QUEENSLAND SILVER WATTLE

 

Last week I wrote my Blog post while in an aeroplane flying to Queensland. Laurie and I have now spent the first week of our "Progress" up the southeast coast visiting friends and family. 

Initially we stayed inland from the Gold Coast, where one day we had a morning walk along the "The Broadwater".

I had never seen such a dense and beautifully spreading Casaurina as this one along the path.

I was surprised to see this Brushturkey. However, I soon realised that they have adapted to parts of the urban environment with its abundant food supply.

 

 This is also true of the Australian White Ibis.

Our friends, who live about 10 kms inland from the Gold Coast, have a house with a back yard that overlooks a reserve of remnant bushland. That is home to a small mob of Kangaroos.

In this photo, in the sunlight, the mother kangaroo has a Joey in her pouch, while her previous year's off-spring is in the foreground. The leaves at the bottom of the photo are plants in the house garden.

We are now in Brisbane and staying with a friend who has a small terrace garden with a wonderfully lush tropical feel. Dense planting along the fence line includes palms and Heliconias.

Over-flowing pots of succulents, Bougainvillea,...

...crucifix orchids, and more, make up for the lack of garden beds.

It is certainly enough to bring on a spot of what one of my students described as "Ikebana envy". Many gardeners would recognise the feeling.

Last week I mentioned that the Victorian Branch held a workshop that was presented by Vernisher Wooh from the Queensland Branch of the Sogetsu School. The theme of the morning workshop was, "using one kind of material...branches with fruit, berries or flowers on them." The focus of the workshop was on trimming. Given that it is winter, fruiting or berry bearing branches were not an option on the Surf Coast in Victoria.

However, I spied a beautiful Queensland Silver Wattle, Acacia podalyriifolia, in a friend's garden and was permitted to pick a branch.

In the event, the trimming turned out to be rather more radical than I, and some colleagues, had expected. The word 'simplified' was used and I realised that I had to do a major re-think of my 'trimming' expectation.

As you can see I completely removed all of the leaves from the branch, revealing the fine silvery branchlets but leaving the blossom on one of the branches. I really liked the transformation of the branch as it showed a different aspect of the beauty of the material.

Unfortunately, the change in my expectation of the anticipated workshop exercise revealed that my large vase was unsuited to the now-transformed material. The vase is too heavy-looking for the now fine-looking material. However, this was a workshop not an exhibition and workshops are where we have opportunities to learn.

I plan to publish photos from the workshop soon and will provide a link on next week's post.

Greetings from Christopher

17th July 2022
 

WINDSWEPT BRANCHES

As I write this today (Sunday 10th July) I must say I am having a 21st century experience. One that I find quite surreal. I am sitting in a long metal tube, flying at several thousand metres above ground level. If I could make the screen work on the back of the passenger seat in front of me I am sure I could tell you the correct altitude and the air speed. Having first checked my emails, I can now prepare this blog. Oh, I should probably say that Laurie and I are heading north for a couple of weeks to visit family and friends whom we haven't seen for four and more years. In part due to we all know what !  It begins with "C" and ends in "19".

Early in June I had set my Torquay students the task of making an ikebana using branch material in a suiban without using a

kenzan. This exercise works particularly well to show the lines of branches that have lost their leaves with the onset of winter. For these students this was a new experience. 

Marta used three branches of Elm, to which she added the last rose for the season from her garden. The green leaves and small, bright red bud gave a feeling of freshness and life to the arrangement.

Ròża used some straggly, windswept branches of Coastal Tea Tree, Leptospermum laevigatum. Given that these were dead branches and not needing water, placing the bases outside the suiban is permissible. A focus of colour was provided by two stems of yellow Chrysanthemums.

Coralie used multiple straight branches of Silver Pear, Pyrus sylvestrus, creating a striking design. The small green seedheads massed in the centre of the work are Dietes and provided a feeling of freshness.

