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AUTUMN IN MELBOURNE: the exhibition

May 31, 2014, 5:38 am
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Below is a photo of a sculpture by Sofu Teshigahara. I believe it was brought by him to Australia on his visit in 1967 along with a number of similar sculptures. It is made of carved cypress and covered with aluminium sheeting. I have been told that a number of these small sculptures were stacked vertically together to make a larger work at that time. During his visit he also presented a very large sculpture to Canberra's National Capital Development Commission, as reported in The Canberra Times, 27th September 1967.


A further search has revealed the same sculpture being used in advertising for Norman Sparnon's second tour to North America in early 1982. If you look closely you can see it is on the righthand side of two sculptures set on the sea wall with the Sydney Opera House in the background. 


I have used the same sculpture in this year's 50th anniversary exhibition of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana. In keeping with the theme of 'Autumn in Melbourne' I have added the dried heads of  sunflowers that I grew last year and two stems of rose-hips.


The exhibition has been a great success with 901 visitors to the beautiful and strikingly modern Yarra Gallery in Federation Square in the heart of Melbourne. I have posted a slideshow of the exhibition on the Victorian Branch website. Click on the coloured text and then go to Members Exhibition 2014 to view them: Autumn in Melbourne.

Greetings from Christopher
31st May 2014.

Don't forget to check Emily Karanikolopoulos blog. (Click on coloured text to link to Emily Karanikolopoulos' Tokyo blog)

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AUTUMN BERRIES and LEAVES

June 7, 2014, 3:35 am
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Since last week winter seems to have arrived rather suddenly in our part of the world, following a very mild autumn. There was a late burst of warm weather recently that has confused many plants in the garden which have now started putting forth spring leaves. Our ornamental grape vine is in 'bud burst' at least two months early. In the meantime there is still some beautiful 'autumn colour' to be seen. I noticed these colourful leaves among some escalonia in a neighbour's garden. I think they are from an ornamental peach.


In another garden a pittosporum (click on the coloured text for further information)with orange berries was cascading over the fence. This particular pittosporum is from the east coast of Australia and is regarded as an invasive weed in some places.


I thought the leaves and berries would make a lovely subject for a small naturalistic autumn arrangement in an irregularly shaped vase made by Barry Singleton. The vase has a very thick shino-type glaze and some orange from the iron in the clay shows through the thinner parts of the glaze.


Greetings from Christopher
7th June 2014

Don't forget to check Emily Karanikolopoulos blog. (Click on coloured text to link to Emily Karanikolopoulos' Tokyo blog)

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EXPERIMENTS IN THE CLASSROOM

June 13, 2014, 7:00 pm
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During the week I gave a class in which a student, Margaret, used a charred branch in the exercise 'Using dried and fresh materials' The first challenge was how to position the branch. I suggested creating a 'cradle' using two forked sticks inserted into a kenzan. This allowed the branch to float above the vase.





To this were added three arum lilies. Unfortunately they had not really opened sufficiently at the time. But we were confident they would do so over the next couple of days. 


In the same class Niki created an arrangement to be '...viewed from all angles…' in this interesting footed vase.




For another class this week I selected some Coastal Sword Sedge (Lepidosperma gladiator click on the blue text for further information), to demonstrate to students that freely available material can be used to striking effect in creating ikebana. In researching this plant that grows naturally close to our house I was delighted to discover its name. Clearly it was called 'l. gladiator' because of its long sword-shaped leaves. Below is a photo of a dense clump.


This photo shows a close-up of the brown flowerhead which grows on a broad bladed stem.


I have found the leaves can readily be curved into graceful shapes. On the class-room table the strong forward thrust of the right-hand line looked quite dramatic but too long for the over-all balance.


I drew the long line back into the arrangement to create a swirl of lines floating above the vase with a satisfying sense of movement. 


Greetings from Christopher
14th June 2014

Emily Karanikolopoulos returned home yesterday from her three months in Japan as the fourth recipient of the Norman and Mary Sparnon Endowment Scholarship. You can see her latest blog posting by clicking on the blue text; Emily in Tokyo.


