MASSED EXPRESSION

This week Roadside Ikebana comes to you from Adelaide, South Australia. We came to visit a long-standing friend of Laurie's whom we have not seen for several years. While here we visited the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium of South Australia.

 

There is a current exhibition of Glass work by Dale Chihuly. The photo above shows just one of the out-door sculptural installations of blown glass by this 81 year old artist.I was particularly intrigued by the fixing of the approximately 3m tall red glass spear-like forms. They were set in large, randomly arranged logs, as well as in the surrounding soil. To my eyes the whole installation had a decidedly "ikebana feel".

If you have an opportunity to visit Adelaide before 29th April next year this exhibition is certainly worth a visit.

Following the workshops conducted by Master Instructor Kosa Nishiyama a couple of weeks ago in Melbourne, there was much discussion among my students about what they had learnt. 

Jo especially wanted to revise the exercise of making an 'Ikebana incorporating paper'. In our discussion I suggested that it was important to think about the particular properties of paper. In the ikebana above, Jo has rolled irregular lengths and widths of  brown paper strips. These she has arranged in a tumbled-looking fashion. A single red Callistemon flower provides a textural and colour contrast. The vertical wall of the suiban is made from a single strip of clay that wraps around the base and harmonises with the paper in form and colour.

Maree's exercise was to make a sculptural form using "unconventional" (man-made) materials only. The principal lines are made from malleable garden stakes made with coconut fibre which harmonise well with the form of the unusual vase. She has added a cone of bright-pink thick rubber matting, within which sits a ball of thick green cord. On the black mat is a ball made from papier-mâché. 

The senior members of the class were asked to make an ikebana using massed materials only. This was inspired by an article about "Mass" in the Winter 2023 edition of the Sogetsu Magazine. The Iemoto, Akane Teshigahara, referred back to the expression of mass created by Sofu Teshigahara. In this expression of mass, the undulating surface is dense without gaps between the elements. It is also comprised of a variety of materials.

Ellie created this ikebana witn Chrysanthemum, Tea tree Leptospermum, Smoke bush Cotinus and Queen Ann's lace Daucus carota.

In her ikebana Christine used Lisianthus Eustoma, Geranium, Tea tree Leptospermum (I think) and Aeonium.

Maureen used Smokebush Cotinus, Leucadendron, Marigold Calendula officinalis and Red valerian Valeriana ruber.  She suggested that I photograph the ikebana from above as the arrangement looked more dense from this angle.

As this was the first time I set my students an ikebana arrangement of Mass according to the revised definition, I presented two examples.

I made this "Massed expression" ikebana with leftover materials, as an experiment in a tall vessel. It has only three materials  perhaps too few for the exercise.

My principal demonstration example has five materials gathered from the garden. On the left is a mass of gumnuts from a red flowering Corymbia ficifolia. At the front is a small mass of Aeonium rosettes. A larger mass of Aeonium flowers curves around from the right to the back of the arrangement. It passes around the darker green mass of Echium flowers gone to seed. In the middle at the back is mass of red Valerian also gone to seed. The ikebana vessel is a high sided ceramic box. 

My critique of both of my arrangements is that I did not leave a space at the mouth of the vessel. I had prepared the masses that afternoon and the demonstration was the first time I had actually made this arrangement. 

Greetings from Christopher
18th November 2024

AFTERNOON WORKSHOP

Last Friday I was delighted to come across this Echidna searching for ants and other insects in a nearby garden.

 Recent warm weather has brought them out of their winter hiding places. Sadly, we have not seen 'Spike' in our garden since last year. 

In late August I posted this photo of Eucalyptus preissiana in a garden we pass on our way to the local coffee shop.

These are the new seed pods forming, now that the flowers have finished. I was rather surprised by the colours of fresh green and red centres. 

The wind-down and returning to our usual routines is an on-going process following the 60th Anniversary celebrations of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School. However, we are nearly there. Thus, the lateness of this posting

At the afternoon workshop presented by Nishiyama sensei on 2nd November, the theme was "Disassembling and rearranging" of the materials. My materials, provided by the Victorian Branch, were Heliconia psittacorum  and a Fan palm. The exact type was not identified. I decided to make this ikebana in a suiban. This meant the work should be seen on a low table. I altered the appearance of the palm leaves arranging them within the vessel. I also deconstructed two Heliconia flowers and used them as elements of contrasting colour. Nishiyama sensei's critique was a question. Did I deliberately not put water in the vessel? The honest answer was no. I am afraid by that stage of the day I had become quite tired and vague.

The first two of our four consecutive weeks of exhibition have concluded today. Here is a link to photographs taken by Lei Wang of the first week. 

Greetings from Christopher

11th November 2024

 

FREESTYLE IKEBANA INCORPORATING PAPER

This week has been exceptionally busy with the visit of Master Instructor of Sogetsu Head Quarters, Kosa Nishiyama to the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School. 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the Victorian Branch, which was established by the late Norman Sparnon.  

Mr Sparnon, who was born in Melbourne in 1913, became proficient at speaking and writing Japanese while a young man. After WWII he was seconded to General Macarthur’s occupation forces as an interpreter. He remained in Japan for a total of 12 years, during which time he began to study Ikebana, ultimately becoming a Master of the Sogetsu School and the Ikenobo school. Upon his return to Australia he dedicated is life to teaching ikebana and promoting Australian - Japanese relations through the art of Ikebana. He and his wife Mary travelled tirelessly around Australia and New Zealand, teaching and establishing Branches of the Sogetsu School and Chapters of Ikebana International. He established the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School in 1964. Our members have held classes and exhibitions in multiple venues around the city every year since then. 

The following link is to an article in the Australian Dictionary of Biography about Norman Sparnon.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Victorian Branch, Nishiyama sensei gave a public demonstration at The Edge in Federation Square in Melbourne. She also presented two workshops at the Asia Institute, Melbourne University.

The following photograph is of my work at the morning workshop. The first theme was to make a freestyle ikebana using paper, of any kind. The Victorian Branch provided botanical materials and attendees had to provide their own paper.

I used a Japanese ikebana vase from my colleague Aileen's collection and was given a branch of tortuous Willow and some red Callistemon flowers. Using news paper, I created long paper straws by wrapping sheets around a chopstick and removing it before it got trapped inside. This provided me with straight lines that contrasted with the wavy lines of the willow. 

Greetings from Christopher
3rd November 2024