LIGHT COLOURS IN A DARK SPACE

 

Roadside Ikebana is feeling a little tired this Sunday evening and is running late. Last weekend, Ikebana International Melbourne Chapter held its annual exhibition in the Labassa mansion which is one of the National Trust heritage houses in suburban Melbourne. The theme of the exhibition was "sustainable and local"; the general principle being that the materials used have not had to travel far and are coming from a sustainable source. What meets this criteria is locally grown materials and re-used materials where possible.

I had been asked to make a large ikebana because Labassa is a Victorian-era mansion which has large, mostly dark, rooms with very high ceilings. This made me think that the materials should be light in colour to reflect such light as would be coming from the smallish windows and the period light fittings. I immediately thought of some Birchwood from my store of "things that might come in handy one day". This met two of my needs: light colouring and material that had been used previously. I had collected the birch trunks and branches from some trees that had died in 2009 as a result of the  millenium drought.

This photo shows their first incarnation as sculptural ikebana in the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show in March 2009. I was the lead designer of the Sogetsu contribution for the I.I. Melbourne entry that year.

The length of the branches allowed me to add to the height element of the over-all design which included the four other ikebana schools represented in the Melbourne Chapter: Ichiyo, Ikenobo, Ohara and Shogetsudo koryu. 

A month later some of the material re-appeared in an outdoor Sogetsu Branch workshop held in a public park.

This innocent tree did not know what was about to happen. Participating Sogetsu members were asked to bring along suitable materials and were allocated into small groups. We were given a general location to work within and, of course, an instruction to not damage any plants or council property.

The tree was beside a pathway so we created a two sided sculptural structure. Each side having a different appearance.

From this direction the red lines, formed from painted cane, made a physical connection with the tree. The intended illusion was that the lines also linked to a smaller birch structure on the right side in this photo.

The workshop was also memorable as the event where I first met my ikebana colleague Michael Beedenbender, a Florida USA resident, who was on a short-term contract in Melbourne.

Now to Labassa:

 

On the Thursday preceding the Labassa exhibition I was assisted by my student Maree to assemble the birchwood structure. I added horizontal lines of Magnolia branches offered by Julie, another student. The large long green Gymea lily leaves Doryanthes plameri are from Emily Karanikolopoulos' son's garden, re-used following the Hiroshima Peace Day installation 6th August. The white flowers are Oriental lilies. (I hope they were grown in Australia.) They certainly caught the light and, to my amazement, filled the large music room of the mansion with their perfume.

Greetings from Christopher

24th September 2023

PS. 

Laurie and me at the opening event of the Labassa exhibition.

SIMPLIFIED IKEBANA

In a recent class, I had set my Melbourne students the Sogetsu curriculum exercise of making a "Simplified Ikebana". In this exercise students are encouraged to study the materials carefully and then remove all elements that are extraneous to their design. The main challenge is to not remove so much that the original material becomes unrecognisable. Below are before and after photographs of the exercise I took in 2015, when I had the presence of mind to take them.

The branch material was the main stem of a dead Ivy, Hedera, that had been climbing a tree. To make the comparison easier the photo on the left has been rotated, because it was taken with the branch lying on its side on a table.

The photos from the classroom are only of the finished ikebana.

Eugenia used a small branch of Calistemon without any flowers and most of the leaves removed. The unusual vase really suited the angular lines in the branches, which have been flattened in the photograph unfortunately.

In a second example she again showed the angular lines in a branch of mostly defoliated Banksia, which was set in a green bottle-shaped vessel.

Marcia used a stem of prunus and a single Camellia bud. All the side branches and most of the leaves were removed.

In a second example, the main stem was reduced to a single angular line beside which stood a single line of ... blossom

Jacqueline had brought a stem of Cymbidium orchids. Only a single flower was used. The dried branch that was chosen to be included had to be inverted to fit into the narrow opening of the vase.

