LAST CLASS FOR 2025

At the last ikebana class of each year we meet at one of the student members' houses to celebrate and socialise. The usual order of the day is for everyone to bring materials for an ikebana, and food to share. The students select a vase from the host's collection and are allocated a space to set up their ikebana. This year, my Melbourne class met at Aileen's house and made their arrangements.

Marisha used a double-ended U-shaped vessel. Her branch material was a few stems of Eucalyptus. The flowers on the left are Delphinium and on the right, pink Chrysanthemum.

Jacqueline had a single multi-branched stem of Tortuous willow Salix, that she had twisted together. She made a mass with yellow Roses to which she added some green leaves from Climbing fig Ficus pumila. The vessel is made from several ceramic cylinders of irregular height.

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Julie-Anne chose a Sogetsu-style split cylinder in which she set two long stems of Russian sage Salvia yangii, on the left side, and made a mass with some white Snapdragon Antirrhinum, on the right.

Eleanor, who was a visitor at the class, made an abstract style ikebana using de-constructed Lady palm Rhapis excelsa, and Billy Buttons pycnosorus. The vessel is a narrow curving trough.

Aileen used Tortuous willow for her branch material and two Calla lily Zantedeschia, flowers of such a deep purple that they looked black. The unusual vessel is by Mel Ogden.

Eugenia set two Leucospermum flowers in the tall, square- section vase; around which she then fixed some dried palm inflorescence.

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We have had some rather hot days in the last week. It seems that is what has driven Spike (the echidna) to visit the garden in search of ants. 
 

I took this photo in the mid-afternoon on Thursday. Spike returned again on Friday evening and was fossicking between the bricks on the garden path when I came in from a walk on the beach.

My ikebana this week comes from the last meeting of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School for 2025. All of the senior teachers holding the Riji certificate, who were able to attend the meeting, were asked to simultaneously set up an ikebana on the theme of celebration. We then briefly spoke about our ikebana. I chose Summer Holidays as my theme.

I have used a particularly unusual driftwood branch I found on the beach earlier this year. Where it sits at the top of the tall vessel the branch makes a complete loop turning back on itself. I have secured it with a vertical fixture so that it floats above the mouth of the vessel. The additional materials are Cushion bush Leucophyta, and two bright red Anthuriums. To me the Anthuriums suggest a joyous happiness, while the other two materials speak to me of the freedom of summer holidays spent on the beach.

Greetings from Christopher

14th December 2025

TWO FLOWERS, ONE LEAF

At the beginning of November, among my Melbourne students... 

...Julie-Anne's Sogetsu curriculum exercise was to make an Upright Variation Number 2 in a suiban. In this variation the Hikae (main flower line) is set on the left side of the Shin (principal upright branch line) leaning forward at an angle. Her materials are Eucalyptus leaves, most likely E. pulverulenta and Chrysanthemum flowers

I set the senior students the exercise of making an ikebana focussing on "colours in contrast".

Marisha used two differently coloured bunches of Alstromeria, white and red. They were set in an earth-coloured cylindrical vase.

Jacqueline set some unidentified blue flowers with three red Anthuriums, one of which is just visible at the back of the arrangement. To these she added a dried branch as a linear horizontal element to the otherwise vertical arrangement.

The two examples above do not strictly conform to the set exercise because the colours are not directly opposite each other on the colour wheel.

Eugenia used two green Aspidistra leaves for her main colour, which she contrasted with two small buds of Red orchid cactus Disocactus ackermannii.  Her black vase and branch lines created a non-colour foil to the two principal subjects of the ikebana.

Aileen began with a glass vase that conformed to the exercise being predominantly orange, and having blue glass knobs on its surface. She chose for her botanical material Strelitzia flowers, that also have these colours.  Blue paper tape was added to reinforce the contrast with the vase.

In the garden...

