(almost) ALONE ON THE BEACH

8.30 am Saturday 28th 'social distancing' on the beach. 

I didn't really need to stand on the rocks to avoid the crowds. It was just fun to watch the waves surging through the tunnels under these rocks. 

I suppose in other parts of the world there may be other expressions for maintaining distance between people to prevent the transmission of the Covid-19 virus. We are now required to stay at home and not engage in unnecessary travel. Fortunately our home includes a garden. Exercise away from home, for example walking along the beach with members of one's household, is permitted. 

Earlier in the week we noticed this Gang gang cockatoo feeding in a small tree by the side of the path. Compared to most other wild cockatoos they are surprisingly unafraid of humans and it is fairly easy to get a close-up photo of them.

I took this photo of one of the three Haemanthus coccineus flowers in the garden ten days ago. My neighbour, who gave me this plant, is a skilled gardener. She grows further Haemanthus plants in pots from the seeds she gathers from the spent flowers.  

This is the sight that greets you as you walk down the path beside her house. Very uplifting during the flowering season.

One of the plants from Canada and northeastern USA that delighted me, when I first came across it in 2014, was Golden Rod Solidago. This particular patch above was in the Herbaceous Border of Royal Melbourne Botanic Garden and photographed at the end of January. So lush and exuberant looking.

This morning I photographed the more modest clump in our garden. This is its third season in the garden and it has flowered without being seriously battered by the dry heat of summer. As you can see, both Haemanthus and Solidago can survive in our garden. However, it is a struggle because of our hydrophobic sandy soil. They have shown me that they are tough plants and rewarding to grow. I decided a couple of days ago that I would use the Solidago as an ikebana subject.

I have created a freestyle ikebana using three flowering stems of Golden Rod. To emphasise the yellow of the flowers I have added two orangey leaf clusters of umbrella grass cyperus alternifolius, and one green cluster at the back. The radiating lines of the umbrella grass compliment the form of the creamy white spherical vessel. It is by the Tasmanian ceramic artist, Sallee Warner.

Finally a special 40th Birthday greeting to members of the Christchurch Branch of the Sogetsu School. I wish I could have been with you as planned.


Greetings from Christopher
29th March 2020

AN EVERYDAY OBJECT

My Torquay students attended their final class for this term in the week before last. The theme for the class was to make an ikebana arrangement using 'An everyday object' as the vessel. The 'everyday object', in this case, is something that can be found around the house. This is an exercise from the Sogetsu curriculum that challenges the students' preconceptions and requires them to take an imaginative approach to their ikebana. One of my suggestions to the students was that the 'everyday object' should be used in such a way that it did not simply look like an unusual vase.

Lovely ikebana was created, even though at times there was some amusement and laughter in the class room.

Marta used a cake tin and rack, a small bowl (obscured) and a pair of tongs to arrange a branch with a small mandarin and a stem of lemon with a single flower. 

Val arranged three limes, a branch of acacia aphylla and some buds of anemome tomentosa. Her vessel is a teapot and lid.

Judy's quirky ikebana of nasturtium, marjoram and a lemon was arranged on a stainless steel lemon squeezer.

Kim's simple ikebana of two chrysanthemum flowers used two latex gloves and a nylon kitchen scourer as the vessel. He had to get creative when I rejected his handless cup as being too like a vase.

Marion arranged garlic chive flowers, a stem of vine and some bracken fern. Her vessel was a basket that is placed on its side showing the weaving of the base. This placement was to prevent the basket from looking too like the traditional use of a Japanese lacquered basket.

Helen T. arranged four Clivia leaves and a stem of Fuchsia with two pink flower buds. Her vessel was a galvanised metal watering can placed on its side.

Róża made a geometric arrangement using umbrella grass cyperus alternifolius in a highly colourful teapot.

Róża is a professional photographer who took the photograph of the 'finished' strelitzia flower-heads on last week's posting. At the same time I also re-worked the Bushy Yate ikebana I had made at the beginning of March, for her to photograph.

Above is the photo I took of the first version I made three weeks ago...
  

... and here is the second, studio-version Röża photographed. This time I reversed the principal branch to reduce the strongly curving line in the branch. I have also brought the separated flower buds further forward in a curving line. Röża has skilfully lit the ikebana. More of her photographic art can be seen by following this link, Geelong Photography.

Greetings from Christopher
22nd March 2020

OBIJIME

   

On Tuesday I attended the monthly meeting of Ikebana International Melbourne, which was the 61st birthday of the Chapter. The theme of the meeting was Japanese Day with a focus on the kimono. Members were encouraged to create ikebana on that theme.

   

In my ikebana I arranged flowers from a cane- stemmed Begonia, Crocosmia and a single leaf of Dietes grandiflora in a black ceramic vase. In keeping with the theme I wrapped two obijime around the vase. These are the ties that are used to hold the obi (sash) around the waist on a woman's formal kimono. The obijime were given to me by Kazuko Suzuki, the wife of Minoru Suzuki - one of Laurie's former students from his year in Japan in 1978.

The advent of autumn in our garden has brought two particularly conspicuous plants from Southern Africa into bloom. Both of these plants grow from bulbs that are dormant over the summer, flowering at this time of year before their leaves appear. They survive well in our climate of dry summers when the rainfall is lowest.

The first of these to appear in our garden is the Belladonna lily  Amaryllis belladonna.  This is a plant that is seen in many places where there are remnants of an old farm garden that survives after the farmhouse has gone or is derelict.

