CHRISTMAS 2020

  

It is the day after Boxing Day as I write this, and Christmas Day has been and gone for 2020. Before next weekend arrives we will be in 2021. I would like to wish you a happy, healthy and safe New Year. My wish is also for better things for the whole world. From the perspective of Australia, we look with concern at the circumstances of much of the rest of the world, particularly with regard to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year I made a Christmas tree that looks rather Baroque. I had some large Monstera Deliciosa leaves drying in the garage which had developed some interesting curving lines and I realised that they would be large enough to cover my wire-mesh cone. Because they did not sit perfectly on the surface I added some red and gold baubles both underneath and outside the leaves. I first undercoated the leaves with some red lacquer spray, some of which I left showing on the tips when I added the top coat of gold.

Elsewhere I re-used the gold-sprayed Marguerite Daisy, Argyranthemum frutescens, branches for a more minimal, ikebana-inspired, small Christmas tree shape. In both cases I have used a dried Agapanthus flower-head to represent the star at the top of the tree.

The photographs in last week's posting, of the fallen White Oak, Quercus alba, in the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne were all taken through chain mesh fencing. This week I have been able to get up close as the fence has now been removed. Below are a number of images showing details of the carving and interlocking of some branches.

This first photo is of the decorative carving of the root buttresses of the trunk...

...and this is the top of the trunk, revealing why it collapsed.

Here two branches are joined end to end to make a seat, using the largest 'Dovetail joint' I have ever seen. 

This joint looks more playful...

...given that the pieces cannot move.

And the same is true here.

The seats were quite comfortable as we discovered on our Christmas morning walk.

Laurie was testing out the king-sized seat.

Later in the day the area was proving very attractive to children of all ages.

On Christmas Eve I visited a longstanding Sogetsu Branch member, friend and mentor, Kath Dacy. When I arrived she was surrounded by Christmas gifts of flowers and wondering where to start.

After some consideration she settled on a bright yellow Kangaroo paw, Anigozanthos pulcherrimus (?) and a green spider Chrysanthemum. Kath placed the Kangaroo paw at a strong slant to the left, with a forward movement. She then arranged the three Chrysanthemum flowers in a scalene triangle providing a counterbalancing movement to the principal line. It was a delight to see her strong ikebana arranged so deftly. *

My two leaf, two flower Ikebana took much more fussing to create. Two Arum lily leaves, one just peeping above the rim of the vessel and two Alstroemeria psittacina. This was my contribution for the Christmas lunch gathering at our place. We were joined by some of Laurie's siblings and one of his nephews. 

The porcelain vessel is by the Victorian ceramic artist Alistair Whyte.

Greetings from Christopher 

27th December 2020

* I apologise for the poor quality of the photo of Kath's ikebana. The light level was low and I used my elderly mobile phone's camera.

FROM DESTRUCTION, RENEWAL

In the first week of January this year I reported on the destruction by wind storm of a large old White Oak, Quercus alba, in the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.

The tree was 130 years old and split apart at a point where it had become weakened by age. Fortunately the tree had protective fencing around it before the storm because the Gardens' staff had observed splitting in some part of the tree and feared branches falling. It was a very sad sight for a long time while the Gardens' management decided what to do with the remains of the tree. 

I was delighted when I visited the Gardens for the first time at the end of the 112 days of Melbourne's lockdown, to see that a new project had begun on the remains of the tree.

It seems that the new project is to make a gathering place for visitors to the Gardens by turning the fallen branches into informal seating and perhaps tables. Volunteers from the Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking recently visited the site and shared their knowledge and skills with the project team.

The main trunk has been left in position and decorative carving has been done at its base.

This photos shows some large branches that have been carved and  interlocked to create bench seating.

      

A sense of playfulness in the execution of the project is one of its delightful aspects.

This photo shows the replacement tree, a Valley Oak, Quercus lobata, native to California and therefore more likely to survive in Melbourne's predicted drying climate.

In our own garden at the end of last summer I had to prune the Marguerite Daisy, Argyranthemum frutescens, which had become very untidy and overgrown.

This is a small section of the bush as it is today. When I pruned the bush I immediately recognised the ikebana potential of the branching stems, so I hung them up to dry out. Later I stripped the withered leaves off the branches and created a structure, securing two together, before spraying them with gold paint. 

When I see painted branches, especially in ikebana, I am reminded of Mr Tetsunori Kawana's wisdom. At a workshop he said, painted branches should no longer be thought of as branches but as a sculptural form which has that particular shape. Having created this golden sculpture, I used it in February this year at the Consul General of Japan's residence for the reigning Emperor's birthday celebration.

Last week I refreshed the paint and re-used the sculpture for the end of year celebration at the final meeting of Ikebana International Melbourne. I have added a mass of green and white using Feverfew, Tanacetum parthenium, from our garden supplemented by the red and green of Alstromeria psittacina. Follow this link to the I.I. Melbourne blog for further photos from the meeting.

