USING BARK

 

In my Geelong class, at the end of May, my student Jo brought some beautiful branches of pomegranate from her garden. Her class exercise was "Disassembling and Rearranging" the materials. I think this is one of several interesting exercises in the Sogetsu curriculum. It seems to me that this, along with other exercises, assists the student to develop the perspective necessary for creative design; that is, an ability to see plant materials as elements, independent from the forms of their natural growth, which are then able to be used as discrete components in a design. 

This particular exercise requires the student to cut the materials into component parts and then with those elements create a new design. 

Instead of arranging the beautiful branches in a natural way, they now tell a new story. Jo used the leaves, fruit and the branches as separated elements that suggest something different. The vessel lies on its side. On top are three Pomegranate fruit, one cut in half, with their stems projecting away to the back. A stream of leaves issues from the vessel, within which a single fruit can be partially seen.

The senior students' exercise was to make an ikebana with "repeating shapes and using two vessels". 

Ellie created rectangles with strong stems of Papyrus, Cyperus papyrus, and left the plumes of the inflorescence crowning the vertical lines. The rigid strength of the stems prevented any possibility of curves. Two vessels with red exteriors were echoed by a small cluster of red Nandina domestica.

Christine challenged herself by using three white vessels, each of which had a hole that went through the middle. The main material is Spear Grass, Xanthorrhoea, which has been used to create the main structure as well as linking the vessels. Green carnations and Gypsophila are used to make a focal point.

Tess developed an abstract design using circles cut from succulent leaves that were threaded onto skewers. She also added discs made from Pomegranate fruit to create a subtle red contrast. The straight green leaves give height to the design and, because they cross, link the two vessels.

 

Yesterday the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International held a photographic session in preparation for an online exhibition to take place later in the year. Nick Dale, a professional photographer, was engaged so that the resulting images would be of a consistent and high quality.

This process gave me an opportunity to use this vessel by the Victorian ceramic artist Petrus Spronk. The low temperature wood-fired burnished bowl is too delicate for me to use in public exhibition. This bowl is from a series that marked an evolution in Petrus' work in which he developed an Australian landscape reference, the tan-coloured line that runs around the vessel. I had this in my mind when I unexpectedly came across a piece of eucalyptus bark of the right colour and form. On further thinking I wanted to use other Australian native materials, some fresh green and and yellow. These I sourced in our garden, leaves of Banksia spinulosa and flowers of Banksia integrifolia. In the past I have always used Banksia flowers in a naturalistic way. However, my eyes were opened to a different view by Lennart Persson from Norway. He visited in 2016 and...

... created this beautiful contemporary ikebana when he joined one of my classes. I had lent him a vessel by my ikebana friend and ceramic artist Janet Keefe from Canada. Lennart massed the Banksia flowers and placed them to be seen from the 'top' so that they became a mass of circles. 

This photo was taken while I was absorbed in conversation with Nick about the elements of the design and lighting.

This is the finished work that I photographed, after Nick had made all the needed adjustments and taken his seriously high quality photo. I feel the final work speaks about the subtlety of the colours in the Australian landscape and I find the beautiful  sweeping movement of the bark very satisfying.

Greetings from Christopher 

19th June 2022