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AUTUMN COLOURS

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Back in Torquay, after our brief trip to Tokyo last week, Autumn weather has arrived with warm, windless, sunny days and cooler nights. During the week we visited the Lorne Sculpture Biennale, this year titled 'Landfall'. I was intrigued by the simplicity of this work below, sited on the beach. Re-cycled timbers from the Rosebud pier were fixed between two curving steel beams.


It looks warped by the sun and sea...



...and distorts perspective from this angle.



The other work that I particularly liked was 'Couta Memory', a couta boat shaped void created within 19 vertically-placed marine plywood pannels. Follow the links to some interesting information.



This sculptural work was sited at the end of the Lorne pier.

The cool nights have brought an Autumn colour change in the garden.


The ornamental grape vine on the pergola was the first to colour.


I was surprised to see a frond of the Nandina glowing in the sunshine. This is the first time that the it has coloured so evenly. I will be watching to see if more of it changes colour. 



At this stage the hydrangea, that came from Laurie's family home, is only coloured on the leaf margins.



The flowers which have suffered from heat stress during the summer are only lightly coloured so far. I decided to choose the best of them for this week's ikebana in fear that they may deteriorate before too long.


I arranged them in a tall white porcelain vase with some stems from the Strelitzia juncea



Here it is against a plain background.

Unfortunately this year I missed the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. However, my colleague Helen Marriott took some excellent photos of the award wining Ikebana International exhibit.

See also Emily Karanikolopoulos blog for photos of her demonstration on the last day of the MIFGS. 

Greetings from Christopher
1st April 2018

The blue hypertext links to additional information.

FADING MATERIALS

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Last week we went to Wagga Wagga in south central New South Wales, to visit our friend Janet, who took us to the National Art Glass Collection at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery. She had taken us there on an earlier visit and it was certainly worth another look. 

"...The collection was first established by the former director of the Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery, Judy Le Lievre in response to a request by the Australia Council for regional galleries to develop as specialised collections to avoid duplication and competition..." (Wikipedia)


This photo shows a small installation of, mostly, clear glass vessels against a window with a shallow pool beyond. A quite playful placement of everyday objects.


This mobile of delicate glass hemispheres  was created by an artist who stated that the 'lacy' appearance of the objects referenced her Irish ancestry. There was something quite hypnotic about the gentle movement of this installation.


When we came home I noticed the last few scabiosia flowers from last summer. They reminded me of the form of the objects in the mobile,...


...delicate lacy hemispheres.


I also found a broken branch of Broom systisus scoparius. a significant plant in the garden because it had been struck from a bush in my parents' garden.

I decided these fading materials should be given new life as the subject of this week's ikebana.



I have caught the tips of the broom branchlets together and arched them in an ikebana vase. I have then used the stems as a hana kubari, a support created from botanical materials, to hold the scabiosa flowers in place, thus avoiding the need for a kenzan. The porcelain vessel  is by Hiroe Swen, the Canberra based ceramic artist.    

Greetings from Christopher
8th April 2018


COLOUR of the VASE

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As I write this post on Saturday morning, some showers have arrived with very strong winds. The rain is a great relief for the garden as we have had a very dry summer. Our 13,500L rainwater tank, which I have been using for the garden, is nearly empty.  



A couple of days ago I noticed some large cracks in the ground beside the road in front of the house. These form in extra dry weather because about 60cm below the ground surface is solid clay, which shrinks considerably when it is dry. Such are the conditions that make growing of exotic plants difficult in our garden. 

One of life's lessons is to accept the realities of what is going to grow in the circumstances of our gardens in spite of being drawn to the exotic, and to enjoy the unique beauty to be found there.



Here is an unexpected bit of beauty I came across yesterday. It is the well camouflaged cocoon of a case moth that usually feeds on eucalyptus and native cypress species. It also likes silver birch and pinus species apparently. I haven't noticed one for a long time and it took me back to childhood memories of finding them in my parents' garden.


One success I have had with exotic plant species in the last year is this variegated miscanthusthat was given to me by my ikebana colleague Margaret Leung. It has flourished because I have kept it in a well watered pot in a protected position. To the left in the background you can see an autumn- coloured hydrangea. 

Taking inspiration from an Ohara School ikebana colleague, Sally Wilkinson, I decided to use the same materials in this week's ikebana.


