KATH DACY 1926 -2025

Today I pay tribute to my ikebana friend and colleague Kath Dacy who died last Wednesday at the age of 98. Kath was a student of the late Norman Sparnon, as were many of Australia's early ikebana community. She also was a student of the late, highly regarded, Victorian teacher Ursula Breit. 

Kath was a qualified high school art teacher before she was introduced to the art of ikebana, which became a lifelong passion for her. She served as the Deputy Director of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School in 1993 and 1994, and as the Director in 1995 and 1996.

Like many of her peers, Kath was drawn to the bold, modern feeling of strength, as well as beauty, in ikebana. I cannot date this photograph but think it might be the 1980's.

I first met Kath in the early 2000's when I joined the Victorian Branch as a recently qualified Sogetsu teacher. We got to know each other over time as she occasionally spent the weekend at a holiday house nearby in Torquay.

This photo shows Kath working on her floor-based ikebana arrangement at the Victorian Branch's 50th anniversary exhibition in Federation Square 2014.

Again at the 50th anniversary exhibition preparations. 

I always enjoyed discussing ikebana with Kath. Her perspective on ikebana seemed to me to be profoundly influenced by her training and her practice as an art teacher. I feel enriched by her insights and analysis of ikebana.

Kath died at ninety eight; a long life committed to education and the enjoyment and creation of things of beauty. Although her body became frail, ikebana was always an inspiration for her.

This photo is of her Ikebana at the Sogetsu School's Victorian Branch exhibition in 2013 at the Malvern Artists' Society Gallery.

Vale Kath, and thank you. 

Christopher

12th July 2025

SMALL WINTER IKEBANA ARRANGEMENTS

As an Ikebana practitioner I have a particular appreciation of the conditions in winter where I live. The climate of the southern coastline of mainland Australia is 'Mediterranean'. That means hot dry summers and cold wet winters. It means there is still plenty of green to be seen during winter. This is particularly because Australia is blessed with native evergreen trees being the rule, rather than the exception. 

Here is an interesting example in this photograph I took in the Royal Botanical Gardens Melbourne this morning. In the foreground, deciduous trees from China and North Asia in their autumn colour, while in the background are Australian evergreen eucalyptus trees. 

To ikebana.

On Saturday, Ikebana international Melbourne Chapter held a workshop which I was unable to attend. The guest presenter's topic was 'The Way of Tea'. It reminded me of some ikebana that I had seen in 2023 when I participated in an 'Art, Architecture and History Tour' in Japan. 

The following two photos are of some ikebana I saw arranged in a traditional tokonoma, the display alcove of a traditional formal Japanese room.

This ikebana was in a National Trust of Japan property in Tokyo, built for Mr Yoshisaburo Fujita.

I photographed this small ikebana in a hanging vase in one of the houses in the Samurai district in Kanazawa.

I was prompted to make this very simple ikebana arrangement.  I have used two leaves of an unidentified ground lily (I think) and a small sprig of Brushfields yellow Camellia with an opening bud. I have discovered that I have not catalogued the vase and will have to go back to my paper records.

To make today's ikebana ...

...I gathered a single small branch of Manchurian pear Pyrus ussuriensis, from the garden of our apartment, with which I created a late-autumn, early-winter ikebana arrangement. The Manchurian pear is growing in a very sheltered position. So it still has quite a lot of green leaves, despite it being early July. I gathered the spent seedheads of some Dietes for their slightly nutty brown colour, and also the feeling of late autumn that they provide. The bottle-shaped vase is by Jamie Beeston.

Greetings from Christopher

6th June 2025