ROADSIDE IKEBANA

On Friday I attended the first of three Sogetsu Victoria Branch workshops that were led by Yoshiro Umemura from Sydney. Mr Umemura is a very popular, senior ikebana artist and teacher who, from when he first came to Australia in 1986, worked continuously with the late Norman Sparnon until his death in 1995.

The first of the workshops had the following theme: create an ikebana work that '...some would say, "You can't do that."...'. This is an interesting and perhaps slightly contradictory challenge, because freedom of expression for the individual ikebanist is encouraged in the Sogetsu School. We remember that our founder, Sofu Teshigahara, said that ikebana should be able to be made 'anywhere, by anyone, using any material'. The caveat, of course, is that the person has to have had an appropriate level of training.

This is the demonstration example that Mr Umemura made at the start of the workshop. He had made three almost circular shapes from disposable bamboo forks by glueing the tines together. After fixing them into a circular vase he then added fresh materials. Firstly green tortuous willow stems to make lines and, for a colour focus, petals from a bright red gerbera which he scattered on the moistened shapes. In this demonstration he was deliberately violating the idea that ikebana should not look like a work of 'handcraft'.

In thinking about this topic in advance I came up with a question that I had wondered about in the past. That is, how can one make a modern ikebana in a vessel that is profoundly historical in its form. I had in mind the classical bronze usubata vessels that I have only ever seen used for Rikka and Shoka arrangements. A couple of times I have seen people with no knowledge of ikebana buy such vessels as antique objects and then try to arrange flowers in them (with mixed or unconvincing results).

Interestingly, 18 months ago Laurie and I were given one such vase by a childhood friend of mine as a wedding present. My friend thought it was for burning incense. Now, I thought, I will have to see if I can find a way to make this work. In advance, my apologies to practitioners of the Ikenobo School for whom this vessel would have been made.

In my ikebana at the workshop I have used stems of Umbrella grass, cyperus alternifolius. I did three things that some people would say I should not do. The first is making a very spare, modern arrangement in a traditional vessel. The second is that I have deliberately placed some of the material on the table surface. The third is that I have made a reasonably close copy of an arrangement that Hiroshi Teshigahara made for one of the earliest printings of the third Sogetsu text book. His arrangement was illustrating the exercise of 'making a surface by massing lines'.

I was not displeased with the result. I am reminded of the way contrasts of modern and traditional aesthetics are successfully combined by greater artists than myself, such as the glass pyramid by I. M. Pei at the Louvre in Paris.

More photos from the workshop.

Greetings from Christopher
26th May 2019

Today I am continuing last week's subject, being the Sogetsu Victoria Branch workshops that were presented last weekend by Mr Umemura from Sydney.

The Saturday workshops were less controversial than the one I reported on last week. However, they were more challenging. One of the exercises prevented the participants from making any preparations. We were all asked to bring a vessel and some materials for an arrangement, which were then separated. Participants were allocated a vessel by drawing lots and then allocated materials, also by drawing lots. We were not permitted to keep materials that were brought with the vessel.

I was allocated a unique small handmade vessel by Kuninori Shimbo, with a rich glaze in brown tones. I think it may be a tenmoku glaze. The vessel is triangular in cross-section and about 20cm on its long side. It was designed so that it could be stood on one of its ends and had two openings. I was given a large variety of materials. However, because of the strong design of the vessel and its darkish colour, I decided to limit the materials I used.

This is my completed ikebana. I stripped the leaves from two stems of Leucadendron and added two clusters of red berries. The leucadendron provided lines that contrasted against the surface of the vessel while the berries provided a bright focus.

The other exercise on the day was a nageire arrangement using a vertical fixture. We were to arrange materials for the subject: 'autumn breeze'.

I think I got a little fixated on making sure my Shin (longest) line was the correct length in proportion to the vase. I had brought the straight materials on the left and the pomegranate from home, having picked them two days earlier. In looking at this now I think I am guilty of having two focal points, the pomegranate and the orange leaves. In which case the line on the left becomes distracting.

Back at home I re-worked the arrangement and feel much more satisfied with the result. It is a simpler arrangement and stronger for that simplicity.

Click here for more workshop photos.

Greetings from Christopher
1st June 2019

A couple of weeks ago we finally had some good rain after a very dry beginning to the year. In fact, for a whole week we had some rain on every day, which was most welcome.

The result of all that rain was the boardwalk along the mouth of Spring Creek at Torquay became flooded. Appearances are deceptive as Spring Creek, which has a small catchment area, is actually intermittent and only flows into the sea occasionally.

The sensation of walking across the water so close to the surface feels strange as we are more used to walking along the sand looking out to sea at the waves.

This view, back toward the sea, from further along the boardwalk shows the high level of the creek and the sand bar that stoped the water from flowing into the sea. A week after this photo was taken we had one night of very heavy rain and the sand bar was broken through...

...leaving very little water and a large expanse of sand.

Now when the tide is high it flows up the creek for about 300 metres, and then out again at low tide. That is until the next storm that washes in enough sand to create another sand bar.

The welcome rain has turned the dry grasses green and brought a flock of Galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla) to feed on grass roots on this playing field .

In the garden we have been blessed with a visit by some Gang-gang cockatoos (Calocephalon frimbiatum) which were feeding on the flowers in a eucalyptus. We are indeed blessed to be able to enjoy these riches of nature.

