RE-USED BANKSIA PRAEMORSA

In a recent Geelong class...

Anne made an ikebana arrangement "Using Vine"; in this case Hardenbergia comptoniana and Sea Holly Eryngium. Unfortunately, the vine was too weak to support its own weight for the intended exercise of a horizontal ikebana. However, it was a great opportunity to learn how to get this material to be sufficiently self-supporting to create a looped line with two small masses of the Sea Holly.

The senior students were tasked with making an ikebana using "Pine and any other material". 

Maureen used two branches of Casuarina, sometimes called Australian pine, which has needle-like fine branchlets and cone-like fruit. The branch on the left was set to accentuate its curving line contrasting with the mouth of the vessel that leans to the right. Three scarlet Grevillea inflorescences draw the eye back to the centre of the ikebana.

 

Christine used Cypress branches arranged obliquely across the top of her vessel. White Iris flowers contrasted with the deep green of the Cypress foliage.

Maree arranged a mass of pine needles in an irregularly-shaped piece of wood. She added a line with a dried stem of an ornamental Allium.

Jo arranged the end of a pine stem upside down in a rectangular glass vessel. The majority of the materials were place below the water line. A vertical row of Cherry tomatoes was set on the left side.

My ikebana this week is made with materials re-used from last week's ikebana. It is a "One Material Only" arrangement of Banksia praemorsa. This view is side-on to show that the large flower spike extends forward of the rim of the vessel. At the lower right side of the arrangement from this angle you can see a smaller, less developed flower spike. I placed this spike toward the rear because it is visible when walking across the room.

 

Here is the front-on view. I used some additional branch material that I had not used last week to create a space between two tall lines. This seemed a good way to present the single large spike in what is essentially a vertical ikebana arrangement.

The unusual black ceramic vessel comes from Seto City, a famous old pottery town east of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture.

Greetings from Christopher

23rd August 2023