DRIED MATERIALS

Last Wednesday evening I took this photo with my mobile phone. A storm cloud in the east was illuminated by the rays of the setting sun. They were coming through the haze of bush fire smoke and turned the cloud to shades of amber. The storm was exceedingly heavy in the Dandenong Rangers east of Melbourne and the bush fires were causing great losses in some of the smaller communities in the west of the state. It seemed to me that the camera captured the fearful beauty (and drama) of nature's some times violent events.

In the previous week I had set my Geelong students the task of making an ikebana expressing their, "Memories of summer (holidays ?) ". Their interpretations were surprisingly varied, as were those of my Melbourne students that I posted two weeks ago. Tess and Helen thought back to childhood memories.

Tess grew up in Cornwall UK and had memories of walking on the Quantock hills of the Somerset Moors. Her ikebana, using materials available in her garden, invokes the memory of ferns, English Heather and Broom.

Helen spent her childhood in rural western Victoria. Her memories were of visiting her grandparents' property, where her grandfather kept a productive vegetable garden. When I saw the silverbeet leaves, my first impression was of tall poplar trees. Partially hidden in the vessel is a small Zucchini flower.

Maureen's ikebana represented the "...ups, downs and ups..." experienced over the holiday period. She used the maroon coloured central rib of Strelitzia like a bar graph to show the progress. the other materials represented periods of optimism.

Christine saw a lot of her grandchildren over the summer holidays. Her ikebana represents the much repeated game of 'hide and seek' with the grandchildren.

Ellie's ikebana is her response to the hot, dry weather over summer and is represented by the dry grass, orange coloured Helichrysum flowers and the unglazed ochre coloured vessel.

My own ikebana this week was made at the first meeting and workshop of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School.

The theme of the workshop was the preparation and use of dried materials in ikebana. I used a, now rather old, dried unopened bud of Artichoke Cynara Cardunculus var. scolymus.  It was given to me by my student Marcia. Also a dried Aspidistra A. elatior  and some green, spent Agapanthus A. praecox flower heads. The Aspidistra leaves were curved before drying. The fresh green material brings the ikebana alive.

The ikebana vessel is by Tom Cockram who, at the time I bought the piece, had his studio in Daylesford Victoria.

Further photos from the Victorian Branch workshop.

Greetings from Christopher
25th February 2024 

A SMALL MASS: TWO HYDRANGEAS and SOME LEAVES

 

Last week I posted a photo of the ikebana which I had re-set at home after the I.I. Melbourne workshop.  Other photos from the workshop are now available via this link: Ikebana International Melbourne, Chapter 29.

Two weeks ago I had set my senior Geelong students the task of making an ikebana 'emphasising the surface of the water' in a suiban. Given that we were then just over 2/3 of the way through summer, it seemed like a cooling idea. As usual, and very pleasingly, the students' work showed a variety of expressions of the idea.

Tess created a loose ikebana using bamboo stems and a pink Statice, Limonium. The open ikebana felt like a light breeze was blowing.

Maureen set five stems of Umbrella grass, Cyperus alternifolius, and a small group of Asiatic lily buds in a black suiban, creating reflections on the surface. 

Christine took a different approach by creating an abstract design with strong stems braced across the suiban. Small Crabapple, Malus, fruit were contained between two of the lines. A third line was added to break-up the larger space on the right side of the suiban.

Ellie's ikebana featured three green Lotus pods, Nelumbo nucifera, two variegated Aspidistra leaves and a small mass of Sedum. Her ikebana was set to the right edge of the circular suiban to allow the reflection of the material to be seen in the water surface. 

Maree's exercise was to create an ikebana "Using both Fresh and Unconventional (man-made) materials". In a flat-sided glass vessel she arranged masses of black and unpainted wooden pegs. These were contrasted with a single line of Plumbago auriculata.

Jo's exercise was to take the 'unconventional material' idea one further step. That is, she was to make a purely sculptural work using only man-made materials. She used black rope-like oval shapes, that reminded me of quoits, which she massed into a tall irregular structure. To create a focal point she added a small mass of blue plastic ties and some blue bubble-wrap.

This is a challenging exercise to which students, consciously or not, bring lessons that they have learnt from their ikebana studies. 

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In the garden the pots of Hydrangeas have started to dry off. Their colours are fading and becoming more muted. I am hoping that some will survive into the autumn without being burnt by the sun. In that case, there is a good chance that they might develop rich red tones. I picked three small flower heads for my ikebana.

