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