PINK FLOWERS AND A PINK-SPLASHED VESSEL

As I write it is a glorious Spring day on the Surf Coast. The sun is bright and the air slightly cool with a very gentle breeze, which is something of a relief after a few days of quite strong winds.

This is a view down Spring Creek, about half a kilometre from its mouth on the Torquay surf beach. I love this area especially for the large old Moonah trees, Melaleuca lanceolata, that border the creek. 

They are especially attractive to my 'ikebana eyes' for their contorted branches.

In the garden, Spring is evident with the flowering of some of the exotic plants.

This morning I was pleased to see a few early buds of the Cecile Brunner rose.

The lavender, below the Lorraine Lee rose, is making a wonderful mass and taking over a large space by the terrace. This is mostly Lavandula angustifolia. However last year, I planted a L. dentata in a bare patch in the middle. It is too small to distinguish in this photo. 

Three weeks ago, the Forsythia, that Shirley gave me, looked like this.

 

Today most of the flowers have opened. The yellow is so vibrant against the deep green of the Asparagus fern, A. aethiopicus, behind.

Beside the golf links the flowers of the Tamarisk, Tamarix (T. Gallica in this case, I think) are also opening.

This closer view shows the soft pink of the open flower and that some of the buds have yet to open. I decided this would be a good subject for my ikebana this week.

I chose a large ikebana vessel by Graeme Wilkie for two reasons. Firstly the colour of the "copper red" glaze running over the vessel complements the blossom. Secondly the branches I cut were about a metre long and needed a solid base to support them as they cascaded forward. I have added some vibrant pink Geraniums and a single red Melaleuca, M. viminalis,  to provide a strong focal point. At the back is a small spray of Banksia, B. integrifolia, to support the geranium and melaleuca flowers.

Greetings from Christopher

26th September 2021

TWO VESSELS

   

For the second year (in its already fairly long life !!) the Wisteria in the garden has flowered. From reading the Wikipedia article I now know that the plant in our garden is Wisteria sinensis. 

Among other things, I have learnt that it is slow to flower and may  also be unpalatable to possums. I have great hopes for the future of this vine. 

Also in the garden the Callistemon, now re-classified to Melaleuca viminalis, is really starting to flower. I included a photo of this bush two weeks ago when the first flower of this Spring started to open. The photo above is just the top quarter of the bush. As we walk around the neighbourhood it is amazing to suddenly notice all the red flowers that have opened on bushes that, at other times, just blend into the green background. I have been planning to use the Callistemon in my ikebana this week... 

...along with some Coastal-beard Heath, Leucopogon parviflorus. This is a large bush in our garden which has just come into flower in the last couple of weeks. To my naked eye the end of the branches are covered in clusters of very tiny white flowers like five point stars. They are only about 5mm across when fully open.

Interestingly, when photographed close-up and then zoomed they look like they are made from white velvet. A branch of these white flowers is the second element of my ikebana.

The challenge is a topic for the September workshop of the Sogetsu Victorian Branch, set by Akemi Suzuki. She has modified the curriculum exercise of making an ikebana, "Using two or more vessels". Akemi's added level of challenge is that the vessels must either: touch, be stacked or interlock in some way.

In thinking about the topic I considered using these three vases by Ray Pearce in this configuration. However, I decided that the uniformity of their shape ended up being restrictive and not very dynamic. 

I finally chose this uniquely-shaped vessel by Graeme Wilkie...

...and this small suiban by Robert Schulze. Although they differ in shape and were made by different ceramicists, they both have a shino glaze which helps unify them. 

After some experimentation I decided to use Graeme Wilkie's vessel in this position. I had never placed the vessel like this before and what appealed to me was to discover that, on the righthand side, it is supported on a single point. It also allowed me to complement the form of the vessel with the extended curving line of the Calistemon.

 

My final version was to add the suiban with the Coastal Beard Heath rising in a counter-balancing upward curve. This created a circle of movement and preserved the interesting space beneath the first vessel as well as the spaces created by the materials.

More examples of this exercise can be seen on the Victorian Branch website through this link.

