BELLADONNA LILY

A couple of weeks ago I set my senior Geelong students the task of making a renka arrangement using summer materials. As I have mentioned previously, the idea of renka was developed by the third Sogetsu Iemoto, Hiroshi Teshigahara. It is modelled on the Japanese classical linked-poetry form called renga, in which brief stanzas were improvised in response to the previous stanza. 

I added layers of difficulty for the students by asking them to bring two vessels and material of their choosing, which included some yellow material. The materials and vessels were separated so that the student had to work with materials brought by one colleague and one of the two vessels brought by another student. Each student worked in turn having only 15 minutes to complete their ikebana.

Helen Q inverted this vase using the small narrow space in the foot to arrange two Strelitzia reginae leaves, three yellow arum lilies (one is obscured in the photo) and a spray of Dancing Lady orchids.

Maureen arranged two branches of Cootamundra Wattle, Acacia baileyana, some yellow-centred maroon Helichrysum and a small stem of Dancing Lady orchid. Her lines picked up the lines in the previous ikebana.

Tess used a branch of box thorn encrusted with yellow lichen and added a mass of yellow flowers in the unusual vessel, creating a colour link to the previous work.

Christine's material was three spent Agapanthus stems and two blades of yellowing New Zealand flax, arranged in a modern style in a trough vessel.

Ellie created a mass with Corokia cotoneaster, and placed a mass of yellow Jerusalem Sage, Phlomis fruticosa, 

This photo is of the five linked ikebana works placed together in the sequence of their creation.

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February in the garden sees the Belladonna lily, Amaryllis belladonna, push up from the earth. We have three patches of them in different places, which means they flower progressively and provide us with a longer flowering period.

This patch, which does not get direct sunlight until around the middle of the day, was the last to open. I really love the form of the opening buds when the tips of several flowers of different sizes start to appear...

...as you can see in this close up.

Nearby is this Sedum cultivar, probably "Autumn Joy", given to me by my student Christine. It is a great plant for the rather dry soil of our garden and has a beautiful rich pink colour.

I have set two long stems of the Belladonna lily at an angle, in a cobalt-blue, circular suiban. Being arranged at the back of the suiban and leaning to the left front leaves the surface of the water clear making the ikebana feel light and fresh. The colour of the Sedum harmonises well with the principal material. This is the first time that I have considered the Sedum to be sufficiently established for me to cut some for my ikebana. I am pleased with the way these two materials work together in the blue suiban. 

Greetings from Christopher

26th February 2022

NATURALLY DRIED MATERIALS

Although dried botanical materials are dead they often have beautiful colour, subtle textures and interesting forms; qualities which make particularly interesting subjects for ikebana. Recently, my Geelong and Torquay students were set the exercise of arranging naturally dried material as the principal subject in their ikebana. To this they were then to add some fresh material to give 'life' to the dried material.

Judy used a dried palm spathe which she set in a large vessel, made by the New South Wales ceramic artist Sergio Sill. The strong line of the spathe was emphasised by removing the dried leaves from the curving stem.

 

Her fresh material was some purple Statice with a single leaf, the margin of which formed an "S" curve.

 

In the Geelong class Helen Q arranged three Cycad inflorescences. The materials were set in an unusual suiban placed on its side, to which a small branch of dark green leaves from the Cycad are peeping out.

Helen M set some fine lines of dried seaweed in a contemporary-styled black bottle-shaped vessel. Her fresh materials are the delicate flowers of some wild Fennel.

Tess used two large dried leaves of Strelitzia nicolai in a Japanese ceramic vessel. A small mass of red flowering gum, Corymbia ficifolia, was placed at the back of the work and  showed to one side and through slits in the leaves.

Maureen's principal material was a graduated group of dried Agapanthus flower heads, which she secured with wire to form a crescent line. The fresh material, an unidentified orange flower, provided a bright contrast. The light materials sat well in the basket-like Japanese bamboo vase. 

Ellie's principal material was a palm inflorescence with sinuous lines set on an ash-glazed Japanese ceramic vase. The fresh material is a strikingly coloured Zinnea.

