COLOURS OF AUTUMN

Last week saw the return to classes for my Torquay and Geelong students at the beginning of Term Two. We are well into autumn and there has been some good rain recently, which means that the gardens are looking fresh and there is not too much heat stress showing in the leaves and flowers. 

 

Anne is a new student and working on the early exercises where the focus is on the principles of the proportions of lines to the vessel and the angles at which they are placed. This ikebana above is a variation in which the principal line, the shin, is placed toward the back and leaning slightly toward the right side of the suiban.

Maree's exercise was to make an ikebana in a tsubo, a round-shaped vase. She created a massed arrangement using Pin-cushion Hakea H. laurina flowers which are contrasted with smaller masses of Acacia and Plumbago P. auriculata flowers. 

The exercise for the senior students was, first, to make a basic upright ikebana using New Zealand Flax leaves; then, second, to re-use that material to make a freestyle ikebana in a different vase provided by one of the other students. The photos below are of the second phase of the exercise.

Tess set her flax low in Ellie's unusual lobe-shaped vessel. The blue flower peeping above the flax is a Butterfly Lobelia.

Maureen created a tall ikebana with flowing lines in a glass vase provided by Tess. The small yellow focal point is made with Chrysanthemum flowers.

Christine used two maroon-coloured flax leaves to create a space for a large autumnal Hydrangea. and repeat the horizontal lines on the vase provided by Maureen.

Helen set her flax in a slanting design in a vessel provided by Christine. Unfortunately the small mass of deep blue Salvia flowers are hard to see against the dark background.

Ellie created a strong horizontal emphasis in her ikebana. This was because of the difficulty in fixing her relatively short flax leaves in the very deep vessel provided by Helen. A tight mass of Chrysanthemum flowers makes a focal point at the mouth of the vessel.

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In the garden...

...this Hydrangea looked positively luminous last week. When I saw it again this week it had started to fade a little so I decided to use it in my ikebana before I lost the chance this season. A little later in the garden I had to do some pruning. A long branch of Mirror bush Coprosma repens, was coming through the neighbour's side fence and shading some plants that needed sun. When I looked at the cut branch in my hand I realised that it had a beautiful line.

 

The pruned branch became a graceful shin line in my horizontal ikebana. I picked the three remaining Hydrangeas on the bush, leaving their stems long. The photograph has a flattening effect, hiding the fact that the branch to the left and the flowers in the middle are coming well forward of the vase. The photograph is uplit by the sun reflecting from the living room floor. This has thrown shadows upward from the flowers and reduced the intensity of colour in the Hydrangea flowers.

The vase is by the Victorian ceramic artist Graeme Wilkie and has a pale pink textured surface.

Greetings from Christopher

30th April 2023

 

AUTUMNAL HYDRANGEAS

This week I had a class with my Melbourne students for the first time in five weeks. The most noticeable change since we were last in the city was the seasonal shift into autumn. The gutters in the streets around the Botanic Gardens were full of fallen leaves from the many Plane Platanus x acerfolia and English Elm Ulmus minor 'Atinia', trees in the area. Autumn colour was also apparent in the first two ikebana arrangements below. I had set these students the exercise of making a single ikebana work in two non-matching vases.

Marcia used a white-glazed ceramic bottle and black ikebana vase. Her materials were Crepe Myrtle Lagerstroemia, and Haemanthus coccineus in the black vase. There is also a small group of Pomegranate Punica granatum leaves which connect to the two fruit-bearing stems of Pomegranate which are in the white vase.

Eugenia also used black and white vases. The one at the back is made like a bottle-shaped ceramic net and is lying on its side. The materials are Grape vine Vitus, and white flowering Cane begonia.

Marisha's exercise was to make an ikebana that expresses herself. She has re-used two long-lasting leaves (Bird's nest fern?) and imagined this ikebana as an offering on the alter of the Temple that she attends. 

Jacqueline's exercise was " Focusing on the uses of water" Here she set a single stem of Asparagus fern A. setaceus, and a small cluster of pink Chrysanthemums. The ikebana is in a clear glass dish which is placed on a larger white plate so that when it is placed on a wooden surface the woodgrain does not overwhelm the ikebana.