The colours in the flower heads are warm and muted. Some of the leaves are bright red at their tips and I wanted them to be seen also. However, this looks too busy...

...so I carefully removed two of the downward hanging leaves. This draws more attention to the the flower on the right and strengthens the asymmetry of the design. The botanical materials form the mass in this ikebana. In this instance the vase provides the line. The elegant six-sided Japanese vase has a very dark brown Temoku glaze.

Greetings from Christopher

17th February 2024

 

BACK TO CLASSES

 

Two weeks ago marked the end of the school holidays, with students returning to classes on 30th January. The following weekend, 3rd and 4th February must have been the most perfect beach weather. Sunny, but not too hot, with a cool light breeze.

The tide was low in the middle of the day and many people took the opportunity to enjoy themselves.

This photo shows the west end of Jan Juc beach.

Last week marked the return to classes for my students in Melbourne and Geelong. I had set my Melbourne students an exercise called "memories of summer (holidays?)". A topic that is wide open for interpretation.

  

Marcia's simple, somewhat stark, interpretation featured a forked branch of Cork Oak Quercus suber. The branch is part of a much larger one that came off her tree in a wind storm. She is particularly fond of the bark's colour and texture and was pleased this piece did not go into the mulch. The leaves on the branch had dried and fresh leaves were massed in the black vase.

 

Marisha chose roses which flower in this season. She selected some beautiful orange ones with petals that were a darker colour on the outside. These are contrasted with deep green leaves in the main lines, but harmonised with a mass of Dwarf Nandina leaves at the front which are beginning to colour yellow and red. 

Jacqueline's mind went to images of the setting sun colouring the clouds lit from behind in bright yellows and deep reds. She cut three leaves from her Canna Phasion thinking of their shape as well as the intense colours seen in a sunset. The roses which are just peeping from behind the leaves were yellow, orange and deep red.

Yesterday the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International held its first meeting of the year. The guest presenter was a Japanese born and trained potter, Naoko Coghlan, who now lives in Australia. Naoko gave a short overview of the history of pottery in Japan and demonstrated her own work. Members were asked to bring ceramic vessels to the meeting in which to arrange their ikebana.
 

I was pleased to have an opportunity to use this Bizen vase that I bought in Kurashiki last November. The unglazed clay body is a dark brown marked with irregular lighter blue-greys and tan that have occurred during the firing. I selected Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus', Nandina and Hydrangea from the garden to make this naturalistic ikebana. This photo was taken at home, where I re-set the ikebana.

The Bizen vase is by Isezaki Jun.

Greetings from Christopher

11th February 2024

SOME EUCALYPTUS BARK

A few nights ago, as we were having our dinner in the conservatory, Laurie drew my attention to the shaft of late afternoon sunlight that was backlighting a Canna 'Phasion' leaf. This leaf is finely striped in red, yellow and bronze lines.  Who needs stained glass? Of course it was only a chance effect, which makes it all the more delightful.

Also this week, I was surprised that one of the buds on a Phalaenopsis orchid opened. I had bought the plant on a whim last year toward the end of its flowering season.

I really don't know much about these rather exotic orchids. However, when the flowers finally died I was fortunate to be advised by a friend that I should not prune off the old flower spike. A new spike branched off the previous one.

Now there are two open flowers and five more buds on the stem.

A week ago I noticed that the Bursaria spinosa in the garden was coming toward the end of its flowering.

I thought the small white flowers would go well in the new vase from the Kutani Kosen Kiln in Kanazawa. A simple line and mass ikebana.

Earlier in the week while walking along the creek path I came across some Eucalyptus bark. It had evidently come off a smallish branch and retained its cylindrical form. The inside was a warm soft orange colour while the outside was pale grey. The contrast between the inner and outer surfaces looked like an interesting ikebana subject.

This is the first version I made adding the fresh green of some more Bursaria. The flowers were not as green as in the photo. Unfortunately, I could not correct the colour. The Chun-glazed vase is by the Castlemaine ceramic artist Barry Singleton. I was not particularly happy with the ikebana as the interior of the bark did not show well.

This is my re-working of the idea in a vessel by the ceramic artist Graeme Wilkie of Qdos gallery, Lorne. I think it works a little bit better with the harmonising colours of the Crasula arborescens flowers. I also was able to re-position the bark to show the inside a bit more. I will keep my eyes open for some more bark to show the lovely interior colour. It has such a rich warm colour and soft texture which I find very attractive.

Greetings from Christopher

4th February 2024