When I turn to my practise of ikebana I am again drawn to the variety of nature's beauty. But when I do, I engage with it in a quite direct way. For example, last week I attended a class with my teacher Elizabeth. Our exercise was to make an ikebana arrangement using two vessels. Following Elizabeth's example when she set the exercise at the previous class, I thought I would use two vessels that do not match. I chose two circular bowls by two different ceramic artists. The larger, by Jane Barrrow, had a pale blue (chun?) glaze and the smaller, by Alistair Whyte, has a pale green celadon glaze.

My thought was to make an ikebana work that drew out particular qualities of the materials I chose, in this case a white camellia. The finer stems, of this particular camellia at least, are very flexible, the leaves glossy and the flower is a fresh white. These are the elements that I wanted to show.

Here is the beginning of my work, (too many leaves). My plan was to place a single white flower in the smaller bowl. However, I could not make it sit looking up.

My solution was to place all the materials in the blue bowl. I removed many leaves so that the materials were only a few centimetres above the rims. This enabled the flower to look up showing its whole face and the branch lines to show around the inside of the blue bowl with one extending the curving line horizontally outside the bowl. The elimination of most of the leaves makes it easier for the viewer to see them and the lines, especially as there is only one flower. The smaller celadon bowl contains water only.

Greetings from Christopher
8th June 2019

This week I set my Torquay students the exercise of making an ikebana arrangement in the horizontal style using two tall vessels. The idea is that the arrangement should be seen as a single one even though two vessels are used. This idea of combining arrangements in two vessels is introduced at the end of the second level of the Sogetsu curriculum. Later, in the advanced curriculum, there are exercises that encourage students to use more than two vessels to make a single work.

I set this exercise for the students to give them additional practise in the various fixing techniques used when working in tall vessels. Although this was challenging the results were satisfying. Below are photos from the class.

Róża used a fine-leafed grevillea from her garden for the branch material and a Pincushion Hakea H. laurina, for the hikae at the centre.

Judy used Casuarina and Thryptomene calycinaas branch material with a single Banksia flower.

Giana has used a leptospermum (I think) and narcissus as a floral focus.

Val used some fine dried material, Nerines and asparagus fern Asparagus plumosus.

Kim has used some fine dried material for his principal horizontal line and bougainvillea as a flora focus. He has also connected his two vessels using a curving piece of driftwood.

A couple of weeks ago, at Elizabeth's class, we were set the exercise of making an arrangement using a single branch and only one flower. I decided that I should use a branch with a strong character, so I chose a dead branch of Moonah Melaleuca lanceolata that had interesting lines. Elizabeth kindly lent me a Camellia 'Kamo Hon Ami' flower from her garden.

I set the branch and flower in a pale celadon- glazed bottle-shaped vase by Barry Singleton from Castlemaine. The flower and its two green leaves made a strong contrast to the branch and gave life to the arrangement.

Greetings from Christopher
15th June 2019

In the Melbourne Botanical Gardens last week we were surprised to see this black swan with three quite young cygnets. Undoubtedly the early breeding is a sign of how mild the weather was in late autumn.

The surface of the lake is covered in a water weed. Earlier on the same walk, we noticed an amphibious machine thrashing across the main lake as it scooped up the water weed. Later on it might get to this more secluded section of the lake.

However, here we are now at the Winter Solstice, in the southern hemisphere. After a very dry summer and autumn we have finally had some good rain. The garden is looking much greener and, in the morning, raindrops are sparkling on leaves and flowers.

I was especially surprised to see a single Forsythia flower open (complete with glistening raindrop).

I lifted the stem to get a look at the face of the flower.

This is the small shrub that was given to me a couple of years ago by my friend and former work colleague Shirley. If you have sharp eyes you will see the flower in the bottom left of this photograph.

A few days earlier, through the kitchen window, I had noticed a spot of bright red. It turned out to be the first of the red Japanese Flowering Quince Chaenomeles japonica. There are only a few buds at the moment. However, I hope for a good flowering over the next few weeks. This is one of the beautiful sights of winter in our garden. Our Acacia will blossom a little later, at this stage there are only buds to be seen.

* * * * *

On Tuesday last, Elizabeth set our class the exercise of making an ikebana arrangement using unconventional (man made) materials. I scoured the garage for stored objects looking for something that might make an interesting subject and was pleased to come across a small roll of wire mesh. I rolled the mesh into a 'cone' form from one end. Then from the other end I created another 'cone' in the opposite orientation. Neither of the cones actually come to a point. This meant that the two 'cones' had their open ends on opposite sides of the mesh roll.

When doing this exercise the ‘unconventional’ material needs to be clearly integrated into the design and not simply a decoration. Therefore, either the fresh or the unconventional material should be the dominant subject of the ikebana, but the other material must clearly be necessary for the arrangement to be complete.

In this case the unconventional material is the main subject of the ikebana to which I have added a single white camellia. The vessel is a stainless steel cone with holes irregularly perforating the surface.

Greetings from Christopher
23rd June 2019

The June workshop of the Sogetsu Branch was on the subject of making an ikebana arrangement for a particular location. Click here for photos from workshop.

I was back in the Royal Melbourne Botanic Gardens earlier this week I noticed that the first of the various narcissus had sent up leaves and were raising their heads underneath one of the large oaks.

As you can see this area where the bulbs have been planted has been roped off to protect the plants and perhaps reduce the temptation for children to pick them.

These are the first flowers which must have opened only a few days earlier. They make a bright spot in the middle of our winter. I will try to monitor the progress of this planting as it is large and will look especially beautiful in a few more weeks.

On Thursday Laurie and I headed up to Sydney for a few days.