This is my first version in the living room niche. My intention was to focus on the autumn colours, in the hydrangea flower and in the margins of the large leaf on the right hand side. They are vey close to the maroon of the traditional-shaped vase. However, I concluded that the miscanthus was too dominant, distracting from the main subject.


My solution was to lower the miscanthus by cutting it into shorter sections, and creating more space between the two hydrangea heads. The leaf is a little further forward and is better shown. This ikebana arrangement is one way to interpret the Sogetsu curriculum theme, 'Taking into account the colour of the vase'

Greetings from Christopher
14th April 2018

DRIED PALM

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The rain I mentioned in last week's posting was indeed welcome. However, we are now waiting for further follow-up rain to keep the ground moist.

In the meantime the world of ikebana continues to be busy. On Monday last I attended a Sogetsu Branch workshop led by the sisters-in-law Toula and Betty Karanikolopoulos. They are both long- standing members of our branch and were also students of my first Sogetsu teacher, Carlyne Patterson. 

The theme of the workshop was to make some ikebana using dried materials from palm trees. Wikipedia tells me that there are around 2600 species of palm. I am fairly confident that the only Australian native palm that grows in Victoria is the 'Cabbage Tree' palm, Livistona australis. The dried parts of palms that were used were the: inflorescence (fruiting stems), the flower-covering spathes and the fronds, often the broad part of the frond which attaches to the trunk. 


This photo, taken in a Queensland garden, shows the inflorescence of an exotic species of palm just starting to open.


The same inflorescence a couple of days later.



And a close-up of the fruit forming.



Two spathes showing front and back, from my garage collection.



A very dusty old inflorescence...




...and close-up.

Below is the work of four of my students who attended the workshop.


Ellie Welkamp 
    

Eugenia Chudacek


Helen Novic


Robyn Unglik.

Follow this link to the entry on the Sogetsu Victorian Branch website to see more photos from the workshop.

Greetings from Christopher
22nd April 2018



THE BEAUTY OF BROWN

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On Saturday of last week I attended an Ikebana International workshop in Melbourne led by Lara Telford, one of the Sogetsu teachers in our Chapter. Lara chose a rather interesting theme. Her focus was colour and specifically colours traditionally used in Japan in a variety of contexts. The colours were red, blue, brown, green, purple, gold and silver. The context of colour use includes: ceramics, fabrics for clothing and other uses (cotton, hemp and silk), furniture, lacquer-ware, paper, woodblock printing, building decoration (interior and exterior) and more.

Lara gave a presentation about the cultural, historical and symbolic significance of the colours as used in various crafts. The choice of this theme was clever, given that the different schools each have their own approach and emphasis in the creation of ikebana. By focusing on colour the participants were able to maintain the stylistic approach of their school yet think about colour from a different point of view.

The participants were allocated a colour in advance of the workshop and I was given brown. I quietly cursed this allocation under my breath thinking "how am I going to manage to do this?". There are some beautiful terracotta and tawny brown chrysanthemums. But none in our garden, only a rather dead looking sedum. As I wandered around searching for something with a little promise I noticed...



...the bark on this Angophora Costata. This is a tree related to the eucalypts and coming from the eastern seaboard of New South Wales and southern Queensland.


The bark is a rich warm rusty-brown that becomes lighter and greyish over the course of the year. In our garden it flakes off in the Summer in large, thick, slightly brittle pieces. The exercise had caused me to look at this material differently.


At the workshop I arranged the bark with, now pale straw-coloured, dried agapanthus flower-heads and a sprig of camellia leaves in a dark blue modern vase. The brown and blue combination made me think of seeing those colours in Japanese fabrics, especially indigo dyed Noren (curtains) and furoshiki (wrapping cloths). I do not have experience in working with bark as an ikebana material. However, having been forced out of my comfort zone I feel encouraged to try it again.

More images are available in the 'Colours of Japan' workshop.

Greetings from Christopher
28th April 2018

WALL or BOWL

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A couple of weeks ago I managed to catch these two sulphur-crested cockatoos drinking at the bird bath. These large birds have a raucous call and a flock can be quite rowdy. One of the things about them that surprises me is that in the wild they are very wary and obviously don't trust humans. This pair flew away when they noticed me photographing them from inside the house through a window, even though I must have been at least 15 metres away. 

Behind the birds you can see the vivid green leaves of a strelitzia nicolai that had been ravaged, along with most of the succulents in the garden, by a rare frost that occurred last July.


