Last weekend I attended two days of workshops with Master Instructor Mori, whom I referred to in last week's posting. I really enjoyed the workshops. The themes were interesting and Master Mori's critique was instructive.
On the first day, the workshops were held at the Ukaria Cultural Centre at Mt Barker, in the hills east of Adelaide. The first workshop theme was "Using dried materials". Among the supplied materials and vessels were some good lengths of bark and two curious boot-shaped vases.
In the afternoon, the theme was "Using various locations". We were encouraged to work outside the building or in the sloping garden below.
As I walked around the garden I noticed a Lion's tail flower Leonotis leonurus, and realised that it would closely match two splashes of colour on a vase I had brought with me. I also slotted together three sections of curled bark to make the long line. Then a single dried Aspidistra leaf and a branching stem of Leucadendron were added.
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The second day's workshops were held in the suburb of Windsor Gardens. The theme for the afternoon was "Using seasonal plant material"'. We were invited to "...express the beauty of Autumn in Adelaide...". Unfortunately, there was not much traditional (northern hemisphere) autumn material around, as Adelaide and Victoria have both had something of an Indian Summer this year. So very few of the northern hemisphere plants have changed colour yet. I decided I would try to put an Australian slant on the exercise. Probably not wise.
At the beginning of Master Mori's critique of my ikebana, I commented that, when they settled in Australia, the first Europeans observed that the seasons in the southern hemisphere occurred at the opposite time of the year compared to the northern hemisphere. Also, Australian trees did not shed their leaves in winter but, perversely from the European point of view, the trees shed their bark.
The only cold climate, winter deciduous tree in Australia is the Deciduous Beech Nothofagus gunnii.
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I decided to gather some bark in the nearby park, hoping that its orange-ish colouring in some places would meet the criteria. I also added stems of Eucalyptus leaves with tiny flowers that were beginning to open. I think Master Mori was not convinced the work met the subject that had been set. Neither was I, unfortunately. This is the back view of the work during the critique, and the only photo I have.
The morning workshop on the second day was titled "Using Fresh and Dried Materials", with the interesting addition of "Its in the bag". The added challenge to participants was "...to bring any kind of bag and to use it either within the ikebana or as the vessel...".
Before I left home I remembered that I had bought an Ikat woven bag in Kanazawa a couple of years ago. It seemed like the only visually interesting bag that I own. I developed the idea for the ikebana above in advance of the workshop. However, I did not try it until then. I used a box-shaped ceramic vessel in which I fixed a dried branch, with multiple small side branches, that I collected at the site. The stem was fixed within the right side of the vessel and leaned upward toward the left. I placed the bag over the smaller side branches so that it was then held open by them. Next I inserted two stems of Cootamundra Wattle Acacia Baileyana, so that they were hanging down in a line toward the opening of the ceramic vessel. Master Mori's comment was that I should have filled the vessel with water so that it could be seen at the top of the opening.
The vessel is by the Canadian ceramic artist Leta Cormier.
Greetings from Christopher
3rd May 2026
You may find photos from the workshops on Instagram or Facebook.
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