Marisha had brought a footed vase and some fairly bushy blossoming branches. Because of the visual strength of the black vase less material was removed from the branches to maintain a good balance.

Three weeks ago I attended a workshop offered by the Melbourne Chapter of the Ikenobo School to all members of Ikebana International Melbourne. The workshop was led by the visiting master Professor Kurata.

The first theme was to make a freestyle ikebana using Australian native flowers. I am fortunate to have been able to use materials from my own garden. Given that it is early spring there was plenty of wattle. 

The main material is Golden Wattle Acacia pycnantha, from which I had removed about 90% of the leaves. On the left side is a branch of the Slender Velvet Bush Lasiopetalum baueri, and somewhat hidden on the right side is Coastal Beard-Heath Leucopogon parviflorus. The latter has tiny white flowers that are not visible in this photo. This is the corrected version of my ikebana and I was really interested in Professor Kurata's observation that, initially, the two main materials were too even in their volume. However, I was not happy with my arrangement because I actually wanted the Slender Velvet bush branch to be the main subject.

When I came home I re-worked the ikebana into a slanting style and significantly reduced the volume of the wattle, changing the balance of the three elements of the ikebana. Professor Kurata's observation, of course, was correct and in this final version the different volumes of the three materials contribute to the dynamic balance of the ikebana. The vase is by the Japanese borne Victorian ceramic artist Terunobu Hirata.

The second exercise in the workshop was to make an ikebana using spring-flowering materials. 

Although all the materials I had used in the first ikebana fitted that description, I thought I should be using something different  for the next exercise. I particularly wanted to use the Dutch Iris Iris x hollandica that I had grown in a pot, as well as some of the red Japanese flowering quince Chaenomeles.

When I came to place the iris in this simple (not simplified) ikebana the flowers were far too large. The solution was to use the leaves only, which added a feeling of freshness. This style of arranging the materials all arising from a single line was my "nod in the direction" of Ikenobo traditional practice.

The domed ceramic vessel is by the Victorian ceramic artist Owen Rye.

Greetings from Christopher
17th September 2023

UNCONVENTIONAL MATERIAL and VEGETABLES

Last Wednesday morning we walked to Bell's Beach, where this Australian magpie Gymnorhina tibichen was perched on a post watching the activity of the humans. The warbling or chortling sound of magpies is a favourite of mine as it is musical and sounds quite complex to my ears. If you click on the link above and scroll down there are some links to magpie song.

 

In the evening two days later ...

...a cold front with strong winds came from the south-west causing a large swell. There was a lot of white water between the widely spaced waves.

This zoomed photo shows a large "bow wave" on the ship-like "Bird Rock" at the end of Jan Juc beach. The temperature had fallen from the low 20s to 12 Celsius (!). Changeable spring weather.

In early August I had set my senior students the exercise of making an ikebana incorporating Dutch Iris Iris x hollandica and vines. Last week, while trawling through my photo library, I discovered that I had not included the photos below from my Melbourne class; the reason being that my classes in Geelong and Melbourne are on completely different schedules. Here are the photos from my Melbourne students:

Eugenia used an upright, conjoined vase with two parts of different size. She made the vine the principal subject curling it down the vase and between its feet. To maintain the focus on the vine she reduced the iris to a small mass of two flowers, one being partially obscured.

Marcia created an upright ikebana using the iris as the main subject. She supported a small line of Jasmine on a single bare branch that looped to the side of the main lines.

Marisha used a long looping stem of what I think is Star jasmine Trachelospermum jasminoides without flowers. The low angle of the photo fails to capture the way the iris flowers sat within the loop made by the Jasmine vine

Jacqueline used a dried branch which she sat across a trough-shaped vessel. She twined some Jasmine around the branch, using it as a support, and placed her iris off-centre in the trough to make a strong vertical line.

