POMEGRANATES

In a recent class...

...Jo's exercise was to make an ikebana in which the aim was to express herself, ("You in Ikebana"). She chose as her material some bright yellow Kniphofia and this unusual vase with two openings of different heights. After some experimentation she settled on this simple design of two crossing lines and a small mass of glossy Magnolia grandiflora leaves. The bright yellow of the flowers appealed to Jo as well as the design of the vessel.

Jo then made a second ikebana using the same flowers, which she contrasted with a bare branch which was covered in yellowish lichen. The branch was set across the opening of a large white vase and was stabilised by the stems of the Kniphofia.

Maree's exercise was to make an ikebana using branch material only. She wisely chose two different kinds of branches, with fruit attached, which gave them a contrasting appearance. The unidentified greenish-yellow fruit was made the principal subject and massed toward the front. The flattening effect of the photograph hides the fact that these branches extend well forward of the vase. The Pittosporum branch, with orange berries and leaves attached, was placed at the right rear of the ikebana to create a feeling of depth. 

Ellie's exercise was to make a freestyle ikebana using camellias. In the two examples below she has minimised the material drawing our attention to the essence of the subject.

In a black suiban she set a single white flower and a stripped branch with its leaves arranged separately.

Her second example is more like an abstract painting. In ikebana terms it conforms to the exercise of "Deconstructing and re-arranging" material. A black Corokia cotoneaster branch sits across a plate in which float rich pink camellia petals and two leaves.

Earlier this week I visited my teacher Elizabeth, who kindly offered me some Pomegranates from the impressive tree in her garden. I also came away with some bare Magnolia branches, maybe Magnolia x soulangeana, which are likely to feature in a future posting.

I selected two pomegranates from Elizabeth's tree. The one in this ikebana is the smaller of the two. I have arranged the leafless branch with a branch of small yellowing leaves from my own small (fruitless) pomegranate. I have added a small cluster of orange Pittosporum undulatum berries with leaves attached in the centre of the ikebana. In addition a red Geranium sits behind the Pomegranate leaves to give an additional colour highlight. I used a black backdrop to photograph the ikebana as it emphasised the colour of the fruit and the yellow leaves. The vase is by the New South Wales ceramicist Ian Jones.

The second and larger pomegranate turned out to be quite a challenge to arrange. It was on a rather fine branch which could only support it hanging vertically. That would mean it would touch the outside of most of my vases which is not acceptable. What to do?

The solution was to find a vessel that the heavy fruit could sit on and still allow it to be seen clearly. The blue bottle-shaped vase on the left provides a brace which prevents the fruit from falling off the one on the right. I set this ikebana up in my class and Jo kindly gave me the vibrant Bloodleaf Iresine herbstii which balances the design.

Greetings from Christopher

4th June 2023