PAYING ATTENTION TO THE CURVE

At the beginning of the week, Laurie and I went to Cape Schanck on the southern tip of the Mornington Peninsula. It is on the eastern side of Port Phillip Bay, an area of Victoria I had never visited before. 

The lighthouse at Cape Schanck has always held a particular fascination for me since my childhood. At night, the lighthouse's unique signal, its "light characteristic", is visible from the high cliffs on the west side of Torquay, 24km away. However, in daylight the distant lighthouse is not visible. 

This view is on the Bass Strait side of the peninsula looking west along the coast toward the narrow opening of Port Phillip Bay.

The cliffs below the lighthouse face directly west and therefore get the full force of the swells generated by the prevailing westerly winds.

Although the lighthouse is now automated, the original 1859 lighthouse keeper's residence is now maintained as a museum, with other historical buildings at the site. 

This is a view through some Moonah Melaleuca lanceolata trees showing a basalt sea stack, at the tip of the Cape, known as Pulpit Rock.

Here is a clearer view of the tip of the Cape, which is approached by a series of staircases and a long wooden walkway.

My attention was caught by the particularly writhing appearance of these branches beside the staircase to the Cape.

A short distance away, we were directed to a small area of remnant Banksia forest. The trees were predominantly Banksia integrifolia. I was really impressed to see the large girth and height of the trees.

 

Another delight was to come across this bright white Clematis. I think it is C. glycinoides. The flowers are larger than the pale cream C. microphylla which grows in our garden.

*          *          *          *          *

To ikebana:

Thanks to my friend, and passionate gardener, Fermi for identifying the branch material on the right in Lyn's ikebana from last week. It is one of the Eremophila genus. 

As I mentioned previously, I conducted a demonstration for a small group last month. In one of the ikebana arrangements I used a yellow Banksia praemorsa which had a strongly curved stem. The curve made it virtually impossible to arrange in any conventional vase. It is because of this sort of material that many Sogetsu Ikebana practitioners like to have vessels of unusual shape, or with multiple or oddly positioned openings.

Fortunately...

...I have some of those. This large heavy vessel with a single opening curves to an almost horizontal position. When I looked carefully at the Banksia inflorescence, it was best positioned curving upward to the right, so I placed the vessel in the opposite direction. Thus creating an "S" curve overall. As the inflorescence was small relative to the vessel I added some dried material; in this case a wide, curling length of Banana Musa acuminata leaf base.

The vessel is by the Victorian ceramicist, Graeme Wilkie, of Qdos Gallery Lorne.

Greetings from Christopher

21st September 2025

BANKSIA ERICIFOLIA

A recent exercise I set for my Torquay students was to "take into account the colour of the vessel" when making their ikebana.

Lynn used a shallow trough-shaped vessel which had a mustard- coloured glaze. I think the material on the left of the arrangement is one of the subspecies of Grevillea juniperina, which has yellow flowers, that picked up the colour of the glaze. The other material is not identified. Her arrangement used two strong lines which she crossed creating an interesting form, with space beneath the branches emphasised.

Corralie used a cherry-red bowl-shaped vessel. Her principal material was Swan River pea Gastrobium celsianum, and the secondary material being Nandina. The stronger lines of the Swan River pea were placed to curve toward each other.

In Melbourne, I set my students the task of making an ikebana "with leaves only" in a tall vessel. Marcia used a single Artichoke, Cynara cardunculus, leaf with a graceful "S" curve as her principal material. This was supported by naturally curving Narcissus and Helleborus leaves

Eugenia used a large Monstera Monstera deliciosa leaf with interesting colouring as a result of it beginning to wilt. She cut a large section off one side to create a strong line from the central rib of the leaf. Because this leaf was so dominant she added only two New Zealand Flax Phormium tenax leaves which had harmonising colour as a result of sun damage. 

Jacqueline's principal subject was the dramatic lines she created with the placement of two New Zealand flax leaves. These lines were emphasised by the placement of two Acanthus leaves on the right side of the ikebana. 

My ikebana this week was made for a demonstration I gave to a small group of Japanophiles on the Surfcoast. After initially demonstrating some ikebana with northern hemisphere plants, I then made the above ikebana using Australian native materials. The fresh material on the left side is a trimmed branch of Banksia ericifolia which has three new-season flower spikes. There is also a single spike from the previous season in the centre of the ikebana that has begun to form seeds. On the righthand side, a dried Moonah Melaleuca lanceolata branch curls around the vessel. 

The vessel is by the New Zealand ceramicist Elena Renker.

Greetings from Christopher
14th September 2025

 

CHAENOMELES

Two weeks ago I set the senior students of my Geelong class the task of making an Ikebana "taking into account the shape of the vessel". This exercise may include repeating the overall form of the vessel with the botanical materials. It may also include exploiting some aspect of the vessel's form to develop the ikebana.

In this case, Christine has chosen a squat ovoid vase in which she has set purple ornamental Kale. She has then added circular loops of New Zealand Flax Phormium, that has been shredded then dried.

Ellie chose an interesting vessel that can be stood vertically, as used here, or placed horizontally on its narrow side. The position she has used allows for a dramatic upward surge of the Tortuous Willow Salix, lines.  A single red Leucadendron flower provides a floral focal point.

Jo has used a flask-shaped vase with two openings. This has enabled her to emphasise the space below the line of the Banksia blechnifolia branch by the placement of a single leaf in the lower opening of the vase.

Maree has used a vessel with two openings made from a folded ceramic cylinder. She has placed her materials to follow the vertical and horizontal lines of the vessel. Her botanical materials are two Strelitzia flowers and both fresh and dried leaves of New Zealand Flax.

*          *          *          *          *

In the garden...

... Laurie drew my attention to a mess of overturned soil where there is an ant nest beside the path and under the stone edging. What could have done that other than an Echidna?  "Spike", or a relative, has returned to the garden after an absence of more than a year.

We actually first noticed the echidna as it appeared from beneath the small deck at a side door, before we noticed the digging evidence. 

Being inside behind glass and moving very stealthily, I managed to take these photos without disturbing the visitor.

We were delighted to be visited again in spite of needing to clear the soil off the path. It was a very warm sunny day after a stretch of cold weather and we were not surprised to see the Echidna lying on the warm decking for quite a while.

The warmer weather is welcome and heralds the change of the season to spring.

I noticed that the Japanese Flowering Quince, Chaenomeles has put out lots of leaves recently and is less dramatic than the bare flower-covered  branches of mid-winter.

I made this ikebana several weeks ago. The line of the branch with so many flowers caught my eye and I decided that its shape was strong enough to not require additional material.

The small vase is by the Victorian ceramicist Graeme Wilkie.

Greetings from Christopher

6th September 2025.