In my Melbourne class this week, Chen was repeating the very difficult exercise of creating a Basic Upright nageire. That is an ikebana set in a tall straight-sided vessel.
On this occasion, he was creating a reversed, or mirror image, version of the arrangement. That meant the principal line is on the right hand side, rather than the left. He used very thick Olive Olea europaea branches, and small button Chrysanthemums for the hikae (flower line).
Julie-Ann created a slanting arrangement in a suiban. Her unidentified branch material came from a friend's garden. The flower material, Alstroemeria is also homegrown from the friend's garden.
The exercise I set for the senior students was to make an ikebana arrangement in a tsubo (spherical) vessel using a single crossbar fixture.
In her arrangement, Aileen used Japanese Flowering Quince Chaenomeles, for the principal branch. The secondary materials are Eucalyptus leaves and some white Freesia flowers.
Marcia used some unidentified branch material, and some Hydrangea for the focal point on the right side.
Jacqueline reused some Cypress stems for her main line and variegated Camellias for her focal point in the centre of the arrangement.
Unfortunately, Marisha's material, Leucadendron, had stems that were too fine to split across the horizontal bar fixture. So she completed the exercise with a different fixing technique, in this case using unconventional crossbars.
Eugenia used Eucalyptus stems for her branch material, and some interesting spidery, pale yellow Gerberas for her focal material. She also added a line on the left using a dried branch which swept forward, embracing her vessel.
In my Geelong class on Thursday, I demonstrated a Basic Upright ikebana arrangement for two new students. When I came home, I decided to rework the materials.
I have made a vertical arrangement with the original Shin line, and its supporting line. To them, I have added four light-yellow roses. Laurie described it as an arrangement of branches, with hidden roses. I had to agree with his description. Of the four roses only one can be seen clearly.
The suiban is by the New Zealand ceramicist, Elena Renka.
Greetings from Christopher
3rd August 2025
