LEAVES ONLY

Last Tuesday was very warm. Suddenly, a day in the mid-thirties. Perhaps, rather unsurprisingly, the warmth brought out an echidna that was foraging beside a path in the sand dunes.

The black arrow points at the echidna busily foraging while Laurie and I kept very still.

We were rewarded after a few minutes when the echidna slowly waddled across the path to explore the opposite side. It is always a delight to see these animals that are living quietly along side us.

At my class in Geelong we are coming toward the end of the term. 

Anne is almost at the end of Book One and is completing some revision exercises. Above is an "Slanting Variation No 1, nageire" ikebana. The nageire exercises are the most technically difficult in the first book of the Sogetsu curriculum.

The senior students' exercise was to make an ikebana using leaves only.

The students each made two ikebana arrangements. The first was an upright form. Maureen brought attention to an orange-coloured fading New Zealand flax Phormium leaf by using a suiban with an orange interior.

Her second ikebana was a simple form using two single  variegated Aspidistra leaves, that she partially shredded, in a pair of matching bottle shaped vases. The rhythm of the multiple lines seem to have a quite calming feeling.

Christine used a number of Elkhorn Platycerium fronds from her garden in her first ikebana. Because of their cascading nature she threaded the base of the leaves through the holes in a curled Monstera leaf, and then into a kenzan. A colour focus was achieved by using a single fading leaf that had a warm light-brown colouring.

In her second ikebana Christine used one fresh and three dried Bird's nest fern Asplenium nidus leaves. The dried leaves are especially hard to secure because the base of the stem invariably has a sharp "U" curve.

Ellie's first ikebana did not photograph well because of the dark colour of the leaf on the left. Ellie said she was particularly interested in emphasising the space between the two leaves. 

In her second ikebana Ellie focused on the colour and pattern variation on the surfaces of three leaves. The fourth leaf provides a counter movement to balance the other three leaves.

This week I was keen to use some of the Strelitzia juncea flowers in the garden before they were damaged by the rain.

The triangle of green lines is made from two stems with the minute leaf margins of this particular form of Strelitzia. I had previously created this triangular form as a mock-up for the recent exhibition of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School. However, in the event, I did not use the idea as I did not have suitable flowers because the Strelitzia plant in the garden had not yet flowered. I have used five flowers in a vertically-tapering form that repeats the overall design. The two tallest flowers face forward and back respectively to achieve the tapering.

The vessel is a mid-20th century Japanese vase.

Greetings from Christopher
30th November 2024

 

BANKSIA SPECIOSA

The annual exhibition for 2024 finished yesterday, Saturday 23rd November, with a demonstration presented by Aileen Duke, the Deputy Director of the Victorian Branch. Photos of the final weeks of the exhibition will be posted in due course.

Classes with my students have started again for the fourth term of 2024.

Jacqueline's exercise was to make a floor-based arrangement which is to be viewed from above. She used a branch of Camellia and two Monstera leaves. 

Two partially hidden, salmon-coloured Carnations Dianthus caryophyllus, provided a contrasting colour.

In Torquay, I had set my students the exercise of making an ikebana that used three different types of flowers and large leaves.

Marta used a Monstera leaf through which she threaded dark red Rose campion Silene coronaria, flowers, two stems of Matchstick Bromeliad Aechmea gamosepala, and two pink Scabiosa flowers.

Coralie's ikebana started out more complicated than this final appearance. The three flowers in two separate vessels are, on the left: Strelitzia reginae, and at its base Kniphofia; on the right: an opening bud of Agapanthus in front of a Strelitzia leaf.

Pamela used two Monstera leaves, a Strelitzia flower, two dark purple Petunias and a trail of Nasturtians Tropaeolum at the base.

Lyn used a single small Monstera leaf with two curving stems of Matchstick Bromeliad, Statice Limonium partially hidden on the left and a Leucospermum completely hidden on the right (sorry wrong camera angle).

My ikebana is from the second week of the Annual Exhibition of the Victorian Sogetsu Branch which took place in the City Of Whitehorse Artspace Gallery.

 

I had paticularly wanted to use these large seed heads of Showy Banksia B. speciosa. They are very eye-catching because of their size, and are attractive close up when you can see that the seed capsule is covered with warm brown velvety fur. The long leaves are thin and saw-toothed. 

In the previous week senior members of the Branch had been given the opportunity to use vessels from the City of Whitehorse Ceramic Collection. We were required to use a different vessel in the second week.

My challenge was this very highly-decorated vessel by the Victorian ceramicist Chris Pittard. Fortunately, my material was more subtly coloured and did not conflict too much with the vessel. Also, the vessel was large and heavy which meant it could support the weight of the material. To emphasise the seed heads, and keep the vase from toppling over, I have kept them very low in the vessel. A line of two thin branches gives a sense of movement to the ikebana. The leafy material in the middle is Eucalyptus macrocarpa. These leaves are a blue-grey however, I was unable to correct the colour balance of the photo.

Greetings from Christopher
24th November 2024

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