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Because of the nature of our climate, and the characteristics of the soil, our garden is mostly populated by trees and shrubs that are Australian native species. However, to provide variety for my ikebana, I do grow a number of exotic plants - some of which are in pots. A month ago the Golden Rod was fully out and the ornamental grape vine was at its best. Now they are looking feeble. They are among the few plants in our garden that show the seasonal shift that is characteristic of northern hemisphere autumn colours. However when we returned to Torquay last weekend the autumn colour in the Hydrangeas had really intensified. 

I showed this photo of one of the potted Hydrangeas early in March. It is now a deep red with a somewhat velvety surface. I decided to use it in my ikebana before it is damaged by rain. The colour and the mass of the flower heads left me struggling for a while over what other material to use as well.

A stroll around the garden brought me to the slowly growing Strelitzia nicolai, given to me by another ikebana friend Emily Karanikolopoulos. Aha! a suitable contrast for the Hydrangea that can match its volume.

I chose an irregularly dome-shaped vase with a greyish glaze for the ikebana. After setting the flowers in a mass and line design, I added a single new leaf from the base of the Strelitzia in order to provide a balancing line as well as a smooth green surface behind the Hydrangeas.

After I had photographed the ikebana I placed it in the niche in the living room. In doing so I noticed again some of the smaller, beautifully-coloured leaves in the middle of the ikebana that are visible when it is seen from a little to the right side. This reminded me of my teacher, Carlyne Patterson's, observation that an an ikebana arrangement should not show itself all at once. There should be a little mystery to be discovered. Which, of course, is why we should not confuse a beautiful photograph of an ikebana with the experience of the living thing itself experienced in a physical space and in real time.

The vase is by the Victorian ceramic artist Owen Rye.

Greetings from Christopher

23rd April 2023

CHRISTCHURCH WORKSHOPS

The major last destination of our trip to New Zealand was Milford Sound.

I was particularly pleased, and surprised, with this photograph. I took it from the moving bus as we were driven back to our accommodation in Te Anau. The reason it appeals to me is that it captures the feel of some of the early 19th Century paintings of this area. The Geelong Gallery has one of these by James Peele called "A Storm Gathering, Wet Jacket Arm". This and similar paintings powerfully capture the atmosphere of this extraordinary landscape.

We had a cruise out to the entrance of Milford Sound on a catamaran... 

...and were joined by some frolicking dolphins.

We were also taken to see some dozing New Zealand fur seals Arctocephalus fosteri. The rocks were still holding some of the warmth of the sun making them a suitable place to doze

At Te Anau we came across a native Bird Sanctuary where the endangered, flightless bird species Takahe Porphyrio hochstetteri is able to be seen. The species had been thought extinct after 1898. However, a small population was discovered 75 years ago. According to Wikipedia, in 2021 the total population had risen to 440.

 

As I reported last week, while in Christchurch I conducted some workshops for the Sogetsu Branch.

 

On the day before I was taken to the Red Zone where we were able to gather materials.

It was a great opportunity to give a lesson about what to look for when gathering materials for a particular exercise. That is, as distinct from wandering around gathering just what captures one's attention without any particular idea about how it will be used.

The morning exercise was revision of basic exercises in moribana (shallow vessel) and nageire (tall vessel) techniques. 

I did not have the opportunity to take photographs and can only share these two examples of Basic Upright nageire.

This ikebana by Mary Fulton included yellow Holly berries as the focal point.  

Ruth Huwes used Camellia branches for her Basic Upright ikebana with Dahlia flowers as the focal contrast.

In the afternoon the challenge of the workshop was to use both, previously unseen materials and unseen vessels. Lyn Leslie-Cartwright provided everyone, including me, with branches of Broom Spartium junceum some Gerbera flowers and vessels from her own collection. Some participants were also blessed with a kenzan.

Because of these constraints I became a participant in the exercise. I did not provide a demonstration as it was unlikely that any or many of the participants could need to use the techniques I ended up employing.

This ikebana was made by Claire Maetzig.

I was given a ceramic boat-shaped vessel but not provided with a kenzan, so I had to devise my own fixing techniques. I wanted to give the ikebana height. Otherwise, I thought it would have to be a low-set minimal material ikebana. My solution was to brace three stems, with their side branches intact across the vessel. This then enabled me to set two branches inverted into the cross-braced material. I kept the stronger of the two branches long and stabilised them with a small double ended pin where they touched. I then added a single Gerbera as a focal point set high in the ikebana. Initially this was too dominating, until I removed about three of the outer rows of petals.