This image is of a Japanese wood block print that I noticed yesterday in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Appropriately, it is a winter scene showing a flock of birds flying over a river in a snowy landscape. The weather feels slightly cool to us, but of course it is not remotely snowy in our part of the world even though it is midwinter.

A brighter scene was this one of a large work by the late Rosalie Gascoigne. She enjoyed a well-regarded reputation for her assemblages of found objects in her rather late-life career as a contemporary artist. She is well known among Australian Sogetsu practitioners as she had studied ikebana with Norman Sparnon.

This work is made from sections of road signs she had gathered.

I am showing this other beautiful sculpture so that you can clearly identify my location!

On Saturday some friends took us to Ku-ring-gai Chase, one of the national parks north of the Sydney. I was delighted to see many banksias in flower.

The rich orange flower of this banksia was especially abundant.

To my delight we were shown some figurative Petroglyphs made by the original Aboriginal people of this area. The images carved into the flat sandstone included male and female figures, hunting and ceremonial objects, as well as fish and a line of wallabies.

Unfortunately it was very difficult to get a clear photograph of the glyphs because of the barriers protecting these precious images. However, it was moving to be able to observe them and feel the extraordinary depth of history that they represent.

* * * * *

In the world of ikebana a couple of weeks ago I attended the June meeting of Ikebana International, Melbourne Chapter. The theme was 'Mediterranean Gardens' as our guest speaker was the international President of the Mediterranean Garden Society, Caroline Davies.

I made the arrangement above using materials from our garden. The Rosemary grows along the garden path and I am pleased to say it has started to self-seed elsewhere around the garden. The large leaves are Acanthus, growing well in a shady position on the south side of the house. I have made a massed arrangement with space on the right side showing the surface of the water. The Chun-glazed suiban is by Jane Barrow, a New South Wales ceramic artist.

Further photos from the I.I. Melbourne Chapter meeting.

Greetings from Christopher
30th June 2019

Do you remember Sunday 7th July? Something strange happened on that day and Roadside Ikebana failed to publish the post I wrote. Well here it is, my apologies for the silence.

Winter in the garden is time for a number of annual tasks including pruning and spreading mulch to settle down a bit before the summer comes around. This year I have also managed to pot-up a couple of plants for ikebana friends. Both the red Japanese Flowering Quince, Chaenomeles Japonica, and the tall Nandina domestica have sent out suckers beyond where I want them growing. So it has been an easy decision to lift them and give them away.

Here you can see the spread of the Flowering Quince...

...and this nandina has come up among the stems of a strelitzia.

A couple of months ago I cut the top off our Cootamundra wattle, Acacia baileyana, because it was looking rather ragged. I had earlier identified borer holes at some branch junctions with the trunk. Unfortunately, this tree was seriously stressed by our very dry summer, making it more vulnerable to insect infestation. This is a short-lived small tree under the best of circumstances and I doubt that it will survive much longer. I think the pest is the same one that infected the Casaurinas in the front garden a few years ago, which have now been removed.

Today I decided to remove a Correa, a small native shrub, by the garden path as it looked to be suffering the same fate.

Then the proof. I admit to being a bit horrified when I snapped this stem and found a winged insect inside. I think it is a Long-Horned beetle (Family, Cerambicydae). I promptly removed all of the plant and removed the prunings from the garden.

On a more cheerful note, the very hardy and much loved Rosemary is flowering prolifically just now.

It is also growing beside the garden path along with one of the lavenders.

Here you can see the two plants rather intermingled. To the right of this photo I have recently replaced one of the Cecile Brunner bushes with a couple of small Lavandula dentata plants, which I expect to do better than the rose in the rather dry raised bed.

Three weeks ago I showed this branch of Japanese Flowering Quince in the garden, and today I felt there were enough flowers to be able to make a winter ikebana from them.

I have used only two branches in this unusual 'modern' ceramic ikebana vessel. I liked the distinct lines of the branches and the small number of intense red flowers. This photo is an interesting example of the flattening effect of photography. Below is the same arrangement from the left hand side.

As you can see the whole arrangement leans markedly forward. The result is that the first photo looses the true sense of depth to the work. It is one of those occasions when the 'real life' experience is significantly different to the photograph.

Greetings from Christopher

14th July 2019

On Tuesday evening last week I went for a walk along the beach and was delighted to see the full moon rising above a bank of quite dark clouds. The wind was fairly strong and there was rain out to sea which was moving away along the coast.

As the moon rose higher I noticed its reflection in the wet sand and on the surface of the water.

The moonrise was quite a beautiful sight even as it became partially veiled by cloud.

Of course, there has been a lot of media attention this past week given to the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The forward-looking senior curator at the Geelong Art Gallery has created a fascinating exhibition looking at The Moon as represented in art works from a number of different perspectives. After attending the opening of the exhibition, watching TV programs about the Apollo 11 expedition and seeing the beautiful moon rise, my mind was full of these images and ideas. I thought it was an appropriate opportunity to use a crescent moon-shaped ceramic ikebana vase.

The materials are Acacia baileyana, an over-ripe pomegranate that has split open and a branch of apricot. I think my ikebana looks unexpectedly abundant for a winter arrangement. Such is the joy of our acacias that start to flower at this time. I was particularly pleased that the curve of the branch echoed the profile of the vase.

On Saturday 13th July I attended an Ikebana International workshop in Melbourne led by my colleague Chieko Yazaki, the Melbourne branch head of the Shogetsudokoryu school. The theme of Chieko's presentation was ikebana using aspidistra leaves. As the blue highlighted link will show you these leaves are highly regarded as an ikebana material and particularly used in the creation of seika arrangements.