I was especially relieved when it put forth a green leaf shoot somewhat later in the year and is now clearly on the path to recovery. 
When I return home by car I pass a house that has a large s. nicolai at the front gate. Recently I noticed a yellowing leaf hanging low with the afternoon sun coming through it causing it to glow. Having asked permission from the owner, I cut the large leaf to make the Sogetsu curriculum exercise 'An arrangement with plants on a wall'.



The leaf was large and bold with a beautiful pronounced curve. I added some dried 'Honesty' lunaria annuato give a colour and textual contrast that would complement the leaf. I have photographed it against a grey backdrop rather than our light coloured wall.

From ikebana hanging on a wall, now to a completely different approach where the vessel is a dominant element in the design. 

Late in 2016 I bought a bowl made by the ceramic artist Greg Daly who, in recent years, has experimented extensively with lustre glazes. I loved the brilliant yellow of the bowl with its contrasting turquoise pattening.


The first time I used the bowl I simply made a low mass with three blue Dutch Irises, iris x hollandica set low in the bowl. 



My next experiment was with an unknown small orange flower which has leaves that look a bit like freesia.



My third experiment with the bowl was at a recent class where the exercise was to make an arrangement with Irises. Because of our extra warm, dry autumn, the only ones available at the time were Dutch irises from a florist. This time I added a single line to the mass using a Cape Iris Dietes iridioides leaf.

Greetings from Christopher
4th May 2018

AUTUMN ARRANGEMENT with POMEGRANATE

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We have a new winter flowering plant in our garden. I have been nursing it in a pot for a couple of months waiting until we get the first of the autumn rain.


This is an Australian native flower from the south west of Western Australia called Isopogon cuneatusand known commonly as a 'Drumstick' flower, because of its straight stem and globular head. 

'Known commonly' is not the same as 'commonly known'. I for one must admit I had never heard of it before and do not remember seeing it either. The plant was a gift from my ikebana friend Trish. It has only been in the ground for a few weeks and the first of its flowers has now started to open.


Interestingly, it is not a single flower but actually an inflorescence made up of many small rather strange tubular flowers that have a bright yellow 'pistol' (I think), which seems to start yellow then turns red.



In the past week the weather has become much colder producing stronger autumn colours.The richest colour in the garden has been the reds of the Boston IvyParthenocissus tricuspidata... 



...fallen leaves gathered here at the bottom of the steps...



...and the Nandina domestica. This year for the first time whole leaves have coloured evenly on a frond. 

I was very pleased to have the nandina to take to last weeks Ikebana International meeting as the theme was 'Autumn Grasses in a basket'. I had the 'Autumn' and 'basket' parts but not the grasses.



This is the arrangement I made using the Nandina, begonia coccinea and two pomegranate fruits given to me by my ikebana teacher Elizabeth. This is a freestyle autumn arrangement and I was pleased for the opportunity to use these materials together. However, I think it is technically incorrect to use such heavy pomegranate fruit in a basket.



This is the same arrangement re-worked at home in a tall ceramic vase where the visual balance works better.



The white porcelain vase with iron oxide splashes is by the Dandenong Ranges potter Arnaud Barraud. Photos from the meeting are on the I.I. Melbourne blog.

Greetings from Christopher
13th May 2018

MASS and LINE

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At a class last week I set some students the exercise of making an ikebana arrangement in which they create a mass which is contrasted with a single line. I gave a quick demonstration using some dried materials that have been sitting in the garden. 


To create the mass I used the, now dried, heads of agapanthus that I had used in an Ikebana International exhibition in March. In this Sogetsu School exercise the mass must be made by the ikebanist and not merely be a single large flower head like a hydrangea. Therefore if using globular materials to make the mass a minimum of two must be used.


The second element of the exercise is line. I chose this naturally dried, unknown weed. It has multiple branches so I thought it would be a good example of creating an interesting line by extensive pruning.



This was the final result made with some very quick pruning and assembling in the classroom. The students then set about their own work, producing very different looking ikebana arrangements with a variety of materials.


Helen made a mass of echium leaves and used a single line of fuschia.


Rhonda has used an agave-like leaf for her line and rosettes of a succulent for the mass.


Kim chose a long branch with some attractive lichen and used three creamy bourbon roses for his mass.


Val has used a single cordyline leaf for her line and chrysanthemum and eucalyptus buds for her mass. 