Greetings from Christopher

16th April 2023

DEMONSTRATION IN CHRISTCHURCH

Last week I posted some photos of driftwood on the beach at Greymouth and lamented that fact that I could not bring some back home. However, I was delighted to find the driftwood inspired creativity in others, not just ikebanists.

In particular, in Hokitika there were many examples of driftwood sculptures along the waterfront.

This was one of the first that I saw and was impressed by its mysterious, powerful and quite elemental feeling.

Further down the beach was this very large figurative sculpture that to me had a haunting feeling.

From Hokitika we travelled further down the west coast and then across the mountains in the direction of Queenstown.

The journey took us past the Thunder Creek waterfall, which had its own rainbow in the morning sun.

A kind visitor from the Czech Republic took this photo of Laurie and me while we were there.

Over last weekend I conducted workshops for the Sogetsu Branch in Christchurch and presented a public demonstration at the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple. On the Friday before, we collected materials from the Red Zone, and selected some vases from the Consular Office of Japan in Christchurch. 

Mr Hada, the Director of the Consular Office also honoured the occasion with his presence.

The first arrangement I made was a Basic Slanting moribana using Japanese Maple and pale pink roses from the garden of the Director of the Christchurch Branch of the Sogetsu School, Vickie Hernshaw. Unfortunately, I was unable to photograph the work because of the busy background.

Next I arranged two flower heads of Fatsia Japonica, removing all the large leaves except one extending to the left and two smaller ones on the right. To cover the base of the flower stems I inserted an inverted leaf into the vase below the water level showing its back. The lower part of the vase was 50%  bigger than is shown in the photo. It was empty of flower material to create a feeling of lightness and space within the work.

For my third arrangement I used two large dried sunflower heads. I was interested to show the back of the flowers because of their velvety green texture and their strongly ridged lines.

Two long straight lines of variegated New Zealand Flax completed the ikebana which was placed against a 30cm wide pillar.

For the sake of this photo I have created extra width in the background using photo editing.

In my last ikebana I used a dried lichen covered branch provided by Vickie Hernshaw, to which I added two branches of Holly Ilex aquifolium, one with yellow and the other with red berries. The flowers are a new hybrid of Gerbera with narrow longitudinally curled petals.

Greetings from Christopher
9th April 2023

 

WORKSHOP IN WELLINGTON

On Monday last we took a ferry across the strait from the north to the south island of New Zealand.

 

These rocks were on the (port) left-side of the entrance to Wellington harbour. It was a relatively smooth crossing in spite of the very cold wind that kept me inside for most of the journey.

The last part of the journey through Queen Charlotte Sound / Totaranui, was like the proverbial 'mill pond'.

This is the harbour of Picton, in the evening, where we stayed  the night before driving to Greymouth on the west coast.

I had previously heard about the driftwood to be seen on the beaches of this coast and was not disappointed. 

Except that there was no way of getting any of it back home to Torquay. This timber has fallen into the streams and rivers in the Southern Alps from where it is washed down to the sea and then back onto the beaches by the fierce westerly winds and tides.

While in Wellington last weekend I conducted two workshops for the Sogetsu Branch there. The first workshop was to make the curriculum exercise, Variation Number eight; that is, creating a single ikebana using two vessels. In this case a suiban (shallow) and a nageire (tall) vessel. It is a good way to review techniques for the two basic forms taught in the Sogetsu school.

This photo was taken as I was conducting the critique in the afternoon session. In this session the first part of the exercise was to make an ikebana on the Sogetsu curriculum theme of 'Disassembling and re-arranging'. That means finding a material and cutting it into its component elements. For example: stems, leaves, flowers, fruit, etc. Then the ikebanist has to make a completely new art work with these discrete elements. 

I added an extra element to the exercise of adding some text to the work.

Thinking about the exercise the day before it occurred to me that I should treat the text in the same manner. Disassembling and re-arranging. So I cut out single letters in a variety of fonts and colours from newspapers, which I made into the mass on the top left. I then created a sentence which issued from the mass. You may recognise a quote from a John Denver song if you can read the words.

The plant material is the flower stem, the fruit and a rosette of leaves from a Pineapple lily Eucomis.

At the end of the day a visitor kindly took this photo of the fourteen participants (and me).

Greetings from Christopher
1st April 2023