PINK HYDRANGEAS

My friend and Sogetsu Ikebana colleague, Michael from Florida  USA, recently sent me some photos of his ikebana. I recognised the two examples below as the Sogetsu Book Five exercise of "complementing a work of art". At a Victorian Branch Sogetsu workshop on this theme in 2017, Mr Umemura commented that he thought a more accurate translation of this topic was that the Ikebana and the art work should be in conversation with each other.

In this first example Michael has used a black and an 'off-white' contemporary ceramic ikebana vessel. The linear aspect of the  design is very strong. He has introduced a mass of curving red lines, which are secured with black plastic ties that pick up the black lines in the abstract art work, while the red lines contrast with the straight lines in the painting. Some yellow flowers also pick up the yellow of the painting. 

The red-brown tones in the next ikebana are a very good match with the colours in the painting, as is the green of the foliage. The black sphere on the lacquered board is a modern incense burner that picks up the black circle of the painting in three dimensions. It is a great touch, which also balances the overall composition. 

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In the garden the richly-pink Hydrangea has flowered profusely this year. I decided I should make at least one Ikebana featuring this material before I run the risk of heat stress ruining the blooms.

I have set the flowers in this large grey-glazed cylinder by Graeme Wilkie, from Qdos Gallery in Lorne. The grey makes a great foil for the intensity of the pink flowerhead. I have used some stems of the almost leafless Strelitzia juncea in strong geometric shapes to contrast with the spherical form of the flowers.

Greetings from Christopher

9th January 2022