Chieko's demonstration included a variety of techniques for using and manipulating aspidistra leaves which can be seen on this link to the I.I. blog.

This is my arrangement from the workshop that I re-set at home. I have used five fresh leaves from our garden and one that was turning yellow. In the space between the two groups a white camellia is peeping from the left hand side. I really like the sense of movement which has been created in this ikebana. The leaves have been manipulated into folds by taping wire to their backs.

Greetings from Christopher

21st July 2019

* From The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes

I have spent more time in Melbourne than usual lately, so when I came back to Torquay I noticed some developments in the garden. In particular, this week I noticed that some of the later winter-flowering plants have come into bud...

... including the climbing Lorraine Lee rose on the pergola.

The Cecile Brunner, whose 'parent' plant was given to me nearly 50 years ago by Mr Romney, the father of a dear friend. This was grown from a cutting taken from my family's garden.

Ikebana friend, Joan Norbury, gave me this beautiful white Japanese Flowering Quince Chaenomeles japanocia.

Former work colleague, Shirley Meyer, gave me this 'Apple Blossom' variety of Japanese Flowering Quince only a couple of years ago. I was amazed at the colour difference between these flowers on the same stem.

Close up of the rich pink.

Much paler flowers on the same stem.

This flower is on a cutting from my own original red Japanese Flowering Quince.

This fig tree, grown from a cutting taken from my parents' garden, shades our kitchen window from the western sun in summer. It was getting just a little too tall to pick fruit easily. So, recently, I cut the top off, also hoping that this would encourage lateral growth of the upper branches. Time will tell.

The reason for spending time in Melbourne was to curate and set up the annual exhibition of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana. When thinking about my own ikebana to go into the exhibition, I realised that the lines of the fig would make a good subject. As the branch was quite large and spreading, I decided to try fixing it in a large cylinder made by Graeme Wilkie of Qdos Gallery in Lorne. The mechanics of securing the branch were not complex but needed to be very sturdy. I created a 'vertical fixture' from a length of milled timber, that could reach down to the bottom of the vessel, which I attached to the branch with two screws so that it could not rotate. I then added some small stones to give additional ballast to the vase. I was not sure what to put with it, but found some beautiful banksia flowers that had a great colour harmony with the unusual matt olive green glaze of the vase.

The ikebana proved very hard to photograph because of the flattening effect of the photograph. I took this photograph from the side to show that the ikebana is more than a metre deep.

From the front this photo shows the interesting lines of the fig. As a subject for ikebana these bare branches reveal their shape normally covered by large leaves. The small buds at the tips suggest the promise of spring yet to come.

Click here for more photos of the Sogetsu Branch Exhibiton.

Greetings from Christopher

27th July 2019

The climbing Lorraine Lee rose bud I showed last week has opened along with a few others, much to my delight.

Their short stems make them a bit difficult to use in ikebana.

However, they are so high from the ground they are rather hard to pick anyway. When more flowers are open the fragrance on the terrace will be delightful.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had to cut the top off the Cootamundra Wattle, Acacia Baileyana, because of a borer infestation. It is now in full bloom and cascading over the path. I do hope that the treatment I gave it works and that it lasts a few more years.

Here it is seen from the bathroom window where it is a bright yellow screen at this time of year.

It is interesting that the prostrate version of the Acacia Baileyana flowers a few weeks later, creating a mass of yellow blossom carpeting the ground. I felt that this week's ikebana had to include the wattle flowers before they are damaged by winter rains.

Wattle dries rapidly after picking, but can do well with the following treatment. As soon as possible after picking, strip leaves from the stem that will be underwater. I also give it a quick wipe with detergent if it is dirty. Re-cut the stem underwater removing about 3 - 4cm. Then place in warm water (40C) with 1% white vinegar solution (10ml per litre) and leave in a cool place for a couple of hours or overnight if possible *. A few drops of bleach will also prevent the growth of mould and bacteria on the stem, which restrict the uptake of water.

The second material I decided to use was the leaves of the Gymea lily Doryanthus, which are very broad. These leaves are excellent ikebana material because they are long lasting and their robustness allows them to be manipulated into interesting shapes.

I wanted to show the broad surface of the leaves and have formed three open rectangles that sit on their sides on this box-shaped ikebana vase.

The mass of wattle has been arranged in the opening created by the lowest of the rectangles. The leaves pick up the rectangular form of the vase which was made by the Canadian potter, Leta Cormier.

Greetings from Christopher
4th August 2019

* Dr R Jones. "Post-harvest care of cut flowers". Institute of Plant Sciences, Knoxfield Campus. 1991.

For me, today began with a hail storm and strong winds at about 7.00 am. This was

not an auspicious start to a weekend of arts-related activities sponsored by our local shire council. The event is called the Surf Coast Arts Trail and is a weekend when local artists and community arts groups put their work on public display in venues across the shire.

Members of the public are able to wend their way through 50 venues to see the work of 120 local artists and arts groups. Individual artists open their otherwise private studios where they do their serious and highly-focused work.

I teach an ikebana class through the local branch of the University of the Third Age (U3A), a community organisation that offers informal classes to residents who are over 50 years of age.

This year we were in a new venue which we shared with the U3A Arts Group. The photo above shows one part of the exhibition which was held in a large room that can be divided into three spaces using sliding screens. The screens had the advantage of being able to be used as pin boards for the display of paintings and drawings. The ikebana was set on tables.

Six of my students took part in the exhibition creating a variety of individualistic work.

