HAKEA and PAPER RIBBON

  

Over recent weeks some of my students have made ikebana that incorporated man-made materials or, in the Sogetsu School parlance, "Unconventional Materials". 

The first of these exercises that I set, at the beginning of May, was to 'incorporate "Unconventional Materials" in an ikebana made with fruiting branches'. I think the idea of incorporating "Unconventional Materials" encourages the student of Sogetsu Ikebana to start to think, perhaps unconsciously, about design principles that underlie the creation of their ikebana. This is because we are forced to look at line, form and texture, of the unconventional material; and that process becomes applied to botanical materials.

 

Eugenia used a small branch with a single lemon and some leaves as her principal material. It is contrasted with the irregular lines of some black wire. The materials set in the angular white vessel contrast boldly, but make a satisfying composition.

Margaret has used the autumnal feel of pomegranate fruit and yellowing leaves set in contrast with an intensely blue ceramic vessel. The strength of the fruit and the vessel is softened by the veil of white fabric.

Marcia also used pomegranate, off-setting the red of the fruit against her black vessel. The unconventional material is a sheet of chicken wire mesh that has been painted in several shades of orange and red. The mesh holds and partially conceals a pomegranate fruit within the vessel.

Maree had painted two small chopstick sculptures pink and purple and set them in this modern ikebana vessel with two Strelitzia flowers. By threading the flower stems through the sculptural forms they complement and contrast the colours in the flowers.

At the beginning of last week the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana held a workshop on the theme of 'Incorporating "Unconventional Material" in an autumn ikebana'. Given that the garden here at Torquay is lacking useable autumn leaves I had to think of alternatives. 

It was then that I noticed my neighbour's Pincushion Hakea,     H laurina. Having permission to 'help myself', I collected three small branches. 

The spherical inflorescences are wonderfully dramatic...

 ...and grow among a dense cluster of leaves. As can be seen in this photo they grow every which way. That is great for making a mass; however, it obscures the flowers. When it came to creating my ikebana I needed to to a lot of pruning. One of the additional beauties of this plant is that the leaves themselves are beautiful. They are stiff and have elegant curving lines.

The workshop was led by Akemi Suzuki. She provided the members with Japanese paper ribbon which came in a variety of colours. Akemi demonstrated a number of different ways the ribbon could be manipulated and used in Ikebana. 

I decided I wanted to emphasise the Hakea flower form and made a loosely-woven ball with the ribbon that sits on the left side of the conical metal vessel. The larger lines made with the ribbon create a space that 'holds' the botanical material. I have removed about 80% of the leaves to emphasise the flowing lines that create a sense of movement.

This link to the Victorian Branch website includes photos from the workshop. (You may need to scroll to 6th June 2022)

Greetings from Christopher

12th June 2022