My own ikebana follows this theme also. Yesterday I attended a Sogetsu School, Victorian Branch workshop. The afternoon theme was to make an ikebana using materials representing winter.

In advance I decided to look for some bare branches in the garden and found this very windswept-looking one on the Apricot tree. The branch is not very big; so to keep the focus on the dramatic line I decided to use my conical metal vessel. The fresh material is Narcissus that was growing in the creek at the back of our property. Unfortunately, the photo does not clearly show the small bunch at the back that gives the work depth.

Greetings from Christopher

10th July 2022

TWO BANKSIA FLOWERS

In my Melbourne class recently, the students had a variety of different exercises which reflect some of the range of ikebana exercises in the Sogetsu curriculum. The most immediately obvious way of describing this variety is to say that it varies from "naturalistic" to contemporary "freestyle" ikebana. There is a big shift between these two ideas. 

In naturalistic ikebana, the focus of the ikebanist is to refine the lines and elements of the material to reveal its natural form and the feeling to be represented or expressed. Contemporary freestyle ikebana focuses on discrete elements of the material, which are then used to create a design that may be completely abstract.

Julie completed a basic naturalistic nageire exercise in a tall vase. The particular difficulty in this case is that the student had also to practice the method of demonstrating ikebana. In the Sogetsu school it is a requirement that the demonstrator faces the audience and creates the ikebana from behind. The ikebana shows the autumn to winter transition, with most of the leaves on the branches having fallen.

Marisha's exercise was to incorporate artificial material in her ikebana. She has used a sheet of pink translucent wrapping-paper that shelters some of the materials and picks up the colour of the small Thryptomene flowers. Dendrobium orchid leaf stems provide the lines in the ikebana. 

Jacqueline's exercise was "Deconstruction and Re-arrangement" of the materials. She separated the petals, leaf clusters and stem from red roses. These elements were then placed to make a small table-top installation, with a bottle of red sparkling wine and a glass that spills red petals.

The following three students' exercise was to make an ikebana using repeating shapes in two vessels.

Eugenia made triangular forms with Umbrella Grass, Cyperus alternifolius. The contrasting material is a Bromeliad flower and the spent flowerheads of Clivea with small red berries - one of which emphasises the end of a line made by an Umbrella grass stem.

Margaret's ikebana was set in contrasting vessels of the same shape that have been linked together to create a sculptural form. The simple design made with just three leaves of variegated New Zealand Flax has a strong sense of movement. To maintain the strength of the design, no floral material is added.

The starting point for Marcia's ikebana was the large triangular vessel. She has emphasised its shape with multiple lines of Umbrella Grass that also connect to the smaller colour-matched vessel at the front. Nandina domestica leaves provide a contrasting mass at the front.

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Following the Ikebana International Melbourne photoshoot I posted about a couple of weeks ago, I deconstructed my ikebana to transport it back home. The bark that I had used as the main subject had started to dry out and curl. As a result I decided to re-set the banksia flowers only.

Here is my simple ikebana of two Coastal Banksia flowers,       B integrifolia, in a bowl-shaped vessel by the ceramic artist Greg Daly. I have added three small side stems of Tree Fern, Dicksonia antartica, to give some additional mass to the space within the bowl. The bowl itself has a rounded base so that it sits at a slight angle. It has a rich yellow and turquoise lustre glaze. The yellow and green of the plant materials complement the vibrant glaze.  

Greetings from Christopher
2nd July 2022

 

ACACIA BAILEYANA

Recently, at different classes, some students have completed the same exercise; in this case, an ikebana using fruit or vegetables. In an earlier version of the Sogetsu curriculum, when I was a student, this was usually done as a morimono, or "heaped things", arrangement. In the current curriculum, setting the materials in vases is the usual style.

Jo used a clear glass vase in which she set two leaves of  red-stemmed rhubarb, the larger one showing the veins on the back of the leaf. They are supported by red grapes submerged in the base of the vase.

