USING WOOD

As we walked home yesterday my attention was caught by the dark clouds and rain on the horizon that threw into high relief the brief shaft of sunlight on the cliffs at Rocky Point. A dramatic moment of transient beauty. Today the sky is overcast with showers and strong winds from the southwest.

Last Monday the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School held a workshop meeting that was led by Lara Telford, one of the senior teachers of the Branch. For the workshop Lara set the topic of creating an ikebana featuring wood with a strong character. My mind went to a large, highly-textured piece of wood that I have had for over twenty years. I originally collected it to place in the garden. However, its ikebana possibilities became apparent very quickly. The piece of wood has graceful curving lines. However the principal challenge of this piece is that it is very heavy, weighing 6.3kg. 

The last time I used it was at an exhibition curated by Emily Karanikolopoulos in April last year. Because of the weight of the wood I had to use a large number of stones in the base of this Shigaraki storage vessel to prevent it from tipping over. I did not want to use this large vessel again on this occasion. So in advance of the workshop I tried out a number of larger vases that might work with the wood.

I finally settled on my largest ceramic cylinder. Above is a trial with the wood standing with its heaviest end at the base. However, this was not stable and the lines in the wood were lost.

I finally settled on this configuration with the vessel on its side. What appealed to me about this was the way that, from the left hand end, the wood seemed to leap over the vessel. I then collected three long leaves of flax from the garden so that the ikebana would have only a small amount of fresh material that would keep the wood as the principal subject of the ikebana.

Although it is not particularly apparent, I used a cross-bar inside the cylinder so that the leaves are not resting on the table. I chose the leaf on the right because it has started to wither and has some interesting colour and texture. Barely visible under the arch of the wood and between the other two leaves is a small dried Hydrangea head. In retrospect this element should have been a brighter colour. I was appreciative of the advice at "critique time" to slide the cylinder back so that its opening was closer in to the arch of the wood.

More photos from the workshop on the Sogetsu School Victorian Branch website under Recent Workshops tab. Lara can be found on Instagram and Facebook: lara_telford

Greetings from Christopher
21st May 2023