When I came home I reversed and re-set my ikebana and added two camellia leaves into the mass to give a feeling of freshness. The egg shaped ceramic vessel is from Seto City in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

Greeting from Christopher 
20th May 2018





AN EMPHASIS ON LINES

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When selecting recent photographs for this week's blog posting, I was struck by the coincidence of line dominating the ikebana works. They are from two different classes and are examples of four separate exercises from the Sogetsu curriculum.

The first class was in Geelong with my students who are working at a variety of levels within the curriculum.


Helen made two ikebana arrangements on the theme of 'mass and line', in which these two design elements are contrasted. In the first instance she has used a single arum lily contrasted with the mass of three camellias and their leaves. I encouraged Helen to exaggerate the already existing slight curve in the lily stem.



In her second example, Helen has used a dried palm leaf base. It has been contrasted with a mass composed of autumn-coloured oak leaves. The colour and texture of the leaves are sufficiently robust to work well with the strong appearance of the dried palm.



Alana's exercise was to 'make a surface using lines'. She has stripped leucadendron stems and inserted them in a kenzan. They start as a column and then flatten out becoming parallel lines that form a flat surface toward the top of the arrangement.  She finished off the arrangement with a naturally curving line, creating a low space on the left side that helps balance the work.



Tess was set the exercise of 'taking into account the shape of the vessel'. Her principal lines are placed at an acute angle creating tension with the vase, a souvenir from Ethiopia. Tess has curled some of the leaves echoing the lines on the neck of the vase. 

The second class was with my own teacher Elizabeth. 


We were given the exercise of creating an ikebana arrangement expressing movement. This photo shows my ikebana re-set at home. I have used Sword Sedge (lepidosperma gladiatum) leaves in a modern stainless steel vase. The curving lines sweep toward the right creating a sense of movement in that direction.

Greetings from Christopher, 
posting late on Sunday 27th May 2018


Mr UMEMURA'S WORKSHOPS

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Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed flowers forming on the newly planted Senna artemisioidesIt is native to Western Australia and areas of the centre of Australia. It is said to be wide-spread across the continent. However, it is another plant that I have not seen before, at least not in a suburban garden. 

The flowers remind me of the highly fragrant Brown Boronia boronia megastigma. Both plants have small bell-like flowers, although Senna artemisioides seems to have five petals against four in Boronia. 


This plant was given to me by my ikebana friend, Trish, along with the 'Drumstick' flower, Isopogon cuneatus that I reported on three weeks ago. I am pleased to observe that it has started flowering about a month ahead of the acacia baileyana that grows along the garden path. I wonder whether this will become a seasonal pattern.

We have just entered winter, with the autumn being declared the driest on record in many places. It certainly seems so in our garden.

Last weekend the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School welcomed Mr Yoshiro Umemura on his annual visit from Sydney to give workshops to our members. Mr Umemura is the most senior and experienced Sogetsu teacher in Australia. He studied Sogetsu ikebana in Japan and subsequently worked for many years alongside Norman Sparnon in Australia.  

The theme of his first workshop was to create an arrangement in which a triangle, circle and square are incorporated. 


These geometric symbols were used in ink brush painting by the 18th century Zen Buddhist monk, Sengai. Their symbolic value includes that they can be read as a representation of the universe.


This is my work in which I have made triangles with coastal sword sedge, used five dried sunflower heads for their circular shape and arranged them in an almost square vase.

On the Australian Sogetsu Teachers Association, New South Wales Branch website there is a page showing an excellent example by Mr Umemura of this exercise. It is the sixth photo on that page.

The second workshop was to make an arrangement expressing an emotion. 



The emotion I chose was calmness or serenity. I have placed a large branch of driftwood across a celadon-glazed platter and added some blue Dutch Iris, iris x hollandica. They are held in place by the driftwood so that no kenzan was necessary and the surface of the water remained clear.

More photos from the workshops are on the Victorian Branch website.

On Monday 4th June the Branch is setting up its annual exhibition at the Hawthorn Arts Centre. If you are in Melbourne please visit the exhibition; see the information below.

Greetings from Christopher
2nd June 2018.