...to my delight the Grevillea robusta tree is having its best flowering yet. This, no doubt, is a result of our part of the state having its wettest Spring in the last 12 years. Unfortunately, the north of the state has been much drier.

The Strelitzia juncea is also flowering well. The Grevillea is well out of reach, but the Strelitzia is not. Therefore it is ideal for this week's ikebana.

I picked two flower stems from the S. juncea and a single small leaf from the base of the Strelitzia nicolai, elsewhere in the garden. The leaf has a particularly attractive, slightly spiralling, curve, which is lost with the flattening effect of the photograph. The tallest flower sits within the embrace of the front of the leaf while the lower flower sits at the back of, and outside, the fold of the leaf. 

The vase is by the US ceramicist Mark Bell.

Greetings from Christopher

7th December 2025

INTERTWINING CURVES

As Spring comes to an end and the weather warms... 

...Spike has appeared in the garden again. Sometimes Spike has visited our's, and friends' gardens, at night. Evidence of the night time visit is apparent in the characteristic digging of ant nests. A couple of weeks ago, Laurie noticed that Spike had ventured across the road and I was able to take this photo of them both. 

The other particularly abundant wildlife in our garden is the number and variety of birds. My friend John took this photo of a King parrot feeding on seeds of a Coastal Tea Tree Gaudium laevigatum in his garden.

To ikebana. 
A recent exercise I set for students was to make an ikebana in a suiban with 5 - 7 materials. This task is not as easy as it seems. Taking into account the volumes of the different materials can be quite a challenge.

In my Torquay class...

...Ròzå used Honeysuckle Lonicera, Roses, Rosemary Salvia rosmarinus, and other unidentified materials.

Coralie used four materials, Shrubby germanderTeucrium fruticans as the principal material, also Tall Cape honey flower Melianthus major, Lavender Lavandular stoechas, and a hybrid of Iris ensata.

Lyn set a single Strelitzia flower, Snapdragon Antirrhinum, Dietes grandiflora, Olive Olea europaea and Eremophila.

In the Geelong class... 

...Maureen harmonised her materials with green as the predominant colour. The tall dry branch is dried and coloured Edgworthia E. chrysantha, Tortuous Willow Salix, Leucadendron, Nandina, Gumnuts Eucalyptus, and a small fading red Callistemon flower.

Ellie used an unopened Asiatic lily Lilium, Statice Limonium, Lisianthus Eustoma, Rose, Snapdragon, Jerusalem sage Phlomis fruticosa and Nasturtium Tropaeolum.

Maree's exercise was to make an ikebana of Iris in the traditional style as taught in the Sogetsu School.

My ikebana this week is my contribution for the recent annual exhibition of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School, of which I was the curator. Because I knew I would be very busy in that role, I reworked a sculpture I made for a demonstration last year. The principal structure was made from two branches of Weeping Elm Ulmus. For fresh material, I added two Gymea leaves which encased a mass of Dock weed Rumex, the seed-head of which had started to turn red.

The structure is 1.4m high and 1.8m wide. The branches are secured with wooden dowels and the ceramic "half pillow" vessel is by Graeme Wilkie.

Greetings from Christopher

FRESH and DRY MATERIAL

On Wednesday Laurie and I went west along the coast to Qdos Gallery in Lorne. Graeme Wilkie was setting up a solo exhibition of some of his work from the last several years. This included ceramics from his recent residencies in China and wood-fired work made in his Anagama Kiln. He had asked me to create a single ikebana in one of the large sculptural ceramic pieces in that part of the exhibition. Graeme's slab constructed work is about 1.4m tall with an elongated S-shape and is very narrow front to back. 

I did not have the opportunity of a trial run. So, I made sure that I had materials for plan B. Plan A was to use an interesting piece of driftwood with three radiating branches. I soon realised that it was both too heavy and too large in diameter to be safely stabilised in the tall, narrow ceramic work. My plan B material was three very light, broad and spiralling pieces of dried Banana plant Musa, and three fresh Gymea leaves Doryanthes palmeri.

