WINTER SOLSTICE (AUTUMN IKEBANA?)

While hanging socks to dry last week...

...I was startled when  this Australian King Parrot came and perched on the line. I was surprised by its unusually bold behaviour, which would suggest it was used to being fed by someone nearby. Judging from its plumage colouring, it was most likely a juvenile male.  It was a lovely brief visit.

In a recent Geelong class......

...Heather's exercise was to make a Basic Upright nageire ikebana using a vertical fixture. Her materials were Silky Oak Grevillia robusta, and Hibiscus.

Karen made a reverse Basic Slanting nageire ikebana. Her materials were Magnolia grandiflora and Dutch Iris Iris X Hollandica.

Anne's exercise was the first in Book 3 of the Sogetsu curriculum, a Vertical Ikebana. Her materials were dried Pampas grass Cortoderia selloana and Common stock Mathiola incana.

In the same Geelong class I set the senior students the exercise of making an ikebana that extends the work beyond the vessel, so that it is not simply an ikebana within the vessel. In this case it is acceptable for the materials to touch the surface of the table. However, it must not look like the material has fallen onto the surface. The placement must be quite deliberate.

Jo used a large branch of dried Corokia that had been sprayed red, the main stem of which extended to the left. She added some lengths of bamboo that stood on the right side of the work and were supported by the tangle of the Corokia branches.

Maree created an unexpected interpretation of the exercise. Her principal material was two stones of the same kind. One was set within the vessel and the second placed on the table top. The botanical material was Banksia leaves and orange Chrysanthemum flowers.

Ellie used dried branch material which she stood on both sides, outside the vessel. Her fresh botanical materials were Acacia and Straw flowers Xerochrysm bracteatum.

Helen used a strong, dried branch set on a similarly-coloured vessel with a striated surface complementing the surface of the branch. Helen added three Forelle pears Pyrus, to add freshness and another colour to an otherwise monochrome arrangement. Unfortunately, this camera angle only shows the stalk of the third pear that is behind the lower part of the branch.

Christine has used several flowering branches of Pincushion Hakea H. laurina. The branches stretch strongly to the right while floating above the table surface. The base of a single small branch has been allowed to project to the left of the vessel.

Maureen has extended her ikebana to the left by using a curling dried branch that sits on the table and connects to the tallest vase. The ikebana also stretches to the right by the addition of a small colour-matched vase which has a green Bracken fern Pteridium aquilinum, stem extending to the right. The floral material is Ornamental cabbage Brassica oleracea

Today is the winter solstice in Australia, our shortest day of the year. Its is appropriately cold and damp, 12C in the middle of the day and drizzling .

My autumn-looking ikebana is therefore a little unseasonal. Our autumn and winter temperatures have been milder than usual, especially the overnight temperatures. So the last of the late hydrangea flowers have only recently darkened to their richer autumn tonings. A few weeks ago I spotted the red berries of this Cotoneaster and was taken by the long straight line of the branch. I arranged it naturalistically and added a small Hydrangea flower with some yellow leaves. The vase is by the American ceramic artist Mark Bell.

Greetings from Christopher

21st June 2026

SOMETIMES WE STRUGGLE

The early morning sun shone brightly on the Gum tree Eucalyptus in the background of this photo. The closer trees framing the image are at the bottom of our garden. The sight was uplifting after several days of overcast weather with rain that was welcomed by the garden. 

During the rain Spring Creek in Torquay rose considerably because its mouth has been blocked for at least a couple of months. The catchment area of creeks along this part of the coast is not large so they are intermittent and do not flow continuously into the sea. The boardwalk across the creek in the middle of this photo was completely flooded 10 days ago.

Overnight the heavy rains caused the creek to breakthrough the sand barrier and the boardwalk became useable again.

In my Melbourne class...

...Chen's exercise was to make a variation of an upright arrangement in a nageire (tall vase) style. The angles did not quite work out as desired so the arrangement is not correct. However, the exercise turned out to be a good practise in fixing techniques. The unidentified main branch material appears to have a pea flower and the "flower line" on the left is a Grevillea.

Julie-Ann's exercise was Variation No 1 Slanting, also in the nageire style. She used a form of Broom Genisteae, for the branch material and Roses for the flower line. In this exercise a wide space is created between the two principal branches.

I had asked the advanced students to make a "Winter Ikebana". Eugenia used some bare branch material and some stems of Chinese fringe flower Loropetalum rubrum, in a tall tuquoise glazed vessel. The two elements were separated to emphasise the contrast between them.

