duck was sitting on the table beside the older gentleman. 

In the Melbourne class I had set the students the task of making an ikebana using succulent materials.

Jacqueline used a Japanese footed-vase in which she arranged three different materials. The principal line to the right is a stem of silver dollar plant, Crassula arborescens. In the centre is a single small leaf from an Agave attenuata . And on the left is a single "Black rose", Aeonium arboreum. 

Eugenia used a modern ceramic vase made from intersecting cylinders. The striped succulent on the right is Haworthiopsis, behind it is a Sedum flower and the fruiting stalk of another succulent. On the left side Eugenia draped some 'Air Plant'  Tillandsia-subg-diaphoranthema.

Marcia arranged her materials in a hand-made vessel with a large flat surface and a narrow slit. She also used the 'silver dollar' plant and a green form of Crassula.

During last week we spent three nights visiting friends and family in the hilly country about 100km north of Melbourne. This is a very scenic part of the state with a much higher rainfall and lower winter temperatures than on the coast. Hence there are beautiful gardens to visit that look like this one: Forest Glade Gardens. We were taken there by our friends Colin and Tony who live at Woodend. At the back of their garden the Photinia P. glansmispel x fraseri , hedge had recently been pruned which resulted in new growth of strikingly red leaves.

I was permitted to cut some stems of the Photinia, from which I then made two complementary ikebana arrangements in tapering conical glass vases, one white and the other black. The tallest branch on the right side is the main line of the white vase and the low line on the left is from the black vase. Each of the  two ikebana arrangements is complete in itself; however, because of the flattening effect of the photo and being only one material, this is it not obvious.

Greetings from Christopher

5th April 2026

CONTRAST OF MASS AND SPACE

During the week I had a walk on the Pt Roadknight beach.  We are only a week away from a full moon so the tide was particularly low.

Because of the extra low tide it was possible to enjoy the beauty of this exceptionally sheltered beach and walk safely from there to the Anglesea beach.

I have always liked the way the long line of rocky reef stretches to the east at Point Roadknight with its rocky outcrops of diminishing height. At Torquay only the Front and Fisherman's beaches are sheltered from the westerly winds and swell.

At a recent class in Melbourne, Aileen made this ikebana using three glass vessels. She had added food colouring to create a layering of depth and colour. The botanical materials are a trimmed Arum lily Zantedeschia, leaf and a spent Arum flower, also trimmed.

In Geelong, Anne created her first freestyle ikebana She has used an ornamental grass and two Sedum, flower-heads.  Her unexpected challenge was that the hole through the middle of the vessel made it difficult to position the materials.

In the class Jo created the ikebana above "Incorporating Metal" because she had not been able to attend the Sogetsu Branch Workshop on that theme in the previous week. She has used metal-covered flexible connectors for (pumping up bicycle tyres) plumbing (Editor's note) and Japanese Maple Acer palmatum, leaves.

In the garden the Golden Rod Solidago canadensis has done well again this year. Unfortunately, I took this photo just after some heavy rain and the flowers are damaged. However, I had picked some a few days earlier. 

I made this ikebana with four stems of the Golden Rod and three spent Agapanthus stems. I had cut and de-seeded the Agapanthus a week or so earlier and kept them in a cool dark room. Interestingly, the stalks on the inflorescence had started to yellow - which harmonised with the other material. I wanted to emphasise the geometry of mass and space that the materials allowed. In particular, I have created a triangular space between the vertical and slanting lines of the Agapanthus stems. To the left is a triangular mass of Golden Rod flower heads which is inverted, relative to the space.

Greetings from Christopher

28th March 2026

WORKING with METAL

A few weeks ago I noticed this beautiful old Eucalyptus tree in a nearby paddock. I am impressed by the story of survival that it tells. A large portion of the trunk on the left side died sometime ago. However, the part on the right survived and continues to flourish. There is great beauty revealed by the tree's resilience. Sometimes ikebana can reflect this kind of beauty.

At class I set my Torquay students the exercise of making an ikebana incorporating fruit or vegetables.

Róża arranged Kale leaves showing the upper and underside surfaces. She then added a thin Capsicum for its curving form and bright red contrast.

Lyn arranged branches of Kaffir Lime with fruit of various sizes. She also placed a very small Cabbage head Brassica oleracea, at the base of the large branch on the left.

Kerryn arranged some Passionfruit Passiflora edula, vine and fruit around and within a large open clear glass vessel. She was particularly attracted to the fine tendrils of the plant. A large Eggplant Solanum melongena, was added in front of the vessel. 

In my Geelong class Maureen and Ellie did the same exercise.

Maureen used a ceramic bottle-shaped vessel in which she arranged an Agapanthus, seed head, some Spider grass Liriope spicata, and three Bitter gourds Momordica charantia on the side of the bottle..