Here Laurie, acting as my assistant, is holding two Gymea leaves in position while I check their relationship with the Banana material. I had already secured the dried material by attaching it to a long garden stake that I placed within the vessel.

This shows the completed ikebana in the vessel, which was supported with bags of clay to stabilise the structure while we worked on the improvised design and fixed the materials in place.

This shows the finished work on the day of the Exhibition opening, which was yesterday. I have taken the photo with a flash to reveal the beautiful surface of the vessel in particular. Some rather rusty-looking markings are also noticeable on the Gymea leaf that points downward to the left across the front of the ikebana.

This photo shows the back of the vessel and me looking pleased that everything was still in place three days after setting up this work. I must say that I feel very privileged to be able to present my ikebana in this beautiful gallery, and that Graeme had trusted me to be respectful of his work.

Graeme's exhibition is open for three weeks.

Thursday - Sunday

9.00 am - 5.00 pm 

Finishes Friday 12th December

Greetings from Christopher

23rd November 2025

SOGETSU ANNUAL EXHIBITION at ABBOTSFORD CONVENT

Several weeks ago I set my Melbourne students the task of making an Ikebana  Mass and Line’, combined with using dried or bleached material.

Jacqueline created a spreading style ikebana using two vessels. Her dried material was a long branch of driftwood that was supported on the black vessel the larger was set a mass of orange Clivia flowers and leaves. The smaller vessel held a single flower.

Marcia set a dried Allium stem in a vessel with a mass of Lilac Syringa,  flowers and leaves.

Eugenia set a line of Siberian dogwood Cornus alba, in a white vessel with a mass made using Viburnum plicatum and dried Kelp.

Aileen set a line of dried vine in an annular vessel with a mass of Wisteria flowers.

My ikebana this week comes from my archive of past works. I have chosen them because this weekend I have been very busy participating in the annual exhibition of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School. Also the Branch has held a workshop led by Master Instructor, Oizumi sensei. in conjunction with the exhibition. The theme of the workshop was to make a flat object, washi paper, into a sculptural three dimensional form. I have not had the time to process the photos from the workshop.

The two photos below are earlier examples of using paper in an ikebana arrangement.

In this example from 2009 I used newspaper which I "pleated" into flame-like forms and added dried Dracaena draco stems and part of a dried seed pod.

In this ikebana I created two large hemispherical forms from pale green washi paper. They were placed around a deep green vessel in which I set two Hyacinth flowers.

If you are in Melbourne today you may visit the Annual Exhibition in the Linen room at the Abbotsford Convent cultural centre, 1 St Heliers st, Abbotsford.

Greetings from Christopher

16th November 2025 

 

 

HARMONISING COLOURS

This winter our house was surrounded by scaffolding while maintenance work was being undertaken. The project was rain- delayed for some time and the garden was neglected more than usual. Now that the maintenance is finished I am really enjoying the changes that spring brings to the garden. 

Yesterday, after hanging washing on the clothes line, I turned around and was startled to see this mass of climbing rose flowers on the north-facing side of the wire fence. They were not open at the beginning of the week. This rose was planted by our neighbour some years ago and has progressively extended along the fence. Because we are on the sunny side of the fence we benefit most from the flower display. A little bit like the Japanese idea of "borrowed scenery". Only in this case, accidental not planned.

Fortunately for our neighbour, in late winter to early spring they get most of the benefit from our Japonica Chaneomeles. So the benefit of seeing into each other's garden is a reciprocal one. 

Recently, I set my Torquay and Geelong students the task of making an ikebana using materials with at least three different colours.

Róża used Aeonium succulents in the orange-yellow-green range, set in a copper suiban that harmonised with the materials.

Pamela also used the same range of colours with two different Broom Genisteae flowers and Garden nasturtium Tropaeolum majus* flower and leaves. A bare branch provided support for the light materials.  