Val used a small round blue ceramic vase with three disbud chrysanthemums and a silver painted piece of driftwood.

Helen gathered some dried branches of Coastal Beard Heath, leucopogon parviflorus which had some lichen attached. After bracing the branches across a suiban she arranged three tulips supported by the branches.

Marion raided her vegetable garden, where she had allowed her rhubarb to go to seed, and arranged the stems, leaves and flowers in a suiban.

Marta arranged branches of pink Japanese Flowering Quince, Chaenomeles, in a black trough.

Kim created a simple arrangement using a arum lily stem in bud and a single open flower in a traditional bronze vessel.

Ròsä used succulent leaves and red flowering Aloe, with a large piece of driftwood as a table arrangement without a vessel.

In preliminary discussions with the tutor of the Art Group she proposed that I set up an ikebana work as a still-life subject that could be drawn or painted by members of her class. This was a great way to integrate the two group's work. Unfortunately I did not think to photograph the drawings that were made of the ikebana.

For the still-life I arranged a recently pruned branch of our apricot tree so that it could stand upside down. I then placed a ceramic vessel by Graeme Wilkie at its base to which I added some orangey-pink snapdragon, antirrhinum. The branch had really interesting lines and texture that contrasted with the vessel and flowers. The rather playful work reminded some observers of an insect, others of a giraffe.

Greetings from Christopher
10th August 2019

Today the sun is shining brightly, the breeze is gentle and spring is definitely in the air. I began the morning by doing a little removal of weeds before they become a problem that requires a chainsaw. There is one little pesky weed that flowers very quickly and sends out seeds in great numbers. With the spring also comes more blossom like the tree below.

Every year it suddenly has a mass of white blossom transforming not only the tree but the streetscape near our city apartment.

A few weeks ago I noticed this beautifully-shaped blossoming tree in the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. I did not stop to check its name as I was hurrying elsewhere at the time. However, I could not resist a photo.

As ikebana pays attention to the seasons, I recently set my students the exercise of making an arrangement with narcissus; by which I meant any flowers from the narcissus family.

Eugenia created this very informal freestyle work in which the leaves were the principal subject. She has used a double nageire style black ceramic vessel.

Helen N has created a modern-style ikebana with a small bunch of daffodils and three leaves arranged to create repeating geometric forms.

Margaret also focused on the leaves to create rhythmic lines that flow around a small bunch of white narcissus. In class we discussed the challenge of arranging narcissus in Australia, unless you grow them. Our florists usually sell bunches of flowers only, or sometimes with two or three leaves.

Last Tuesday was the annual general meeting of Ikebana International Melbourne Chapter. After four years on the committee I retired from the position of Vice-President. It is the custom of the branch that the Heads of the Schools each give a demonstration of their ikebana.

The Heads of four of the five schools in Melbourne participated. In this photo, from the left are: Yukako Braun, Ikenobo school, Lyn Wong, Ohara school, Christopher James (me) Sogetsu school and Chieko Yazaki, Shogetsudo koryu school. After making the arrangements we each spoke briefly about our work. The next three photos are of the completed arrangements.

Yukako Braun, Ikenobo

Lyn Wong, Ohara

Chieko Yazaki, Shogetsudo koryu

Here I am speaking about my ikebana in which I have used Japonica from our garden. The white Japonica (Japanese Flowering Quince) is from a bush given to me by my ikebana friend, Joan Norbury.

This is the finished work (that did not photograph to my satisfaction). There are more photographs from the AGM on the I.I. website blog.

Tomorrow we are expecting rain (back to winter?).

Greetings from Christopher
17th August 2019

The highly variable spring weather has continued with warm sunny breaks followed by rain and occasional hail. A few days ago we were threatened with a cold front bringing more rain...

...so I decided to take a photo of this lovely camellia, Kamo Hon Ami, before it was damaged. It is a new addition to the garden; and I have learnt from 'The Magic of Camellias' (Norman Sparnon and E. G. Waterhouse) that this flower was named after a grandson of the tea master Sen no Rikyu.

The soil in our garden is totally unsuited to growing camellias, being rather alkaline. The soil is also hydrophobic, so that water runs off the surface rather than penetrating and being held in the soil. I have been assured by my ikebana friends that camellias can do well in pots! I certainly hope so.

Last week I showed photos of arrangements incorporating narcissus, by my Melbourne students. Among the large number of my photos I managed to miss this one by Marcia. She had made a main subject of two lichen- encrusted branches balanced by a small mass of narcissus enclosed in a 'cage' of their leaves.

In Geelong, my advanced students made arrangements in clear glass vessels using leaves only.

Helen M cleverly suspended a small sprig with fine yellow leaves from two dietes leaves balanced across the top of the vase.

She also curved two dietes leaves and a succulent rosette inside a glass bowl, proving that minimal material is needed in a glass vessel with a spherical curve.

Christine was interested in showing the beautiful curve and repeated lines in this cycad frond, to which she added a curled yucca leaf.

In this second arrangement Christine has suspended a mass of small orangey, shiny leafed material that floats in an empty glass vase.

Ellie also used some cycad fronds and a single leaf of a prayer plant, maranta leuconeura, in three glass vessels. She wired two cycad fronds together and has arranged them vertically on the edge of a glass vase so that they float.

On Monday last week I attended a Victorian Sogetsu Branch workshop led by Emerald Leung. She had set the topic of making an ikebana arrangement that accentuates line, mass and colour, using two kinds of materials only. Branches and leaves could be used but not flowers.