Jo also arranged these three stems of intensely-pink silverbeet stems in a conical vase. They are supported by folded silverbeet leaves and grapes.

Marisha made her ikebana in the morimono form, which creates some particular challenges. In particular, attention to the elements of Line, Mass and Space, in the work. She has achieved this through the choice of the materials, which she has cut to reveal unexpected aspects. The material at the top of the morimono is some zucchini which she has cut so that she could elevate it while showing its white flesh. The other materials are lime, capsicum and pomegranate.

In the same Geelong class the advanced students' exercise was to make an ikebana of winter branches in a suiban.

Ellie created a design of flowing lines supported by an inverted branch of the same material. She added some bright orange Chrysanthemums to give a feeling of living freshness.

Christine set some branches of her Ash, Fraxinus, tree. A single stem of red leaves defines the space on the righthand side.

Maureen arranged a lichen-encrusted branch, which is supported above a glass vessel on a stem fixed in a Kenzan. The fresh materials are Chrysanthemum  and ornamental Kale, Brassica oleracea.

Tess set some branches of, almost bare, Pomegranate at a steep angle creating a windswept look. The green material is Calistemon, and some white Narcissus provide a freshness in the centre of the work.

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In the garden is a semi-prostrate Cootamundra wattle, Acacia baileyana. I really like the arching branches and thought the silvery blue would go well in a tall vase by Pippin Drysdale, which has alternating fine lines of blue and red. The wattle should be flowering in the next four to six weeks and I wanted to use it without the bright yellow flowers. The colours in this photo are distorted because I took it in the twilight without using the flash.

My ikebana is a one-material ikebana using mass and line as the principal elements. The mass arising from the vase has lines that curve forward from the back and spill over on the left hand side. Unfortunately, the flattening effect of the photograph makes the forward curve less obvious. However, I was happy with the colour harmony between the vase and the material.

Greetings from Christopher.

26th June 2022

USING BARK

 

In my Geelong class, at the end of May, my student Jo brought some beautiful branches of pomegranate from her garden. Her class exercise was "Disassembling and Rearranging" the materials. I think this is one of several interesting exercises in the Sogetsu curriculum. It seems to me that this, along with other exercises, assists the student to develop the perspective necessary for creative design; that is, an ability to see plant materials as elements, independent from the forms of their natural growth, which are then able to be used as discrete components in a design. 

This particular exercise requires the student to cut the materials into component parts and then with those elements create a new design. 

Instead of arranging the beautiful branches in a natural way, they now tell a new story. Jo used the leaves, fruit and the branches as separated elements that suggest something different. The vessel lies on its side. On top are three Pomegranate fruit, one cut in half, with their stems projecting away to the back. A stream of leaves issues from the vessel, within which a single fruit can be partially seen.

The senior students' exercise was to make an ikebana with "repeating shapes and using two vessels". 

Ellie created rectangles with strong stems of Papyrus, Cyperus papyrus, and left the plumes of the inflorescence crowning the vertical lines. The rigid strength of the stems prevented any possibility of curves. Two vessels with red exteriors were echoed by a small cluster of red Nandina domestica.

Christine challenged herself by using three white vessels, each of which had a hole that went through the middle. The main material is Spear Grass, Xanthorrhoea, which has been used to create the main structure as well as linking the vessels. Green carnations and Gypsophila are used to make a focal point.

Tess developed an abstract design using circles cut from succulent leaves that were threaded onto skewers. She also added discs made from Pomegranate fruit to create a subtle red contrast. The straight green leaves give height to the design and, because they cross, link the two vessels.

 

Yesterday the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International held a photographic session in preparation for an online exhibition to take place later in the year. Nick Dale, a professional photographer, was engaged so that the resulting images would be of a consistent and high quality.