The second is Haemanthus coccineus, which was a gift from a neighbour who successfully grew this plant from seed for us.

As you can see its short stem is very fleshy, as are the petals.

Another Southern African plant in our garden is this Strelitzia juncea. It is particularly notable for its minute leaves that are mere ridges along the ends of the stems, making them quite spear-like. It had passed its flowering peak and I have removed the spent flowers.

When removing the old flowers my attention was caught by the intense pink at the base of each flower. At their prime the flowers are striking because of the intense orange and deep blue of the stiff looking petals. As I looked at the flowers even the dried petals showed subtle beauty in their colouring and twisting lines. However, the pink was so intense I decided to focus on it for an ikebana. One of the characteristics of ikebana is to try to reveal some aspect of the materials that otherwise would not be immediately apparent to the casual observer.

I have stripped off the green covering of the stems in all but one case. Six flowers are carefully arranged in a triangular mass inside a large glass vase. They are seen from the 'back' to show the maximum amount of the pink colouring thus showing their beauty even though the flowers are finished.  

More photos from the Melbourne Chapter meeting.

Greetings from Christopher
14th March 2020.

Thanks to Ròźa Marciniak for the photo of the Strelitzia ikebana.

SUMMER'S END

  

In this part of the world summer seemed to end rather suddenly. Although autumn colours are not likely to be seen for some time, the weather is cooler. In spite of which we are still having some pleasant warm days and the blessing of rain. 

This week I want to show you recent ikebana by some of my students.

I was really amused when Val created this playful work above. The subject for the class was 'Memories of summer holidays'. What she has created is a morimono (heaped things) ikebana arrangement which, in the Sogetsu curriculum, is made with fruit and/or vegetables. Flowers may be added, but should be minimal. The colours and fruit are particular to summer and the cheeky addition of sunglasses is a delightful touch.

For the students in my Melbourne class I set the subject of late-summer, early-autumn grasses; not however the traditional 'Seven Grasses of Summer'. I was more interested in the 'feel' of the season.

Helen N used three grasses in an unusual fish trap-shaped basket, with the addition of two small white flowers to brighten the ikebana.

Margaret used two grasses, a long stemmed mauve headed grass and a very fine grass. The latter was massed and has not photographed well because of the light back ground. To give the ikebana some zing she has added two stems of Crocosima with its fresh leaves.

Robyn used three grasses and two fine, small flowers to visually lighten the work. She set her ikebana in an interesting basket made from two interwoven palm inflorescences. 

Eugenia created her ikebana in an interesting ceramic footed bowl with a deep aqua-green glaze. She used seven different grasses and a dry branch to give a sense of mass to the otherwise light materials.

Marcia made a simple ikebana in a contemporary black ceramic vessel using two types of grasses.

Also in the same class, Jacqueline's Sogetsu curriculum exercise was to make an ikebana with two seperate groups of materials. This style is known as a ka-bu-wa-ke.

In the Geelong class, Jo's exercise was a freestyle arrangement 'Using leaves only'. From her garden she gathered two huge rhubarb leaves for her main material. She was particularly interested in showing the underside of one leaf and contrasting it with the upper surface of the second leaf. To give these two large surfaces a dynamic feel she added some loops of agapanthus leaves on the right and a line extending on the left.

Tess has created an elegant flowing line in her ikebana with a small contrasting mass of dietes grandiflora. Her exercise was to practise using the 'cross-bar fixture'. I was particularly impressed with the result as the vase had pronounced ridges and an oval cross-section making the cross-bar technique especially difficult.  

Greetings from Christopher
7th March 2020

BUSHY YATE

   

Two weeks ago the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana had its first meeting for 2020 in a new, larger venue for our Monday meetings. 

The well-attended meeting workshop was led by Thea Sartori, a senior teacher of the Branch. The theme Thea chose for the workshop was 'a Summer arrangement' incorporating some 'found' material.

For my ikebana I used three blades of coast sword sedge lepidosperma gladiatum, and two very large sunflowers. The sunflowers are a new variety to me; their flowers looked like giant marigolds with no seeds visible in the centre. I used a contemporary-looking conical, stainless steel vase which suited the 'found' material. That was the metal mesh which I had also used in last week's ikebana. 

The mesh was 'rescued' when the range hood in our kitchen had to be replaced. It was some time ago, but I recognised its potential as 'unconventional' (man-made) ikebana material. Fortunately it packs flat making it much less bulky than other materials that '...might come in use one day...'.

Click here for photos from the February Sogetsu Branch meeting.

Last week I pruned our bushy yate Eucalyptus Lehmannii very hard as the possums were using it as a bridge to the roof and the pergola where they have been feasting on the new growth of the Lorraine Lee rose.

  

This example in a nearby park shows how a large healthy bushy yate can grow.

The green (kitchen mop-looking) flower shown above is from the same tree. All of the growth stages of the flowers of this tree have their own unique beauty and I had plenty that I could not allow to go to straight into the mulching machine. 

This week's ikebana is an example of the Sogetsu curriculum subject: 'deconstruction and rearranging materials'. After removing all the leaves I have placed two flowers in the Don Jones spherical vase that I showed in last week's posting.  On the right hand side are some unopened flower buds which have elongated caps (operculum) covering the stamens. I decided that two more should remain on the branch. The branch has been cut to stand when inverted and has four knobbly fruit that at this stage are glossy green and reddish brown. The old bark is peeling from the branch showing the creamy coloured new bark underneath.

Greetings from Christopher
1st March 2020.