How fortunate was I to notice these brightly coloured leaves of Eucalyptus Lehmanii, some of which were growing outside the bathroom window. They were ideal for making a colourful mass. The autumn colouring at this time of year is the result of insect damage. I have used Pomaderris paniculosa from the garden for the lines. To emphasise the lines I cut them all to one length. I also stripped the leaves off, except for a small line of leaves on a single branchlet.

When I got home I re-worked the ikebana, removing the lowest of the lines and bringing it up to a more horizontal position. The Bizen style vase is by the Australian ceramic artist Ian Jones.

Greetings from Christopher
25th September 2019

Click here for photos from the Sogetsu Branch workshop.

Three weeks ago I set the advanced students in my Melbourne class the exercise of making an ikebana arrangement in a suiban using bare branches and camellia(s). My expectation was that the work would reflect the winter season. Additionally, the task required the students to practise their technique, particularly with regard to the placement of jushi (the smaller leaves and flowers) that would conceal the kenzan (needle aid).

I was not disappointed with their work.

Margaret used some lichen encrusted branch material and a small deep-red camellia. She kindly shared her material with Helen N, who lives in an apartment.

Helen's arrangement is a freestyle work in the Sogetsu slanting style.

Unfortunately, the flattening effect of these photos does not allow you to see the spreading of the wintery branches.

Eugenia stripped her materials down to strong almost straight lines which she arranged in a black trough.

Marcia used red Dogwood Cornus sanguinea, as her bare branch material, creating an upward sweeping line.

The wintery weather does bring some delights among the Australian native flora.

Last week we went for a walk in Iron Bark Basin, a nearby nature reserve, and came across some early Greenhood orchids. I think this one is Petrostylis melagramma.

Yesterday, in the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, I was delighted to see the late afternoon sun illuminating the flower heads of this common reed phragmites australis.

A bit further on I was surprised to see this beautiful Sandpaper wattle, acacia denticulosafrom the southwest of Western Australia. The finger like flower heads are dense, velvety and a rich yellow.

This wattle is new to me. The rather untidy sprawling shrub is growing beside the National Herbarium building in the Gardens.

My ikebana this week contrasts mass and line and is made from dried materials.

The intense red leaves are Dwarf Nandina which dries naturally when left in a vase with a little water. The branch materials are the new corky shoots cut from the base of an Elm in a nearby street. I have arranged the materials in a black porcelain vase by the Australian ceramic artist Alistair Whyte.

Greetings from Christopher
1st September 2019

On Saturday I attended a workshop led by Emily Karanikolopoulos at her home studio in Melbourne. The process of the workshop was one that I had previously experienced with Mr Tetsunori Kawana in 2011 in his studio in Tokyo. Emily's workshop started at 10.00am and concluded at 3.00pm, with a break for lunch in the middle of the day.

The attendees were asked to select a single bunch of materials that Emily had prepared, each bunch having only three materials. These materials were then used and re-used to make successive ikebana arrangements over the course of the workshop. This led to a process of exploration and discovery of the possibilities of the materials. Vessels were supplied from Emily's large collection.

I selected a prepared bunch of material that included two long Gymea leaves, Doryanthes palmeri, one weeping branch of spiraea (in bud) and a single stem of dark-red asiatic lily. I decided to challenge myself by using unfamiliar vessels that were of a different style to those in my own collection.

I have seen, and admired, vessels in this conjoined style previously and was delighted to have the opportunity to use one. The spiraea had graceful curves that I accentuated by judicious trimming and removing of some leaves. In spite of the narrow opening in the vessel I was able to insert a fixture so that the stem arose from the opening without touching the sides. This is a technique that gives added lightness to the arrangement.

I then added the asiatic lilies, keeping them lower than the principal material. When I look at this photo now I think I should have removed at least one of the fully opened flowers.

The next vase I chose was large, with an almost matt black surface. I experimented with making a small mass of lines at the mouth by stripping the spiraea. Once stripped, the mass was far too small so I then added a forward cascading line with leaves and buds still intact. This modest arrangement brings greater attention to the visually strong vase.

My final arrangement with thespiraearesulted when I snapped one of the side branches while trying to alter its curve. Again I have arranged the single line to come out of the vase without touching the sides of the opening. The line also mirrors the curves of the vase.

The Gymea leaves had beautiful discolouration toward their tips that I wanted to show. I arranged them in an unusual annular vessel which had an opening in the upper left quadrant. The stem of the lily projected from an opening within the central hole of the vessel.

I was impressed when Emily told me that she had made this vase herself some years ago. Both the colour and design are bold. I deliberately placed the vase on its side to emphasise the angle of the longer Gymea leaf (initially it was parallel to the slope of the vase).

My final experiment was in a flat fronted rectangular vase with a silver surface. I wanted to emphasise the flat surface of the leaves and liked the way I was able to create concentric lines with the leaves sitting within the vase opening, but only showing a small part of their edges. This is another of the Sogetsu curriculum exercises, 'A simplified arrangement', that Mr Kawana had taught in a workshop in Melbourne some years ago.

This close-up shows that I reduced the arrangement to showing the edges of four leaves and a single petal of the asiatic lily.

Many thanks to Emily for a workshop that was both challenging and fun.

Here is a video link to the installation 'Five Elements, Water' created by a team of Ikebana teachers under the direction of Mr Kawana at Melbourne's National Gallery of Victoria in 2009.

Greetings from Christopher
8th September 2019

West of Torquay there are high cliffs where the beach is only accessible at low tide. In the finer weather a few days ago, Laurie and I went for a walk along the cliff path towards Bell's Beach.