Ellie arranged a Broccoli, some red-veined Silverbeet Beta vulgaris, leaves and Bananas Musa, in a Japanese stemmed ceramic vase. 

In an earlier class...

...Christine arranged straight and curving stems as well as florets of Aeonium arboreum in a suiban.

On that occasion, Ellie arranged two contrasting types of Crassula leaves as a small sculptural work using a dried piece of driftwood.

Last Monday the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School held its AGM. It was followed by a workshop that was led by my colleague, Emily Karanikolopoulos on the theme of "Working with Metal".

This is my sculptural ikebana from the workshop. I have used two disks covered with aluminium foil, and shiny aluminium mesh which creates a Moiré pattern where it overlaps. The resin vessel is slightly translucent and a deep red. I have set a partially-hidden Crucifix orchid Epidendrum radicans, flowerhead high in the ikebana.

Greeting from Christopher
22nd March 2026

 

INCORPORATING SMALL CHOPSTICK STRUCTURES

I was delighted to see this visitor to our garden today, a juvenile Kookaburra. It is only the second time I have seen one in our garden. About one kilometre away, further along the (intermittent) creek below our house, Kookaburras are commonly seen and, even more often, heard.

My Melbourne students recently completed the exercise of including in their ikebana a structure made with disposable Chopsticks (hashi in Japanese).

Aileen painted her structure blue to complement this unusual Japanese ikebana vase. She used white Freesias to create a small focal mass at the mouth of the vessel.

Eugenia was unable to find any disposable Chopsticks so she bought a small split bamboo table mat which she deconstructed. She then wired the individual lengths of bamboo into triangles and set them in her triangular vessel. Her botanical materials are fine-leafed Nandina and white Chrysanthemum flowers.

Jacqueline was unfamiliar with the exercise of wiring chopsticks into small structures. Being a creative and resourceful person, she devised her own method of creating two seperate structures. She did not break the chopstick pairs apart, but inserted the points into each other. She then created two structures, with three pairs of interlocked chopsticks in each, connecting them with a spiral of stiff green paper ribbon. Her botanical material was also white Chrysanthemum flowers. She used a Japanese footed trough-shaped vase.

In my ikebana this week I reused a Chopstick structure I had  previously made at a workshop in October 2018. On this occasion I positioned it horizontally in a ceramic vase so that it stretched to the right. I then added a single Aralia leaf at the mouth of the vase and a single branching stem of Dietes grandiflora inserted through the framework of the structure.

The vase, which was a gift to me, is by an as yet unidentified Australian ceramicist.

Greetings from Christopher

15th March 2026

AGAPANTHUS and CHRYSANTHEMUM

A couple of days ago I photographed this beautiful Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo munching on a pine cone as we were walking along the nearby creek path.

I am suspicious that the loud thump of a falling pine cone close to where we were standing was the result of a deliberately aimed projectile. I don't think it liked being stared at.

The following day there was a  pair of the cockatoos in the Banksia in our front garden. The bird is facing to the left and chewing on the seeds of a "cone" (which I have just learnt is an 'infructescence') that it is holding in its claw.

Last week I gave my senior Geelong students the exercise of "exchanging materials and vessels". This meant making an ikebana using an unfamiliar vessel with materials that had not been chosen with that vessel in mind.

Ellie had some branches of crabapple Malus, and some Hydrangea to arrange in a small suiban. Her final solution was to create an ikebana to be viewed from above. She set the Hydrangea toward one end of the vessel and floated a single flower and three Malus fruit on the surface of the water. When I took the photo the fruit had inconveniently floated up against the Hydrangea inflorescence.

Helen had a narrow square-fronted vessel which she angled away from the viewer. In the vessel she secured a tall branch of Grevillea and a mass of Clivia fruit.

Maureen's materials were Euphorbia (serpens, I think), two Lotus Nelumbonaceae, pods and a bunch of Grass tree Xanthorrhoea leaves. The hand-made ceramic vessel was quite challenging, having flat inwardly-sloping sides. However the result was successful.

Christine had been absent from class so she chose her own subject: making an ikebana in a clear glass vessel. She made three arrangements on this theme. This one was using a single Grevillea inflorescence in an irregularly-shaped vessel. This material almost sparkled when placed under the water.

For my ikebana this week I decided again to take advantage of my neighbour's Agapanthus flower stems that had gone to seed. After carefully removing all the seeds, I also removed the small dried remains of flowers that had fallen into the centre of the mass of spiky-looking small stems. After cutting the three stems to different heights I arranged their bases in a triangle in a kenzan, so that the tallest was at the back. The right hand one is the furthest forward of the three. I then set two disbud Chrysanthemums toward  the front with their growth points angled so that they are "talking to each other".

The bowl-shaped vessel is by the Australian ceramicist Isabella Wang.

Greetings from Christopher
8th March 2026