Sogetsu School of Ikebana
Victorian Branch
Annual Exhibition

Tuesday 5th June to Wednesday 13th June
9.00 am - 5.00 pm Monday to Friday
11.00 am - 4.00 pm Saturday and Sunday

Foyer of the Hawthorn Arts Centre
360 Burwood Rd Hawthorn


Ikebana by Robyn Unglik
www.sogetsuikebana.weebly.com
victoriasogetsu@gmail.com




VICTORIAN BRANCH ANNUAL EXHIBITION

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Much of this last week has been taken up with the annual exhibition of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana Victorian Branch. This year our exhibition is being held in the foyer space of the Hawthorn Arts Centre, a community Arts Hub that has been created in one of the old Town Halls remaining after the amalgamation of smaller suburban city councils in 1994.

As the Director of the Victorian Branch I am indebted to many of my ikebana colleagues, especially those who have given their time and talents to represent the great variety of individual styles inherent in Sogetsu Ikebana. Their names are to be seen with their ikebana under the Annual Exhibitions tab on our website. Lara Telford provided an engaging and informative public demonstration at the official opening. I also need to acknowledge the assistance of the senior curator Ms Elle Groch and the Arts Centre staff. Additionally I particularly wish to acknowledge Kaye Wong, Head of the Ichiyo School, for her organisational skills in arranging the delivery of the plinths following re-painting. Lastly, thanks to Robyn Unglik for her calm management through the unexpected difficulties of building maintenance activities in the exhibition space.

Now specifically to my ikebana. In the week immediately prior to the exhibition I suddenly threw out my previous ideas when I noticed that the apricot tree in the garden needed to be pruned. I immediately realised that these beautiful branches were perfect for a freestanding 'no kenzan' arrangement.


Being winter here, dutch iris are available and they have tall enough stems to be supported by the high intersecting branches. At the beginning of the exhibition the blue tips of the flowers were visible, promising something for the future.


Three days later the flowers were fully opened, declaring their beauty to the world.

If you haven't already done so I recommend following the link to the Annual Exhibition of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana.


Greetings from Christopher
10th June 2018




USEFUL PRUNINGS

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A couple of days ago we walked along the Torquay Surf Beach when the tide was higher than usual. The southerly wind added height to the waves and the day was bright but cold. 

   

The weather has turned very wintery. Last night we could not avoid noticing the gale-force winds and intermittent rain squalls. So I was very pleased that I had done some pruning in the garden yesterday in the morning. 

The Cecil Brunner rose and the hydrangeas have been reduced to sticks. However, I am sure they will bounce back in the spring. The hydrangea had one small, late-flowering, pale blue/mauve bloom and some very beautifully coloured leaves. The strong, but light, stems with autumnal leaves looked like good ikebana material. I decided to use them in a vase with lines in shades of blue and a rich rust red.


First I needed to create a 'Y' shaped 'cross-bar fixture', for which I used the end of a branching stem from the apricot tree.



Here it is carefully wedged across the inside of this fairly thin-walled vase. This system should never be used with heavy stems, because of the inherent risk of breaking a thin-walled vase when wedging the cross-bar. By leaving some of the side branches I was able to support the principal stems within the triangle created on the left hand side.



Here is the completed arrangement in the niche in the living room. Not a good photograph because of the shadows created by the spotlighting.



This version on a white background worked better. The vase is by the Western Australian ceramic artist, Pippin Drysdale.

You may also like to look at the photos from Tuesday's Ikebana International meeting.

Greetings from Christopher
17th June 2018

UMBRELLA GRASS

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We have just passed mid-winter's day this week and I thought I'd remind you about the other end of the year.


This photo of the beach was taken at the beginning of January. The next one was taken last Sunday.


We had strong southerly winds and the tide was high.



This is 'Bird rock' at the western end of the beach. It is about 4 metres high. In the summer people leap off the right-hand tip into the deep pool below.


Mid-winter's day was bright and sunny so Laurie and had a walk in the near by nature reserve, Iron Bark Basin. Notice that he is wearing thick gloves, in spite of the sunshine.


We were delighted to see this clump of Pink Heath, Epacris Impressathe floral emblem of the state of Victoria.


This is one of two carnivorous plants that grow locally. I think this is drosera peltata, subspecies auriculata. A tall-growing stem bears many round 'ear-like' disks with filaments that produce sticky 'sun dew' which is attractive to insects that become caught and then absorbed by the plant.


This rosette shaped form is possibly Drosera aberrans...



...which often grows in colonies.

