AUTUMN COLOURING

 

When walking along the path at the back of our house a couple of days ago I was really surprised to see this Sulphur-crested Cockatoo chewing the bark on a large Moonah Melaleuca lanceolata. I became even more surprised when it did not fly away even though I passed by at a distance of less than 3 metres.

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In a recent class I set my Torquay students the exercise of making an Autumn ikebana. I was pleased that the students were able to find branches with autumn leaves to use. Such northern hemisphere plants do not tend to grow so well by the coast because of salt laden winds and often poor soil.

Norma used Crepe Myrtle Largerstroemia, Manchurian pear Pyrus ussuriensis, Cape Honeysuckle Tecomaria capensis and a sprig of Leucadendron that is providing a bit of green contrast at the back of the arrangement.

Marta's principal material was Smokebush Cotinus, Japanese maple Acer palmatum and fine lines from an unidentified branch that had been stripped of its leaves.

Pamela also used Manchurian pear, Japanese maple and some Cotoneaster providing a green contrast and the addition of red berries.

Róża used Passion fruit vine Passiflora edulis and a small stem of Hydrangea for the principal lines in her ikebana. The mass in the arrangement is made with Hydrangea flowers and leaves, which have changed colour in the cool of the autumn nights.

My Geelong senior students were set the task of making an Ikebana on the theme of "Intertwining materials". Although it is not a requirement, this exercise is easier if two different materials are used. An additional requirement of the exercise was to use two vessels.

Maureen used Snapdragon Antirrhinum, and Sea lavender  Limonium sinense. The latter turned out to have the property of "spring steel". It could be pulled into a beautiful tight curve and then quickly return to its previous shape when released. Thus her ikebana became a "Vertical Composition".

Helen used a variety of New Zealand Flax Phormium, which is rather stiff. She bent the flax leaves so that they could be intertwined. Her other materials were an olive-coloured Amaranthus which curled around the base of the flax leaves and some rust-red Chrysanthemum.

Ellie's principle material was branches of Tortuous Willow, Salix matsudana (a variant of Salix babylonica), which were intertwined into a sculptural structure. Straight stems of Amaranthus, with bright orange flowers, were then threaded through the structure.

Maree's exercise was to make an "Arrangement on a wall". Her cascading line of Ornamental Grape Vine Vitis was enlivened with the addition of yellow Chrysanthemums.

Jo's exercise was an ikebana in a suiban without using a kenzan. She used Magnolia grandiflora as the principal material with long stemmed roses as a focal point.

My ikebana this week was for an Ikebana International workshop yesterday, which was led by my ikebana colleague Chieko Yazaki, head of Shogetsudo Koryu in Victoria. Cheiko and two of her students demonstrated using baskets and a traditional wooden water bucket as vessels for ikebana.

I made my ikebana in a shallow woven bamboo basket with a complicated design in the weave. The ikebana is a simple, informal autumn arrangement using some pink-tinged Nandina domestica and a white Camellia with pink edges on the petals. At the appraisal I was relieved when Chieko commented that she was happy with the Camellias being partially obscured by the Nandina. 

Greetings from Christopher

12th May 2024