This process gave me an opportunity to use this vessel by the Victorian ceramic artist Petrus Spronk. The low temperature wood-fired burnished bowl is too delicate for me to use in public exhibition. This bowl is from a series that marked an evolution in Petrus' work in which he developed an Australian landscape reference, the tan-coloured line that runs around the vessel. I had this in my mind when I unexpectedly came across a piece of eucalyptus bark of the right colour and form. On further thinking I wanted to use other Australian native materials, some fresh green and and yellow. These I sourced in our garden, leaves of Banksia spinulosa and flowers of Banksia integrifolia. In the past I have always used Banksia flowers in a naturalistic way. However, my eyes were opened to a different view by Lennart Persson from Norway. He visited in 2016 and...

... created this beautiful contemporary ikebana when he joined one of my classes. I had lent him a vessel by my ikebana friend and ceramic artist Janet Keefe from Canada. Lennart massed the Banksia flowers and placed them to be seen from the 'top' so that they became a mass of circles. 

This photo was taken while I was absorbed in conversation with Nick about the elements of the design and lighting.

This is the finished work that I photographed, after Nick had made all the needed adjustments and taken his seriously high quality photo. I feel the final work speaks about the subtlety of the colours in the Australian landscape and I find the beautiful  sweeping movement of the bark very satisfying.

Greetings from Christopher 

19th June 2022

HAKEA and PAPER RIBBON

  

Over recent weeks some of my students have made ikebana that incorporated man-made materials or, in the Sogetsu School parlance, "Unconventional Materials". 

The first of these exercises that I set, at the beginning of May, was to 'incorporate "Unconventional Materials" in an ikebana made with fruiting branches'. I think the idea of incorporating "Unconventional Materials" encourages the student of Sogetsu Ikebana to start to think, perhaps unconsciously, about design principles that underlie the creation of their ikebana. This is because we are forced to look at line, form and texture, of the unconventional material; and that process becomes applied to botanical materials.

 

Eugenia used a small branch with a single lemon and some leaves as her principal material. It is contrasted with the irregular lines of some black wire. The materials set in the angular white vessel contrast boldly, but make a satisfying composition.

Margaret has used the autumnal feel of pomegranate fruit and yellowing leaves set in contrast with an intensely blue ceramic vessel. The strength of the fruit and the vessel is softened by the veil of white fabric.

Marcia also used pomegranate, off-setting the red of the fruit against her black vessel. The unconventional material is a sheet of chicken wire mesh that has been painted in several shades of orange and red. The mesh holds and partially conceals a pomegranate fruit within the vessel.

Maree had painted two small chopstick sculptures pink and purple and set them in this modern ikebana vessel with two Strelitzia flowers. By threading the flower stems through the sculptural forms they complement and contrast the colours in the flowers.

At the beginning of last week the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana held a workshop on the theme of 'Incorporating "Unconventional Material" in an autumn ikebana'. Given that the garden here at Torquay is lacking useable autumn leaves I had to think of alternatives. 

It was then that I noticed my neighbour's Pincushion Hakea,     H laurina. Having permission to 'help myself', I collected three small branches. 

The spherical inflorescences are wonderfully dramatic...

 ...and grow among a dense cluster of leaves. As can be seen in this photo they grow every which way. That is great for making a mass; however, it obscures the flowers. When it came to creating my ikebana I needed to to a lot of pruning. One of the additional beauties of this plant is that the leaves themselves are beautiful. They are stiff and have elegant curving lines.

The workshop was led by Akemi Suzuki. She provided the members with Japanese paper ribbon which came in a variety of colours. Akemi demonstrated a number of different ways the ribbon could be manipulated and used in Ikebana. 

I decided I wanted to emphasise the Hakea flower form and made a loosely-woven ball with the ribbon that sits on the left side of the conical metal vessel. The larger lines made with the ribbon create a space that 'holds' the botanical material. I have removed about 80% of the leaves to emphasise the flowing lines that create a sense of movement.

