BEYOND THE FAMILIAR

Two weeks ago I held this year's first class for my Melbourne students. I had set the senior students the exercise of making a 'Mazeshashi' arrangement. Traditionally this arrangement of a variety of materials was done in Autumn, principally using grasses. The aim is for a full, but light arrangement with a greater colour palette than is usual.

Robyn was particularly concerned to pay attention to the space within her arrangement. 

Unfortunately, in both of the following photos there is distortion of the image caused by the foreshortening effect of the camera.

Margaret's starting point was the white Cosmos from her own garden. She kept the arrangement light to complement the delicate turquoise of her vase.

Helen paid particular attention to the variety of texture in her work. Unfortunately, the photo's foreshortening effect exaggerates the size of the leaf on the right front. 

Kyoko's arrangement was 'Taking into account the colour of the vessel'. She massed  anthurium on the right and balanced them with a line of rose-hips extending to the left.

       *      *       *       *      *      *       *      *

Last Monday, the first meeting for 2018 of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School was held. Lara Telford lead a workshop on the theme of 'The Essence of Creativity', which is number 48 of Sofu Teshigahara's 
50 Principles of Ikebana. 

Lara asked us to draw a sketch of our proposed arrangement using familiar materials. I used Costal Sword Sedge Lepidosperma gladiatum, which can be arranged into beautiful curving lines, like the example below.

At the workshop, Lara then asked us to change the way we worked and use the familiar material in an unfamiliar way. This idea, from the 50 Principles of Ikebana, is to take us beyond the familiar and what we know works to make some new discovery. It is by doing something unfamiliar that we can truly become creative. 

In taking up the challenge I realised that I had never concertinaed this material by making closely spaced folds. The zigzagging lines looked interesting; however, they had no structural strength and could not support their own weight. I therefore needed to use some straight leaves as the support through which I  threaded my newly created wiggling lines. A single oriental lily was added as a focus. 

More photos from the Sogetsu Branch workshop.

Greetings from Christopher
26th February 2018