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WRAPPED UP WITH FUROSHIKI

June 21, 2014, 4:53 pm
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Last week I attended the monthly meeting of Ikebana International in Melbourne. The theme of the meeting was an annual event of the chapter: 'Japanese Day'. To celebrate a unique aspect of Japanese culture, some of the Japanese members of the chapter gave a demonstration of how to use furoshiki and, after the formal meeting, Japanese food was served. Furoshiki is the term for fabric squares of various sizes that have been used traditionally in Japan to wrap objects for presentation or simply as a utilitarian carrying device. The fabric may be cotton, silk or, these days, synthetic material. There are multiple techniques for wrapping that vary according to the shape of the object in consideration. Click on the blue text to see images of the activity and arrangements. I.I. Melbourne:Japanese Day. 

In keeping with the activity, members were asked to use the idea of wrapping in the ikebana they made at the meeting. Many used furoshiki in their arrangements or around their vases. I thought it would be interesting to use some of the Coastal Sword Sedge (lepidosperma gladiator), that I used in last week's blog, to wrap around my vase. I chose an irregularly angled bizen vase for the purpose and because it was 'wrapped' I used a single camellia flower and one leaf peeping out from  the vase's opening.




Greetings from Christopher
22nd June 2014 (mid-winter in the southern hemisphere)

You can see Emily Karanikolopoulos' latest blog posting by clicking on the blue text: Emily in Tokyo.
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KABUWAKE, LINE and MASS

June 28, 2014, 12:23 am
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I was recently invited to give two days of workshops for the Queensland Branch of the Sogetsu Teachers' Association. The workshops were in Brisbane which is the capital city, where the climate is subtropical and therefore warmer at this time of year than the south coast of Victoria. The first workshop was on the theme 'Ka-bu-wa-ke', an arrangement using two or more kenzans in a shallow, suiban, vessel. Below is a photo of my demonstration for the exercise. Emphasising the space between the groups is the most important aspect of the exercise and the materials of one group needs to be stronger than the other(s).


Illustrations of the exercise are usually done with only two kenzans, so I have deliberately used three kenzans which is clearer in the next photo. Although it is not apparent, because of the camera angle, I have used a large oval suiban that extends away from the camera.


Below is a selection of the arrangements by the attendees of the workshop







The second exercise was 'Mass and Line'. In this exercise either the mass or the lines need to dominate, so that the asymmetry of the arrangement is maintained. I used some ornamental peach branches for the lines and made them the main subject of the arrangement, to which I added some camellia leaves as a small contrasting mass. The forward movement of the lines is not apparent in the photo below.



The participants concentrating on mass and line...


…and a selection of the finished work. 








                                          
Below the participants at the end of the first day.


I will post more photos next week of the second day of the workshops.

Greetings from Christopher
28th June 2014

You can see Emily Karanikolopoulos' latest blog posting by clicking on the blue text: Emily in Tokyo.

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CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES in BRISBANE

July 4, 2014, 7:04 pm
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On the second day of the workshops I gave in Brisbane recently the focus was on construction. A variety of techniques were practised depending on the type of material the individual attendee wanted to use. In the morning each person created a sculptural form which then became the basis of an ikebana work in the afternoon session. I must say I am always quietly amused when ikebanists get out their power tools to start their flower arranging!


The next two photos show finished works after the critiquing process. In the first photo gymea leaves only, were used in loose and open loops to keep a light feeling to the work and not to distract from the texture of the woody branches. 


In the next example flowers were added. However, the shallow vase was rotated so that the wooden sculpture was clearly the subject of the work rather than the flowers. 


The next few photographs show the development of the sculptural work in the morning session and then its final use in the afternoon session. The fine bamboo shown below was fixed with dowels made from fine skewers.


The bamboo sculpture was brought to the front of the design and the arrangement simplified in the final version of the work.


Below partially charred lengths of melaluca (paperbark trees) were secured to nails driven through a red painted board. 


As you can see below, this work reminds the viewer of the aftermath of a bushfire. A single stem of curly poinsettia flowers has been added.


The bamboo below had sufficiently thick walls that doweling has been used to invisibly secure short pieces.


The result is an abstract sculptural form to which some lotus pods were added for colour and textural variation.


Three lengths of branch were secured with dowels in the example below. 