Lyn's materials were in the green-yellow-orange range. She used Euphorbia, two different Leucadendrons and a Grevillea.

Coralie created a divided ikebana and with effectively two sets of colour combinations. On the lower left blue and green and the upper right, orange to red. The materials are: left side, Strelitzia and right side Nandina and Japanese flowering quince Chaenomeles.

In the Geelong class, Ellie arranged Alstromeria and button Chrysanthemum in yellow and two shades of orange.

Helen used materials in the orange-yellow-green range: Aeonium and Clivia. Her use of clear glass vases led to the interesting creation of space below the waterline in the vases. 

Maureen's ikebana is an example of mazezashi; that is, an ikebana using a variety of materials. In this example of the exercise she has used five kinds of flowering materials. The more materials used the more difficult this exercise becomes.

The photo  below is of an ikebana I made in late September when the Tamarisk Tamarix was in flower.

This is an example of the exercise; "Taking the colour of the vessel into account".  In this instance I have clearly chosen the vessel because of its close colour harmony with the Tamarisk. I have added a single leaf of Acanthus A. mollis for its textural and colour contrast.

The vessel was pit-fired with organic materials including seaweed and, I think, splashed with copper glaze. I bought the vessel in Portland, Victoria, about forty years ago. It is stamped "Cobboboonee". If anyone knows the maker's name I would be pleased to hear from you.

Greetings from Christopher

8th November 2025

* Did you know "Garden nasturtium" is not related to the Genus Nasturtium? 

I didn't, and I bless (and support) Wikipedia.

 

SCOTCH BROOM

Signs of spring are well and truely with us, many exotic bushes are flowering profusely.

I was really surprised when I saw this large mauve-coloured Echium candicans cascading over a near by fence. The fence is about 1.8m high.

This other example, in another nearby garden, has bluish flowers.

In recent years I planted Red valerian, Valeriana ruber, in a small area of our garden. In this case, the pink variety. I find these flowers particularly useful for the flower element, when demonstrating the basic styles in the early part of the Sogetsu curriculum. 

Also flowering profusely in our garden, and currently producing a blaze of yellow in the afternoon sun, is Scotch broom Cytisus scoparius. Its perfume is very strong, so the number of stems needs to be limited in ikebana.

At the last class with my Melbourne students I had set the exercise of "Taking into account the shape of the vessel".

Eugenia used a unique ceramic tetrahedronal-shaped vessel. In it she set a naturally-curved single Strelitzia flower stem and leaf from her own garden. The aperture of the vessel is very small but was able to hold the materials in these positions that suggest a strong movement.

Jacqueline used a blue-coloured metal vase that was extremely narrow front-to-back. She arranged two differently-coloured Asiatic Lilies Lilium. The tall straight lines of the pink lily reflect the vertical lines of the vase while the single curving line of the Clivia leaf contrasts with the vertical movement.

Marisha used two curving stems of branching Leucadendron to contrast with the straight cylindrical form of her vase. The fluted funnel form of the deep red Lily flower also contrasts with the form of the vase.

Marcia said she came across this S-shaped Iris stem in her garden and was pleased that it would complement the lip of her vessel. On the other hand, the straight stem of the Alium contrasts with the vessel. 

This week I decided to make an ikebana demonstrating the harmony that can be achieved by using only materials that are adjacent, that is beside each other, on the colour wheel. In the English translation of the Sogetsu curriculum this idea has been rendered as: "Colours in the same tonal range". However, this creates some confusion as the word 'tone' in visual art, is used to mean the lightness or darkness of a single colour. More specifically the muting a colour by adding grey.

I started this ikebana with the small branch of Scotch Broom Cytisus scoparius, with its bright yellow flowers. In the middle is a mass made with Euphorbia, which is a lime-green and on the left are two leaves of deep green Acanthus mollis. 

The cylindrical Bizen ceramic vase is by Isezaki Jun.

Greetings from Christopher

2nd Novwember 2025