This link to the Victorian Branch website includes photos from the workshop. (You may need to scroll to 6th June 2022)

Greetings from Christopher

12th June 2022

NANDINA BERRIES

We are now officially in winter and the last week has certainly felt like it. This was especially the case on those couple of nights when the temperature came down to 3 degrees Centigrade. Also in the last week the "High Country" in the mountains on the east side of Victoria had their first snow falls for the year. I was particularly relieved that we did not get the predicted frost a few nights ago.

Today the morning was lovely, with bright sunshine. What a privilege to look out at this scene from our bathroom window. Although, I must admit that the sunshine was rather intermittent for the rest of the day.

At the end of autumn and beginning of winter, our garden has some fresh new growth. This above, was unexpected. Last year I savagely pruned the Cootamundra Wattle, Acacia baileyana, that grows by the garden path after it had flowered. I removed all the main branches and every last leaf. A few years ago I had discovered that it has been infested by the larvae of a moth which burrows down into the wood, progressively weakening the plant. I am afraid this growth, which looks so lovely, will have to be removed because the, now quite old tree will not survive the larvae infestation.

Elsewhere in the garden this Hairpin Banksia, Banksia Spinulosa, has produced a number of flowers. This tall straight flower, technically an inflorescence, (it is made up of a cluster of smaller flowers on a stem) is not yet fully open.

However on this one the "styles", which curve back into the flower, have fully opened, developing the characteristic hook that gives the plant its common name.

  

Nearby one of the Correas we planted two years ago has grown well and now has many of its dainty autumn flowers.

In the Torquay classroom in recent weeks the students were shown how to make small sculptural structures with chopsticks that can then be used in conjunction with their ikebana. These small sculptures are a quite versatile design element that can be used to create an unexpected contrast within the ikebana. It is important that such manmade "unconventional materials" are an integrated design element and not merely an added decoration to the finished ikebana.

Judy had painted her sculpture black, and set it in a tall white vase with a leaf-like fluted edge. The black provides a strong contrast to two yellow Asiatic lilies.

Coralie's structure was left unpainted which picked up the straw colour of the spathes on her bamboo from which some leaves had been removed. She also added a single stem of Cyperus Papyrus and some red Nandina domestica 'nana' leaves as a contrast.

Róża also left the sculpture unpainted. She has placed it around and above a strong red cylindrical vase. This placement allows the structure to also perform a supporting function for the botanical material, Pincushion Hakea, H. laurina.

At a subsequent class of my Torquay students the exercise I set was to make an ikebana using two vessels. Additionally the students were then to make a design of repeated shapes using their plant material. I had encouraged the students to use leaf material for the exercise.

  

Marta, has used a single Monstera leaf which she split into two halves, placing each half into seperate vessels, unfortunately a bit difficult to see in this photo. She also created curving and looping lines with variegated New Zealand Flax.

Coralie, used three Gymea Lily, Doryanthes, leaves which she formed into angular shapes. These are contrasted with Dietes leaves that have been manipulated into curving lines.

Róża, made her design of triangles and angular lines with Umbrella grass, Cyperus alternifolius. The pattern made with manipulated stems is contrasted with a single rosette of leaves left in its natural state.

At a recent class my student Maureen offered me a large bunch of Nandina berries which I happily accepted. We have this Nandina is growing in our garden. However, it grows slowly in the sandy soil and has only produced tiny berries on a couple of occasions. Maureen's bunches of berries were very healthy and a wonderful bright red. So cheerful in the wintery weather.

I have set the Nandina berries with a fading autumnal Hydrangea flower and two Coastal Sword Sedge, Lepidosperma gladiatum, leaves. The large black lacquered vessel is by Hiroyasu Takizawa. I chose this vessel because of its dark colour which contrasts well with the principal subject, the red berries. The equally strong form of the vessel is very dominating. So I have massed the botanical materials and kept them low, their height being less than half that of the vessel.

 

Greetings from Christopher

5th June, 2022