Marcia arranged two stems of Manchurian pear Pyrus ussuriensis, so that the right hand one echoed the oval vessel she used. Two Camellia flowers created a focal point on the left side.

On Tuesday of last week I attended the meeting of Ikebana International, Melbourne Chapter. A demonstration was presented by Cheiko Yazaki, head of the Shogetsudo Koryu School in Melbourne, and her student Helen Marriott on the theme of using New Zealand flax Phormium. Unfortunately, the flax in our garden is still rather battered after last summer's heat and low rainfall over the previous six months. I therefore called on my friend Trish who kindly provided me with some very long leaves. 

Then I began my struggle. Before the I. I meeting I had an early morning engagement, so arrived at I.I. a feeling a little stressed. My only equipment was my Hasami (Japanese scissors) and not my usual tool box; none of the handy extras for making ikebana. I had one long branch of Cape Honeysuckle Tecomaria capensis, with bright orange-red flowers at the end, and the New Zealand flax provided by Trish.

The flax leaves made beautiful sweeping curves, which immediately wanted to straighten themselves out again. I managed to temporarily secure them by inserting them through each other. Finally I had to resort to using some fine wire, the thickness of cotton thread, to hold them in place. The lines made by the flax required me to change my design plan and use the Cape Honeysuckle as a central mass instead of a line extending to one side.

 

 Forty minutes later...

...I had an ikebana that had evolved from what the materials allowed. Lesson, we must hold our preconceptions very lightly.

The wood fired vessel is by an unidentified New South Wales ceramicist and was a birthday present to me in the late 1990s. It was bought at the Meat Market Craft Centre in North Melbourne. Suggestions of the makers identity would be most welcome.

Greetings from Christopher.

14th June 2026

WORLD IKEBANA DAY 6th JUNE

Yesterday some of my Geelong students organised an afternoon function to celebrate World Ikebana Day which was established by the Japanese Ikebana Art Association in 2020.

L - R, standing: Christine, Helen, Heather, Karen, Maree

Seated: Ellie, Jo, Laurie, me, Maureen

Recently in my Geelong class...

...Jo's arrangement used colours in contrast in a tall nageire style vessel. She used a branch of red Cotoneaster berries and red roses. Three of the roses were held in a fold of the large contrasting green leaf.

 

Ann's exercise was to make a Variation number 5 moribana in which two kenzans are used. The two principal lines of branch material, possibly Bursaria tenuifolia, are on one kenzan, while the hikae (flower line) Tulips are on their own kenzan.

In both Geelong and Torquay classes, I set some of the students the exercise of making an ikebana arrangement "Incorporating the area where it is placed". This comes from an early edition of the Sogetsu curriculum. 

In Torquay, Kerryn used an oval vessel with a hole through its centre. She used a multi-headed stem of Red Hot poker Kniphofia, an orange Poppy, Marigold Calendula, and Pittosporum with orange berries. This proved to be an opportunity to learn the use of "cross bar" fixing.

In Geelong, Maureen made an arrangement using "Green materials" only. She also extended the materials forward and to the back of the arrangement. Unfortunately this placement is lost by the flattening effect of the photograph. 

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Ellie's arrangement extended to the front left to incorporate the area around the footed vessel. She used a Strelitzia nicolai leaf, Statice Limonium, and Chrysanthemums.

Helen's arrangement also extended to the left and used flowers in shades of pink that harmonised with pink in the glass vessel. The materials included Statice, an unidentified deep pink flower within the arrangement and Chrysanthemums.

My ikebana this week was made at a Victorian Sogetsu Branch workshop that was led by Akemi Suzuki. Akemi asked the participants to think about how looking through a window changes what you see, because of the effect of framing. We may pay more attention to what is visible because we do not experience the distraction of other elements in the environment.

I decided to make an irregular frame from some natural branches of Ash Fraxinus trees. I had noticed that some of the side branches were almost at right angles with the principal branch. The frame had two clearly defined apertures and I decided to use only the largest one. My materials were Autumn coloured Hydrangeas and a Tree philodendron Philodendron bipinnatifidum leaf. To emphasise the "framing" I placed the leaf within the frame and cut it so that it did not extend beyond the frame. The Hydrangeas were kept within the frame.

The vessel is by the Victorian ceramicist Mel Ogden

Greetings from Christopher

7th June 2026