EXPLODING FIREWORKS

Last week I set my Torquay and Geelong students the task of making an ikebana "Incorporating Narcissus".

Coralie arranged Jonquils Narcissus jonquilla from her garden in a naturalistic style, adding small shield-shaped leaves at their base. The Narcissus were set in two groups with a space between and the narrow suiban oriented away from the viewer to provide depth.

Kerryn arranged her materials in a contemporary style using reeds to create three large triangular shapes with a small bunch of cut-off reeds radiating upward. Her Narcissus were set to create an elevated curving line of flowers.

Pamela arranged her Narcissus rising up through a horizontal mass of dark, Broad hop bush leaves Dodonaea viscosa.

In my Geelong class...

...Maureen arranged her Daffodils asymmetrically between two branches of an unidentified, narrow-leafed Acacia.

Ellie created a mass using a variety of Narcissus flowers which were set between two large bare branches with lichen, that were set in a spherical vessel.

Maree created a mass of Narcissus flowers rising in an irregular form from a slate vessel. The vertical form was emphasised by the addition of two Narcissus leaves that were bent into triangular shapes on the right side.

My ikebana was made for the Victorian Sogetsu Branch workshop that was held last Monday. It is a re-working of an arrangement I made early last year. The theme of the workshop was to make an ikebana "Expressing a movement". I cut a number of stems from the Umbrella grass I have growing in a large tub in the conservatory. The colour of the stems varied from green through yellow to a dry brown, and they were cut to different lengths. The stems are arranged radially in an asymmetric design set in a tapering white vase. I then have added bright red Carnations in the centre of the design, most of which were still in bud. The movement I was wanting to capture was the 'exploding' movement of fireworks in the night sky.

The vessel is by the Victorian ceramic artist Arnaud Barraud

Greetings from Christopher
2nd August 2026