And so to ikebana. On Monday I attended a Sogetsu workshop given by Emily Karanikolopoulos on the subject of techniques for working with umbrella grass, cyperus alternifolius, stems. I have this plant growing in the pond in the conservatory as it is 'semi-aquatic'. The stems are certainly useful in ikebana when straight lines and interesting angles are desired. 

Emily showed us how to wire the stems to keep them together to make a surface out of parallel lines. It was a slow process and the vase I had at the time was too big for the triangular structure I had made.



I therefore re-assembled and finished off the arrangement at home, after the workshop. Here is how it looked in a compote-style ikebana vase with the addition of two iris flowers.

More photos are to be seen at Emily's Umbrella Grass workshop.

Greetings from Christopher
23rd June 2018

ASPECTS OF MASS

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In recent weeks some of my students had exercises that included or resulted in the creation of mass. I was interested to see the variety of ways mass can be created and thought I would share a couple of examples with you.


This first example is by Tess and is the text book 3 exercise of 'Massed expression'. Tess has used the leaves of Brachychiton Acerfolius, commonly known as the Illawarra Flame Tree, and gently interwoven them to make an abundant mass spilling over the side of the vessel. Peeping from behind is a second mass of Paper Narcissus, narcissus papyraceus.


The next example is by Helen. The exercise I set her was 'Using Glass Vessels' from Book 5 of the Sogetsu curriculum. She has used just two leaves and a yellow 'Pompom' chrysanthemum. Arranging inside a glass vessel is difficult because, among other things, the materials often look much bigger. Helen has skillfully reduced the size of these Prayer Plant, maranta leuconeuraleaves by cutting them in half down the length of the central vein. When I looked carefully at her work it seemed also to be an example of an arrangement incorporating line and mass.


On the theme of mass and line here is an arrangement I made in the early Spring of last year. I have used a creamy-yellow Callistemonfrom the garden. The black vase by Greg Daly has a gold and silver leaf decoration that accentuates the flower colour.

Greetings from Christopher
30th June 2018

WNTER BLOSSOM

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The last couple of days have been quite wintery here, with strong cold winds and some rain. In our garden the middle of winter is signalled by the blossoming of two plants in particular. The Cootamundra wattle acacia baileyana and the Japanese Flowering Quince Chaenomeles.



I took the photo above of the acacia today in the late afternoon sun. It is not there yet. I think it will be a further week or two before the tree is in full bloom.



However, when I went looking, I found these five small balls of blossom fully opened.



This is Joan's white flowering quince. I noticed last Wednesday that it had a small group of three flowers open on an otherwise bare looking bush. Something to look forward to in a few weeks.



The red flowering quince, which is in a more exposed part of the garden, had its first flower open about three weeks ago. Today there were a couple of larger branches that had enough flowers to make an arrangement suitable for tomorrows' guests.  


To make this ikebana I have used three branches, two large and one small. I have placed the second and third stems behind the one which extends to the right so that the whole arrangement appears to be a single branch. The third stem is the very small one in the middle, which leans to the back.



When I positioned the work in the living room niche I bent the finer stems inward so that the arrangement did not flow too far to the side. As I have mentioned in the past, these beautiful flowers evoke childhood memories for me. The parents of my oldest friend had an orchard and toward the end of winter large branches of apple blossom were arranged on the mantle shelf. I hope these bring you joy. 

The ceramic vessel is from Seto City one of the 'Six Ancient Kilns' of Japan . I think the style of this vessel is not actually a characteristic of Seto ware but rather a reproduction of a style from elsewhere in Japan. The shape and surface has the character of a cast iron vessel.

Greetings from Christopher
8th July 2018

MELLOW YELLOW

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Last week I showed some photos of winter blossom in our garden, including some wattle that was just coming into bloom. Over the past week I have noticed more wattle on the roadside and in gardens around the town. At this time of year the wattle is very eye catching because trees are transformed by masses of golden yellow blossom.


This particular cascade of yellow-gold is of a Cootamundra Wattle acacia baileyana. It is not in our garden but... 



...on a front fence in the township.

It was the focus material of an arrangement by my student Kim. We were given a large amount of prunings from a Manchurian Pear pyrus ussuriensis by the management of the community facility where we hold the classes.


This is the arrangement he made. The bare branch had a really strong character and Kim has contrasted it with a small somewhat delicate mass of acacia baileyana.


This photo shows the delicate blue-gray leaves of the tree. It helps explain the drama of the transformation from blue-grey to yellow-gold.