Unfortunately the photos do not show the beautiful texture of the wood which was the principal point of interest. A single New Zealand flax leaf was added to the side of the work which provides a strong contrast that does not interfere with the woody material floating above the cylindrical vase.


In the example below magnolia branches have been doweled and wired together together to create a spherical mass. This was a deliberate choice to avoid simply relying on the natural beauty of the lines of the material. 


In the final work a strong line has been added to one side and a white camellia bud, flower and some leaves to create textural and colour contrast. 



This week's posting is a continuation of last week's that you can view by scrolling down further. It may be necessary to click on the 'archive' for June. I would like to thank the participating members of theQueensland Branch of the Sogetsu Teacher's Association (click blue text to view their website) for letting me share their workshop experience with you.

Greetings from Christopher
5th July 2014

P.S. You can see Emily Karanikolopoulos' final blog posting of her three months at Sogetsu Headquarters by clicking on the blue text: Emily in Tokyo.
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MORE ABOUT SOFU'S SCULPTURE

July 11, 2014, 8:54 pm
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In my posting on 31st May I showed a photograph of a sculpture by Sofu Teshigahara that I used in the Sogetsu School Victorian Branch 50th Anniversary Exhibition (click on the blue text to see that posting). Below is a photo from a booklet of Sofu's 1967 visit to Australia in which he has used several similar sculptures together in an arrangement. 


Some visitors to the exhibition from Sydney told me that these sculptures were assembled to create a large single assembled work. Below is a photograph of similar sculptures that are described as being from Sofu's 'Kojiki' series. The sculptured wood in the photograph appear to be in a natural state and do not seem to be covered with aluminium sheeting. They have been set in the Plaza in front of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.


At the beginning of last week I attended the monthly meeting of Ikebana International in Melbourne. The guest speaker wasJane Sawyer, a Victorian based ceramic artist who, as a post graduate art/craft teacher, served a two year apprenticeship at the Shussai-Gama pottery in Shimane, Japan 1985 - 1987. She gave a wonderful presentation about her work and the aesthetic of the'mingei'movement that forms the philosophical basis of that pottery.

At the meeting members created ikebana in ceramic vessels from their own collections that had special meaning for them. Below is my ikebana in a ceramic bottle made by Akutsu Tadao that I bought in Mashiko in 2011.



To see images of other ikebana at the meeting click on the blue text Ikebana International.

Greetings from Christopher
12th July 2014
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WINTERY WEATHER

July 19, 2014, 12:22 am
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On the south coast of Victoria it is very wintery at present. Two days ago the maximum temperature was only 7 degrees Celsius. I write this for the benefit of readers from the northern hemisphere who may think that Australia is perpetually sunny and that we all go to the beach every weekend. The nearby creek at Torquay has a small flow. It is really an intermittent creek because it has a small catchment area and the rainfall is fairly low.  Recently it has been blocked by a sandbar so that the water level came slightly over the boardwalk. In the photo below you can see the waves breaking beyond the sandbar.


Our shoes got slightly wet when we crossed the boardwalk.



Then there was rain overnight and the sandbar was washed away.



At the workshop of the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School last week the theme was to use corky Elm to make a framework to support other material, in a suiban. Below is the structure I made.




 I have posted a few other photos from the workshop that you can see on the Sogetsu website under the heading "Recent Workshops" (click on the blue text). A couple of days later I went to my teacher's class where our exercise was an arrangement with 'red and green'. It proved to be a good opportunity to re-work the materials more to my satisfaction. As you can see I have trimmed the branches, added a lot more cotoneaster berries to make a more dense mass and contrasted the straight lines with the soft curves of two sedge leaves.



I think this arrangement also suits the season of winter that we are enjoying(?) at the moment.

Greetings from Christopher
19th July 2014

P.S. My colleague, Emily Karanikolopoulos, who recently returned from Tokyo, will continue to post on her blog. There is a link on the righthand side of this blog.

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AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR

July 27, 2014, 3:39 am
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I was surprised recently when I looked for the source of an odd piercing noise outside the bathroom window to see this colourful Australian King Parrot. It was eating seeds from a Billardiera heterophylla. In recent years there has been an increasing number of parrots in our garden because in the 1970's and 80's many people started planting Australian native plants in their gardens. When we planted this twisting vine about 25 years ago it was known as Sollya heterophylla. This particular one has a pale blue flower.