 A month ago I had done this same exercise at home using naturally dried Agave leaves with Corymbia flowers and leaves. I subsequently re-worked some of the dried materials with new fresh materials, in a different vase. 

As you can see this vase is tall and narrow. Its black tenmoku glaze harmonises well with the black in the dried Agave leaves and strengthens the bold design. The Crassula arborescens flowers provide a focal point that also picks up the pale yellow in the dried leaves.

Greetings from Christopher

19th February 2022

INCORPORATING MAN-MADE MATERIALS

When I photographed this Bromeliad ...

...at the beginning of the month and included it in last week's posting, I had not expected to refer to it again. However, I passed it again at the beginning of this week.

I was astonished to see that the flower spike had grown enormously. Unfortunately, I was still not able to find its label among the mass of very spiky leaves at the base of the plant. I will try next week as I will be in Melbourne again.

Last Monday evening, the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International held its first meeting for the year. The guest speaker was Mr Peter Gertler, who became a qualified silver and goldsmith after studying at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Peter explained that, early in his career, he visited Japan and became enthralled by the high quality of hand-crafted work of even the most prosaic domestic items. He also delighted in the simplicity and elegance of Japanese design. He said these qualities resonated with his own approach to his work and subsequently became an abiding influence on him.

I was particularly struck with several of his observations that have such relevance for ikebana. In particular, he made the observation that it is important to know your material, to know what it can do and cannot do. His second observation that stayed with me was to know when to stop. How easy it is to add more material to a design and, in the process, lose its intention and essence.

As is the practise at our I.I. Chapter meetings, members were asked to make an ikebana work on the theme of the meeting.

With jewellery in mind, I thought to use some man-made material to capture the sparkling quality of silver metal. I have used two sheets of shiny aluminium mesh which I placed, off-set, on top of each other. This created a 'moire' interference pattern, which is not very apparent in the photograph. Neither is the sheen of the metal. I was imagining a silver broach as my inspiration. A dried and a fresh leaf of Brachychiton acerifolius, sit to one side of the mesh. The colour of the dried leaf is lifted by the placement is a small twist of brown and red tissue paper in its centre. The whole is elevated above the spherical ceramic vessel on three stems of stainless steel wire.

I took a second photograph from above, with the work sitting on a dark cloth for a clearer view of the design.

More photos from the Ikebana International Melbourne Chapter meeting can be seen via this link.

Greetings from Christopher

12th February 2022

NEW ZEALAND FLAX with CRASSULA FLOWERS

In a recent visit to the Geelong Botanic Gardens I was delighted to see a Brachychiton acerifolius in full flower.

It looked absolutely stunning, especially as it was in front of the dark green of a Sequioadendron giganteum. As I have mentioned in previous posts, this Brachychiton is a favourite Australian native plant and is growing in the garden at Torquay. Ours is yet to flower but I live in hope, especially as it has put on height in recent years and is now about three metres tall. 

Another stunning red plant is the flower of this Bromeliad that I came across in the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.

I was particularly surprised as I have walked past these plants regularly and can only assume that flowering is infrequent.

It was very hard to photograph the detail of the flower because of the contrast between the brilliant white of the centre and the intense red of the leaves. Unfortunately, I could not read the label on the plant because of the very prickly leaves.

In the garden at Torquay...

 

... the Crassula arborescens has been flowering prolifically since early summer. The green leaves in the photo are on some low branches of an apple tree growing above. The bell-shaped orange flowers are on quite long stems which is helpful for the ikebanist.

I decided to set the flowers in a suiban as the focal point for some New Zealand Flax leaves, which are the principal subject. The leaves have been arranged upright with their ends in soft smooth loops. I have curved the leaves so that the underside shows on the outside of the loop. This results in a smooth curve. If the leaf is curved with the upper surface showing on the outside of the loop it is likely to ripple along the edge.

I was surprised that these materials still looked fresh after two weeks and decided to re-work them into a new ikebana.

This time I used a large ceramic vessel by the Victorian ceramic artist Graeme Wilkie. I repositioned the leaves more horizontally and was pleased with the sense of flowing movement this created.

Greetings from Christopher

5th February 2022