Greetings from Christopher

19th September 2021

 
 

CONTRASTING AND COMPLEMENTING

Two weeks ago I posted an ikebana I had made for a 'lockdown-cancelled' workshop to be led by Emily Karanikolopoulos. Emily had set a combined exercise which was to make an ikebana which took into account both the shape of the vase and also the colour of the vase. Each of these requirements are separate exercises in the Sogetsu curriculum. I am returning to that theme today. For my first attempt at the exercise, I decided to use some of the Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha, that is abundant at this time of year. 

As you can see from this photo it has rather a lot of large leaves that I had to remove so that the bright yellow was the dominant colour. This was to take into account the colour of the vase,  which has a purple appearance.

The vase in question is glazed with alternating, fine red and blue lines which, at a distance, makes it look purple. It is also a rather thin walled vase... 

...so I made a crossbar with a forked branch called a kubarigi. My method of setting the cross bar is unconventional. Because I did not want to put any pressure on the walls of the vase, I have wired the branch onto a vertical fixture that is standing upright in a kenzan. I did this because it enabled me to elevate the materials above the rim of the vase with the intention of them reflecting one half of its almost parabolic profile.

This is the finished ikebana. I have added two stems of drying Papyrus sedge, Cyperus papyrus, for the depth of colour that they add to the bright yellow blossoms. The vase is by the Western Australian ceramic artist Pippin Drysdale.

Because the yellow mass did not seem to me to be sufficiently dense for the visual strength of the vase, I made a further attempt at the exercise.

This time I used the curving lines of the virtually leafless Strelitzia Juncea. I thought its strong lines would make a good contrast to the the bold rectangular geometry of the modern vase I chose.

 

The vase has a deep blue glaze and is perforated with two square holes that are glazed white. Over a couple of days I was keeping my eyes open for some orange flowers that I could mass as the contrasting colour opposite blue on the colour wheel. Then I had one of those 'A-ha' moments when I noticed the Tangelos on the kitchen bench; a great colour and shape contrast. I have added a small lemon at the back to lift the orange colour.

Click on this link to see photos of the Victorian Sogetsu Branch members' response to this exercise.

Greetings from Christopher
11th September 2021

HANADAYORI

Earlier in the week the weather was very warm with a couple of days in the mid-twenties. Beautiful spring weather with only a little breeze. The mild weather enabled me to finish the retaining wall repair which I mentioned in last weeks post.

I am pleased to report that the project was completed without any further damage to my wardrobe or person. (Thank you for your messages of sympathy and mirth.)

I am particularly pleased with the result as I now have a flat space for a small number of potted plants on the brick surface. The pot in the photo above has Haemanthus coccineus, which is recovering well from being divided a couple of seasons ago.

As the weather continued sunny and warm we took the opportunity to have a walk in the Iron Bark Basin reserve.

Being still under Covid restrictions, mask wearing when outdoors is still a requirement.

We were both surprised to see this Scarlet Robin. Although these small birds live in woodland such as Iron Bark Basin, it is a long time since we have caught sight of one. In the photo above the robin is looking to the right and its beak is just noticeable against the branch behind.

In this photo the bird is looking straight at the camera and you can see the white patch above its beak.

Two weeks ago I gave a recipe for the preservation of materials at the bottom of the posting. These are the same Acanthus leaves (over two weeks old) with a mass of Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha, added to the vase. I picked the wattle five days ago and gave it the same treatment. It has also had the advantage of being in a cool space.

Recently I offered to make and photograph an ikebana in response to a request posted to the Hanadayori online exhibition. Members of the public were invited to request ikebana, with no parameters set. 'Andrea' requested an ikebana based on an anime character, Gojo Satoru, and that the colours used should be black, white and blue. In my research I discovered that "...Gojo Satoru is a special grade jujutsu sorcerer..." with astonishing powers.

He seems to be able to fly at great speed and attack 'the baddies' with curses that defeat them.

This was my first ikebana response to the request. I created an inverted wire mesh cone that stands on its apex to which I have added black lines to express movement at speed. White Chrysanthemums suggest his hair. Blue Rosemary and Sea Holly for the colour of his eyes and his clothing that sometimes seems to be blue. 

I made this second more conventional ikebana based on the same ideas a few days after the first, when I was able to purchase some blue irises from the florist. 

I really enjoyed this challenge of ikebana by request and encourage you to now to view online: "The flowers you have been waiting for are here".

Congratulations to the Wa Ikebana committee and the participants in the project.

Greetings from Christopher

4th September 2021