*          *          *          *          *

Last weekend the Victorian Branch held a workshop that was led by Elin Dahlin, a Sogetsu practitioner from Sweden. The topic she chose to present combined two Sogetsu curriculum themes: 1. an ikebana using unconventional materials, and 

2. an ikebana incorporating fruit or vegetables. 

Branch members were asked to being their own vessels and unconventional materials. The Branch supplied vegetables and fruit which were allocated by drawing lots.

I decided to bring three square sheets of expanded metal mesh that I had saved when our kitchen rangehood was replaced a few years ago. As we say, "You never know when that might come in handy". I had used the mesh once before at an Ikebana International workshop. This time I was interested in the idea of trying to created the illusion of some fruit or vegetable penetrating the mesh.

This close-up photo shows a purple carrot that I have cut into pieces. I then passed a skewer through the mesh and  pushed the matching pieces together on either side of the mesh. The carrot is actually in three pieces, which does not show in the photo. 

This is my finished work with two carrots cut into three parts each, separating two sheets of mesh. I have also used a stem of lemon grass that provided a support function, a lime and half a pomegranate. It was an interesting experiment, but not a very satisfactory ikebana. Its weakness is that the vegetables are too evenly scattered. It would be much improved if they were clustered together forming a mass. However, all experiments like this are learning exercises and it was good to work again with the mesh to explore how it can be used.

Click here to see further photos from the workshop, held on 

2nd September 2023.

Greetings from Christopher

9th September 2023

QUEENSLAND SOGETSU BRANCH 60th ANNIVERSARY

Eleven days ago, on 24th August, I attended the evening reception and online demonstration held in celebration of the Queensland Branch of the Sogetsu School's 60th anniversary. 

The Art Gallery of Queensland is privileged to hold this large bronze-sheathed wooden sculpture by Sofu Teshigahara, the founder of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana. The sculpture was especially placed on display in recognition of the 60th celebration. It was placed next to the current week's ikebana arrangement made by a Queensland Sogetsu Branch member. A fresh ikebana arrangement placed in the Gallery has been the weekly practice of Queensland Branch for almost 30 years.

The ikebana arrangement for the week of the anniversary was created by Robyn Cuming using Anthurium flowers and leaves which rise above dried Mitsumata Edgeworthia chrysantha branch stems from a footed, trough-shaped vessel.

On the evening of 24th August a live on-line demonstration, from Sogetsu Headquarters in Tokyo, was screened in the theatre of the adjacent Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA).

This ikebana was created in QAGOMA by the Queensland Sogetsu Branch Director, Wendy Hoskin, using Tortuous Willow, Anthurium flowers and a single variegated New Zealand Flax leaf.

The above ikebana, also in the QAGOMA foyer space, was made by senior teacher Pat Mackie. She has used dried Mitsumata branches, orchids and other unidentified materials.

In the theatre, on the stage below the screen, was set a large ikebana installation. The materials used were natural and coloured bamboo, bleached Fan Palm and Monstera leaves. It was created by a team including: Vernisher Wooh, Christine Wyer, Ikuko Okada, Tomomi Tanowaki, Christine Chen, Masako Morrison, Samantha Wooh and Chiu Lan. 

A photo of one of the arrangement from the online demonstration by the Master Instructor Sozan Nakamura can be seen on this link. I would encourage you to explore Mr Nakamura's Instagram to see the wide range of his ikebana expression.

The celebration presented an opportunity for four of the five current Australian Sogetsu Branch Directors to meet face to face for the first time.

Here we are attending the evening reception. 
L - R Christopher James (me, Victoria), Wendy Hoskin (Queensland), Ray Bywaters (South Australia), Hiroko Prado (New South Wales).

On a completely domestic scale...

...I made this ikebana recently for an elderly ikebana friend using five Dietes leaves and a bunch of Chrysanthemums.

This photo was taken with a mobile phone camera and some others above are screenshots and therefore may be a bit grainy.

Greetings from Christopher
3rd September 2023