On Saturday last week I attended a Sogetsu workshop led by Emily Karanikolopoulos, a senior teacher in the Melbourne Branch of the Sogetsu School. Emily had chosen for her topic the Sogetsu curriculum, Book Five exercise, of fixing techniques when using tsubo (round) vases. In these vases it is not correct practise to use a kenzan...
...and I distinctly remember being politely admonished for doing so in this arrangement I made at the Sogetsu Head Quarters in 2011.
At a subsequent class I made the arrangement above, under close instruction. In that case I was taught to fix the principal branch to a 'cross bar' by way of a complex knot.
A few days before the workshop I noticed a mass of acacia seed pods that were just beginning to develop. They were quite shiny and were developing a lovely brick-red in contrast to the fresh green of the leaves.
As they made an interesting, if untidy, mass I thought they would be suitable for the workshop. Additionally in their favour was the fact that the stems were reasonably thick. I knew this would be an advantage no matter which fixing technique I finally used.
Emily demonstrated nailing, intersecting two branches and fixing onto a crossbar. I chose to use the intersecting technique as it would allow me to arrange my principal branch in a near vertical position.
I have removed all of the green leaves that were among the mass of seed pods on the left to enhance their colour. The main branch on the right is from the same bush. I have added some yellowish-green callistemon flowers from our garden as a contrast. These flowers pickup the colour of the natural ash glaze in the vessel by Ian Jones.
Here is a link to the workshop posting on the Victorian Sogetsu website.
Greetings from Christopher
26th October 2019
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