The tide was high at the time, as you can see from this photo taken looking back towards Torquay in the distance.

The Great Ocean Road Committee, which is responsible for environmental protection and the infrastructure of the 37 kilometres of crown land between Torquay and Lorne, has recently created this viewing platform. The sculptured seal is actually a seat. This elevated position is 40-50 metres above the sea.

Until recently at this point, access to the beach was via some unstable old wooden steps. Now they have been replaced by sturdier metal ones.

This photo shows clearly that the 'beach' is not accessible at high tide.

Last week at my Geelong class I set the advanced students the exercise of making an arrangement using 'closely related colours'. In the past there has been much discussion among Victorian Sogetsu Branch members about the description 'Colours in the Same Tonal Range'. The exercise is about using three or more colours that are adjacent on the colour wheel and none from the opposite side.

Maureen has used shades of red through orange to yellow. For the purposes of this exercise, when stems and leaves are visible, green is not a colour!

Ellie decided to use two vessels and has used reds and pinks. The red lacquer on the tall vase is echoed by the intense red of the partially hidden carnations at the back of the suiban.

Maree's exercise was a slanting variation in which she used eucalyptus branches and a focus of yellow roses.

Tess made her first free-standing 'no kenzan' arrangement with irises from her own garden making the intense blue focus.

After publishing my post last week I discovered that I had failed to include one of the arrangements I had made in Emily's workshop.

Here it is, using a squat round glass vessel. In it I arranged one of the Gymea leaves and the stem of oriental lilies. I placed the lily flowers at the top of the lower third of the Gymea leaf.

When I returned home I reworked the arrangement in a ceramic vessel. I have shortened the longest leaf and added the second one to one third its length. This time I placed the flowers lower and to the right to create a subtle asymmetry in the arrangement. Shortening the leaves has also emphasised the colouration on the tips of the leaves.

Greetings from Christopher
15th September 2019

Spring is the time for two of my favourite Australian native plants to put on their spectacular flowering. These are the two species of the Doryanthes genus, D. excelsa and D. palmeri, both of which are endemic to Australia's east coast from southern Queensland to south of Sydney in New South Wales. Fortunately they grow well in Victoria!

This morning I photographed Laurie looking at this D. excelsa when we went for a walk in Melbourne. The flower is just starting to open on its flower stalk that is at least 4 metres tall.

This one is growing by some nearby steps with a tall echium, also in flower.

I had to zoom in from quite a distance to get this photo of a flowerhead.

A little further on we came across this very healthy D. palmeri. It has a shorter flower stalk with the flowers clustering along its length.

This is the same plant from below...

... and here are the flowers at a closer range...

...and close up.

At the other end of the scale, so to speak, among other native Spring flowers I noticed the Australian clematis microphyla that grows on our fence at Torquay.

Also the Pandorea vine on the fence...

...and vigorously climbing one of the trees. I haven't had a chance to pick any this year.

Among the exotics in our garden is this daisy from South Africa cascading over the steps.

And this one that has taken over a large area beside the garage.

Also from South Africa, another favourite of mine is this Freesia. This year it has flowered sufficiently for me to pick some for the dining table. I love the fragrance of this pale cream variety.

Exotic flowers brings me to this week's ikebana. The arrangement above was made by my student Marisha. The exercise being: An arrangement with "colours in the same tonal range". She has used statice, freesias and three gerberas. The latter are not my favourite flower as they can be so dominating. However, the placement among, beside and behind the other materials softens their impact so that they harmonise well with the other materials.

Above is a photo I took six weeks ago of an arrangement from left-over stems of the snapdragon I used in the Surf Coast Arts Trail. The form is like an upright variation #1 (reversed) from the Sogetsu curriculum. The black ceramic vase was made by Jan de Veth from Nth Queensland and bought in 1978.

Greetings from Christopher

22nd September 2019

This past week I spent five days in Melbourne, so I was delighted to see the changes in the garden over that short amount of time. Just outside the conservatory are two small Echiums that I planted only last year.

This is one of five small flower-heads on the larger of the plants. I am particularly pleased as they are filling in a gap left when a large bush died a couple of years ago.

Also coming into leaf is the ornamental grape vine. This particular variety has an attractively textured thick coarse leaf.

Here are two Australian native ground covers. On the right is dichondra repensthat has flourished in several places in the garden this year. Close-up below. I am very happy to see it spreading over the thick layer of mulch.

On the left is brachyscome segmentosa. This particular variety is rather more blue than the usual mauve.

In this photo, above, I have tried to reproduce the colour more closely by changing the colour balance.

Once again the nasturtiums have become rampant.

The intensity of the flower colour makes them seem to glow.

The last of the 'apple blossom' flowering quince chaenomeles japonica, is being swamped by 'red valerian' centranthus ruber plants that are yet to flower. All of the green leaves in the photo are the red valerian.

Nearby are the last blossoms of the red flowering quince.

Also nearby are masses of the dainty flowers on the 'costal bearded heath'leucopogon parviflorus.

My time in Melbourne last week was taken up with the setup of the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International's annual exhibition. This year the event has been held in a vacant retail space in the 'District Docklands' shopping precinct.

After the setting up, my colleague Julie had some surplus 'Dancing Lady'oncidium orchids which she generously shared with me. Below are three ikebana arrangements I made yesterday in a bit of a flurry of activity.

The first conforms to the Sogetsu curriculum exercise of 'Emphasising lines at the base'. I have added a branch of eucalyptus lehmanii leaves that have become orange as a result of insect damage. The vase is by the Western Australian ceramic artist Pippin Drysdale.