I was surprised to notice this Golden Wattle acacia pycnanthaby the roadside as it is blooming rather early. Because this is a very young plant the trunk is smooth and covered with a grey-white powdery 'bloom'. It makes a very strong contrast to the blossom and leaves.



The flowers are larger than the Cootamundra wattle and a stronger yellow...



...and the large leaves are green, not blue-grey.


For my ikebana I have re-used the branches of my 'no kenzan' arrangement from the Sogetsu exhibition of six weeks ago and added acacia pycnantha. To this I have added contrasting green lines of sedge leaves lepidosperma gladiatum, giving a swirling movement to the work.

Greetings from Christopher
15th July 2018.

IKEBANA INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY WORKSHOP

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On a cold winter's day with bright sunshine, surfing at Bell's Beach was the thing to do. We enjoyed the spectacle from the cliff top, rugged up in our coats with caps and gloves to keep us warm. 



This is for Kenichi Wada, who spent some time on the Gold Coast a few years ago.


In recent postings I have shown the progress of various wattles coming into bloom. Laurie caught me ducking my head under the Cootamundra wattle that cascades over the garden path. The weight of the blossom causes the branches to bend considerably lower at this time of year. It is almost in full bloom.

Yesterday, Ikebana International held its second weekend workshop for this year. The leader of the workshop was Mrs Yukako Braun, the head of the Ikenobo School in Melbourne. The theme for Yukako's workshop was 'Freestyle' ikebana focusing on shape. The participants were sent some photographs of arrangements demonstrating the following basic forms: Circle, triangle, square, vertical, horizontal, slanting, cascading and gathering.

I decided that the theme of a square shape would be interesting. It was an opportunity to contrast the geometric lines that can be made with 'umbrella grass' and the natural lines of Japanese Flowering Quince Chaenomeles, which is flowering in the garden at the moment.


As you can see my 'squares' are rather rectangular and a bit out of shape. I ran out of time and was not able to encourage the top left corner to make a 'right angle'. 

The photo was taken after the critique. At the critique Yukako commented that, from an Ikenobo perspective, the more naturalistic elements of an arrangement should harmonise with the 'creative' freestyle aspect. Therefore in this case the branches of the Flowering Quince should be bent at angles to harmonise with the shapes made by the umbrella grass. This has been done to some extent in the photographed work. I think the principal branch is altogether too stiff and straight and was therefore a poor choice of branch on my part. It was really interesting to participate in the workshop and listen to Yukako's introductory presentation as well as the critique. Next week I will provide a link to the Ikebana International blog when it is published.

In the mean time if you are in Melbourne between Tuesday next 24th and Sunday 30th visit the Ikebana International Exhibition at the  Level One foyer, Sofitel Melbourne on Collins.

Greetings from Christopher 
22nd July 2018






SHAPES FROM THE WORKSHOP

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What a difference a week makes. 


This is the photo posted last week with the Acacia Baileyana  cascading low over the garden path. As I had suspected it came into full bloom this week...


...and hung even lower. It is really most spectacular and fairly glows in the bright sunlight.

Also last week I mentioned the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International had a Saturday workshop focusing on 'Shape' in freestyle ikebana. The workshop was led by Yukako Braun, the Head of the Ikenobo School in Melbourne. Some of her students had prepared examples of ikebana to demonstrate the concepts. These first two examples have a circular form, but very different expressions.


In this arrangement, made by Angela Chau, the materials are arranged naturalistically.


Yukako's own example was a large arrangement with a generous expanding feeling. Her arrangement is 'creative', as distinct from naturalistic, with the materials arranged emphasising surface, lines and the focal point of the flowers.


Julie Ayers' arrangement was also 'creative', emphasising repeated triangular forms.


Bill Riches has made a naturalistic 'vertical' arrangement. In Sogetsu terms this is very similar to a 'double shin' arrangement. The double shin form is also one of the many forms of Rikka. If you click on the link you will see that it obviously takes a master, and many hands, to create such a work. The two halves are separated by a narrow space and each half must have the requisite number of lines to make a complete rikka in itself.


Last week I showed the arrangement I made at the workshop using the 'square' form. This arrangement, above, extends the idea more clearly into three dimensions than last weeks arrangement. Also, the shapes I have made with the leaves are obviously rectangles. The materials are gymea lily doryanthes excelsaleaves and banksia integrifolia, in a ceramic suiban.