The ceramic bowl is by the Castlemaine ceramic artist Phil Elson.  

Greetings from Christopher

19th December 2020

CURVING LINES

A few weeks ago we noticed the unusual sight of a couple of black swans swimming on one of the dams on the Torquay golf links. The dams are a relatively new feature, created to help provide a more reliable water source for the links.

In this photo there are a couple spreading their wings on the opposite side of the dam.

In this zoomed photo, the birds are actually two of four cygnets that hatched only a couple of months ago.

These are the parents, just out of view to the left of the first photo, who are still keeping a watch over the youngsters and would undoubtedly make threatening noises and gestures if I had been much closer.

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As we sat down to dinner two nights ago I just happened to look up and noticed the light from the setting sun bouncing off one of the windows and back-lighting this leaf of a Canna Lily "Tropicana". It was a beautiful but fleeting moment that I couldn't resist trying to catch.

Also in the garden is a self-sown Feverfew, Tanacetum parthenium. A very small plant just suddenly appeared a couple of years ago and I thought it would be worthwhile to keep it for use in ikebana. I am surprised that such a dainty and delicate looking plant survives quite well in our garden with just a little water. 

At the end-of-year celebration for my Torquay and Geelong students a week and a half ago, in addition to the ikebana I included in last week's posting, I had made a second ikebana.  I decided to use the first of this year's hydrangeas.

The ikebana was an example of a 'mass and line' exercise using the greenish hydrangea with a variegated aspidistra leaf. I curved the leaf to follow the line in the glass bottle-shaped vase and shredded one half to create soft flowing lines. The other side of the leaf, which was left whole, had a single broad cream coloured band.

 

The placement in the room meant that it was seen from two angles. This is the second view, where the flowerhead is seen through the lines of the aspidistra.

The hydrangea had a shorter vase life than the aspidistra, so...

...I re-used it in the arrangement above using a mass of Feverfew for the first time. Here it is arranged in a shallow vessel by the Castlemaine ceramic artist Dean Smith.

Greetings from Christopher

13th December 2020

SHOWING LINES AT THE BASE

 

Four weeks ago I had an early morning walk around the Royal  Botanic Gardens Melbourne. It was the first opportunity to visit the Gardens since the beginning of the second lockdown in July. 

The morning air was still, with bright sunshine. 

I was delighted to see the newly re-furbished Arid Garden that I had heard discussed by the Garden's Director, Professor Tim Entwisle (the link is to his personal blog, "Talking Plants"). The 'cactus' collection in the garden had become rather run down in recent years; and when I last visited had been secured behind chain-mesh fencing. Below are a selection of photos of the beautifully refurbished area.

  

  

  

  

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Two of my students have recently sent me photos of exercises I had set them to do while in lockdown.

Ellie's exercise was to make an ikebana for a celebration. She has used a single Strelitzia flower, Horse Tail Grass, Equisetum, and three 'Pinwheel' flowers, Leucospermum. In her email to me Ellie said: "What I wanted to celebrate was the State (of Victoria) rising out of the blackness of 2020, into sunshine, joy, people and Spring rain-soaked greenery." 

Jacqueline completed the Sogetsu curriculum exercise 'Intertwining plant materials'. She said of her ikebana: " ...I have used asparagus fern, removed the leaves, twisted and plaited the long stems into two circles combining them onto one stem. I used a small flowered ('Dancing Lady') orchid to give a sense of movement..." 

Now for a little mystery abstract art. 

 

Is it oil on canvas? Oil on felt? Ridged composite board?

Or a close up of an unexpected visitor at the window?

Of course the latter. I could not resist photographing this little moth that was displaying its beautiful black, white and red colouring on one of the windows that looks onto the garden. I don't think I have ever seen this kind of moth before.

Also in the garden...

      

...the Strelitzia reginae has started to flower. This year it has produced five flowers and last week I was particularly drawn to the intense indigo blue of the petals.

The plant is still young and I have brought it into the garden particularly for its leaves, which have a red rib for a while when they first open. The other Strelitzia in the garden with similar looking flowers is S. juncea. It has tiny leaf margins at the tip of its spear like leaf stems. I did not want to deprive the new plant of any of its few leaves so I have used some New Zealand flax leaves in today's ikebana.

On Thursday I invited my local students to celebrate the end of 2020 at our house. It was particularly satisfying for us all to gather after the long lockdown (112 days), having had no face-to-face classes since Term one. Thank goodness for social media and email that enabled us all to maintain contact.

My ikebana was made for this celebration, the morning and afternoon tea for my two local classes. My ikebana meets the criteria for the Sogetsu curriculum exercise of 'Showing the lines at the base'. In this exercise the lines need to arise cleanly from the vessel and the focal point should be high in the arrangement. I felt the mass of lines on the left side looked a little heavy so added a single line on the right creating a space that made the work lighter. The shino-glazed suiban is by Elena Renker from New Zealand.

Greetings from Christopher

5th December 2020