The second is a massed arrangement, using two acanthus leaves with the oncidium stems arranged between them. The large bowl- shaped ceramic vessel is by Isabella Wang.

The third arrangement again uses a small cluster of e. lehmannii at the base of a group of oncidium stems. This ikebana vase has a slit opening on two sides, giving the ikebanist a great deal of flexibility. It was made by the ceramic artist and ikebana practitioner Janet Keefe who lives in Ontario, Canada. I conducted a Sunday workshop at Janet's place in September last year.

Greetings from Christopher
29th September 2019

Click on the blue text for further information.

Since last week's posting I have had Julie's surplus Dancing-lady Oncidium orchids gracing the sideboard for the week and still looking very fresh. Their constant presence has made me notice them from different view points.

When they cascade toward the viewer the multiple surfaces of the middle petal enhance their sense of mass. However, side-on the stems have a marked linear character. This linear characteristic set me to wonder which of my ikebana vases would best show these lines.

As I drifted to sleep one night I realised that a uniquely-shaped vessel by Grahame Wilkie had just the elevation and curve.

The word 'swoon' always comes to mind when I think of this vessel. Looking back at earlier photos, I notice that I have always arranged the principle line creating a curve in the opposite direction to the vessel.

This time I realised that it would be interesting to follow the curve. I have added two deep- red anthurium flowers, which in this view are behind the oncidium flower stems. I would have liked to be able to create a slide show of these photos as I rotated the vessel through 180 degrees...

... because the arrangement changes significantly from each view point.

This angle shows the anthurium just beginning to peep out from the right hand side.

Then more so.

Finally the opposite face of the vessel begins to show.

I have placed this ikebana in the living room niche where I pass it each time I go into the kitchen. In this location I do actually see the arrangement through 180 degrees.

This week's blog title 'With Flowers Only' is an exercise from the advanced curriculum of the Sogetsu school. It is surprisingly difficult to make satisfying ikebana without branches and leaves. I think the reasons are that Ikebana is very sculptural and usually needs line to define the asymmetrical form and create space. Also flowers which often provide the mass of the arrangement can be very eye-catching. So, an arrangement with only flowers can tend to look arranged in a western style.

My final ikebana this week is by my friend and mentor, Kath Dacy. Kath, who retired from teaching ikebana some years ago, and is a source of wisdom for me with great insights into the art of ikebana.

I visited Kath last Monday and was delighted to see this rather large 'With Flowers Only' ikebana that she had created from remnants of rather more traditional arrangement in the Chapel of her new home.

I noticed that the work has harmonious use of colour. It is also an asymmetrical design with line mass and space. I think it is particularly characteristic of ikebana that she has placed the visually-strong larger flowers to the side and rear of the arrangement, so that they are seen among and through the other materials.

Thanks Kath.

Greetings from Christopher
6th October 2019

Last weekend Laurie and I went for a walk in the nearby nature reserve called Ironbark Basin, part of the Great Otway National Park and so named because Eucalyptus tricarpa (I think) is the dominant species in the valley. There are many species of eucalypts given the common nameIronbark for their tough, dark and deeply furrowed bark.

The nature reserve sits above Addiscot Beach, a long sandy beach sheltered from the prevailing west to south westerly winds.

As we walked along the access road toward Point Addis we noticed a Grass Tree Xanthorrhoea australis, with two tall stems in flower.

This close-up shows the multiple spidery flowers starting to open. In a few weeks, the stems should be densely covered in flowers and visited by butterflies.

We also came across a Waxlip orchid Calandenia major, which was growing in a small 'forest' of the flowers, but sadly could not be satisfactorily photographed as a group.

Nearby was a Wallflower orchid Diuris orientis. We called them 'Bee orchids' when I was a child because of the 'wings' and 'legs' that hang down. After doing a bit of searching I found a lot of photos of '... Common Orchids of the Anglesea Heathlands' that you might want to look at through the link. Anglesea is the next coastal town only about 4 kilometres past Ironbark Basin.

Two weeks ago the Annual Exhibition of Ikebana International Melbourne Chapter was held in a vacant retail space in 'District Docklands' on the west side of the city. If you follow the link above it will take you to photos of the exhibition.

Above is my ikebana, reconstructed at home after the exhibition. I have used two lengths of Honeysuckle vine that I doweled together using bamboo skewers. The vine was about 20 years old when I had to cut it down as it was interfering with the operation of the garage door. I thought the lines in the vine were particularly beautiful and decided they should be my principal subject. By dowelling them together I was able to create a floating effect around the large vessel by Graeme Wilkie. Three maroon anthurium flowers served as a focal point to the linear arrangement.

Greetings from Christopher
12th October 2019

YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!

FROM THE WORKSHOPS

WINTER COMES

HORIZONTAL ARRANGEMENTS

WINTER SOLSTICE

AROUND and ABOUT

SPOILS FROM A WINTERY GARDEN

THE MOON WAS A GHOSTLY GALLEON *

FLOWERS OF FRIENDSHIP

WATTLE

SURF COAST ARTS TRAIL 2019

TRANSITIONING TO SPRING

WHITE PETALS, ORANGE LEAVES

CAMELLIAS and WINTERY BRANCHES

The influence of TETSUNORI KAWANA

HIGH TIDE and BLUE SEAS

SOME SPRING FLOWERS

SURPLUS FLOWERS

WITH FLOWERS ONLY

HEATHLAND WILDFLOWERS