Greetings from Christopher
28th July 2018




SOME CONSTRUCTION WORK

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Oh dear, more wattle! This one is a little different. It is a semi-prostrate Acacia Baileyana, in our garden. Interestingly it is flowering a little later than the a. baileyana tree by the garden path.


This main part of the original plant is about 60 cms high.



In this close up you can see, at the top left side, how the branches have an arching growth. Similar to, but much smaller than, the growth pattern of a weeping mulberry.



Some branches of the plant have become completely prostrate, creeping under other plants and reappearing on the other side.



I suspect they will start arching again having reached full sun again.

In the last week of July the annual exhibition of Ikebana International Melbourne Chapter was held at the Sofitel in the city. I participated, making a structural ikebana using some of the Manchurian Pear pyrus ussuriensis prunnings that my students and I had been given.  



This is what caught my eye when I saw them lying on the ground. I loved the multiple parallel lines and the small light grey highlight of the velvety leaf buds.



The stems also had a very interesting patterning that reminded me of other stone fruit trees, like cherry. With the chance of having such a lot of the material I immediately wanted to create an abstract style ikebana that would emphasise the linear form of the branches. 

I decided to use a large ceramic vessel made by Graeme Wilkie of Qdos Gallery. It is a 'half pillow' form that he developed in 2007.


In 2008 I made this large sculptural ikebana using three of them in an exhibition at Qdos. After the exhibition I acquired the vessel on the left in this photo. To make the new sculptural ikebana for the I.I. annual exhibition, I arranged the majority of the branches horizontally supported on a single oblique branch. Doing so emphasises the parallel lines. If I had arranged them vertically, to most people, they would look like a row of trees.


The technique I used to secure the branches was to drill through them where two branches touched. I then inserted a bamboo skewer from the kitchen as a dowel which I glued into place.


Here is the finished work to which I have added a mass of Cushion Bush leucophyta brownii, which penetrates the plane made by the horizontal branches.

More images of the exhibition are at: Ikebana International Melbourne Chapter Annual Exhibition.

Greetings from Christopher
4th August 2018

THE SURF COAST ARTS TRAIL

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This weekend has seen an annual arts event promoted by our local Surf Coast Shire. This is the local government council in which my home town of Torquay is situated. The event is the Surf Coast Arts Trail. Over the weekend artists and art groups in the Shire open their studios and class rooms to the general public to show-case their work. 

This year, at sixty-five locations around the shire, a huge variety of arts and crafts have been on display. My local ikebana class has again been one of the participant groups in the event.

     
In the couple of months before the Arts Trail I noticed that this Manchurian Pear, pyrus ussuriensis at the Lions Village was due to be pruned. A request to the Manager meant that my class was given permission to have the prunings, from which we could make our sculptural ikebana. The unexpected gift of the prunings turned out to provide a theme and visual coherence to the small exhibition.


Kim used just two branches and no fresh material in his work. The elegant lines are held in place by very tall, 60 - 70cm, glass vase.


Giana has also inverted a branch to emphasise the lines where the branches separate from the main stem. She has added two large flowers of Banksia Praemorsa, from her own garden.


Róża has placed her branches upright in a red painted bamboo vase, emphasising the vertical lines. She also used Banksia Praemorsa flowers and a small group of leaves.


Val has placed her principal branch across the top of her tall rectangular vase. It has been secured by discreet wiring to the smaller branch on the right, which is stabilised on the table surface. She has added Banksia Coccinea as a focal point.


Rhonda has used a hand-built ceramic vase with a very narrow opening. The branch has been secured across the vase using a vertical fixture. She has also used Banksia Coccinea as her focal point.


Well, this will look familiar to readers who have seen last week's posting. I have re-used my exhibition piece from the Ikebana International Exhibition in Melbourne. Before transporting this structure home to Torquay (100km) I did have to remove the Cushion Bush leucophyta brownii and then re-attach it again. I was pleased to be able to photograph the work against a plain background and front-on rather than at an angle, as was the case at the exhibition.

Next week Roadside Ikebana will come to you from somewhere on the train between Vancouver and Toronto, as Laurie and I are heading to Canada for a few weeks' holiday. My posting could be even later than this week as apparently there is no wifi on 'The Canadian' (train).

Till then, greetings from
Christopher
12th August 2018.


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