The parrot was startled by my movements and flew to the top of our pergola. 



In the following week I had set my students the exercise of using vine in an arrangement and, coincidently, Christine used some of the same vine in her arrangement. The first photo below is before correction.


Here it is again after correction. As you can see the irises have been neatened up. Christine wanted the flowers to make a mass contained within the volume of the vine.




She has created a good feeling of space both within the vine and around the work.

Ellie used a very different approach, emphasising the vine by using only one length with a beautiful curve. She has thus created a sense of the space above the vase. The lines are off-set by intensely red autumn leaves.



This weekend the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School has been very busy with two days of workshops given by Mr Yoshiro Umemura from Sydney. I will post some photos from the workshops next week.

Greetings from Christopher
27th July 2014





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GREEN and GOLD

August 1, 2014, 11:09 pm
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Now that mid-winter's day has past, the early wattles are coming into bloom. The first in our garden is the Cootamundra Wattle, Acacia Baileyana * .  I took the photo below about three weeks ago when the blossom was just starting to open.


This week it is glorious in full bloom.


The next close-up photo shows the soft mass of the golden blossom and the pale blue-grey of the fine leaves. Wattles are notorious for drying quickly once cut. However, I had success with these blossoms when, after cutting the stems under water, I then held the base of the stem in boiling water for two minutes before putting them into deep cool water with a small amount of bleach and a teaspoon of sugar.


I had been wanting to use the wattle from the garden in my ikebana and the opportunity came last weekend when the Victorian Branch held two days of workshops lead by Mr Yoshiro Umemura * from Sydney. The theme of the first workshop was 'Intertwining Materials'. I used New Zealand flax, also from our garden, with which I made a loose mass of irregularly sized intersecting loops. The wattle provided a focal colour contrast. 


The second exercise was to make an arrangement using a 'Repeated Shape or Form'. I had grown some very tall reeds in the our pond and had never used them before. I was keen to see whether they would be suitable for making rectangles. They did work but the result was rather fragile and I was not able to make the best placement of the lemon, which I had decided to use as an alternative to a flower contrast.



When I got home I reconstructed the work and used the wattle again. 


You can see more photos from the workshop by clicking on the blue text: Mr Umemura in Melbourne * then click on the tab 'Recent Workshops'.

* (click on the blue text for more information)

Greetings from Christopher
2nd August 2014
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Mr UMEMURA'S WOKSHOPS (continued)

August 9, 2014, 4:15 am
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This week I will continue last week's theme, the recent workshops given by Mr Yoshiro Umemura for the Melbourne branch of the Sogetsu School.

On the second day, the first exercise was to make an arrangement which emphasised the lines at the base of the work. Mr Umemura pointed out that this exercise reminds us of the attention given to the base of a Rikka arrangement in which all of the materials rise in a single column from the surface of the water in the vessel. You can see some examples of this traditional style that was first developed in the late 15th century, Rikka photos *.

For this exercise I used New Zealand flax and three irises in a small deep bowl. I have looped the flax to create interest at the top of the work and left the base simple with 'clean lines'.


The second exercise for the day was to make an arrangement 'To be viewed from all angles'. This can be quite difficult because the work should look different and attractive from each direction. I must confess I was not happy with the result of my work. I created some interesting shapes with some apricot branches by wiring the ends of the fine branches, but their placement across the vessel was not satisfactory and not stable. I was however, satisfied that the arrangement did look different as I looked at it from different angles. I have added coral tree flowers, and sedge leaves on one side.



I re-worked this material in an ikebana I created for an art exhibition in Torquay this weekend. In the photo below the shapes I created with the apricot branches are a bit clearer and this time I have added  some leucadendrons * and a single sedge leaf. 



Photos of the second day of workshops may be viewed  by clicking on the blue text: Mr Umemura in Melbourne * then click on the tab 'Recent Workshops'.

* (click on the blue text for more information)

Greetings from Christopher
9th August 2014

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CONTRAST OF TEXTURES

August 16, 2014, 5:17 pm
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In the garden the Flowering Quince * (Chaenomeles Japonica), also commonly called Japonica, is blossoming well this year; much to my delight. To me this blossom is a strong reminder of beautiful large arrangements of blossoming branches my oldest friend's mother used to make when I was a child. Here it is in our garden.


Last weekend, the local Surfcoast Shire held its annual 'Arts Trail' with the studio spaces of over 30 local artists and art groups being open to the public. An exhibition of paintings by a local study group was held in the Spring Creek Community House and I was invited to participate by creating two ikebana works. I posted a photo of the first of these at the end of last weeks blog entry. Below is a photo of some strongly textured dried agave leaves that I found with interesting shapes. I thought they would go well with the Flowering Quince.


This next photo is of the second work I made using a box shaped ikebana vessel is by NakamuraYutaka * from Echizen in Japan.


On Tuesday, I attended the Annual General Meeting of Ikebana International In Melbourne in which the heads of three schools (Shogetsudokoryu, Sogetsu and Ohara) gave a demonstration on the theme of using Willow. The following link will take you to photos of the demonstration and to other photos of ikebana by attending members.
Ikebana International Melbourne August meeting * . 

* Click on the coloured text for further information.

Greetings from Christopher
17th August 2014
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EVOLUTION OF FORM and RECYCLING OF MATERIALS

August 23, 2014, 6:46 pm
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At the beginning of August I posted some photos from the workshops run by Mr Umemura for the Victorian Branch of the Sogetsu School. One of the exercises that he set was the 'Intertwining of Materials', a subject I had coincidently set for my students a few weeks earlier. The two photos below are of an ikebana arrangement by my student Maureen. I really liked the way she had made her intertwining materials also stretch upward in a strong vertical movement.


This second photo shows the lines emerging from the vase and then entwining.



The Apricot in our garden is self-sown and does not fruit well. However, it provides some shade and screens the north wall of the conservatory in summer




The next photo is one I posted two weeks ago of an ikebana work I made for the Surfcoast Shire Art Trail using winter branches of the apricot. I had joined the tips of the branchlets together to make crescent shaped curves. This was the final evolution of my experiments with these branches from my garden.



The arrangement below is the earliest version of using this material, with cotoneaster berries as a focal contrast. The split cylinder vase was originally designed by Hiroshi Teshigahara * and the surface design in this case was designed by the Iemoto Akane Teshigahara * for her tenth anniversary year.


Greetings from Christopher
24th August 2014
 * Click on the coloured text for further information.
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WINTER STARTS TO PASS

August 30, 2014, 5:58 am
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As we transition from Winter to Spring, on the south coast of Victoria, the weather has become unexpectedly calm with cool foggy mornings followed by bright sunny afternoons. At this time of year the weather is often unsettled and windy. Not so recently, so Laurie  and I took the opportunity to visit a nearby nature reserve called Iron Bark Basin. The view below is from the road at the top of a ridge looking out to the sea.



This is the walking track through the basin where the local wattle acacia pycnantha is in bloom.


   


I noticed some correas flowering beside the path. We have a variety of these lovely bell-shaped flowers growing in our garden.






This banksia below is actually beside the path in our garden.


Recently my teacher set the class the exercise of using rope or man-made fibre in an arrangement. In the class my colleague Emily Karanikolopoulos  * used very thick cord that she wrapped around a vessel. She cleverly used the cord as a 'spacer', inserting firm green leaves between the loops and adding a stem of white Japanese Flowering Quince as a focal point.



I decided to use a light blue vase I had been given by a friend. The shape of the vase suggested to me the idea of using 'straight' lines to emphasise it's shape and contrast them with the lines of the rope. By creating straight lines with a single sedge leaf I have also been able to create a space to the righthand side of  the vase in which the rope is then suspended. The bright yellow of the stiff synthetic rope also contrasts well with the colour of the vase. I have added two leucadendron * flower-like heads that surround their seed 'cone'.



Click here for photos of the Melbourne Chapter ofIkebana International annual exhibition at the Gasworks Arts Park *.

Greetings from Christopher
30th August 2014

* Click on the blue text for further information.


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WINTER/SPRING transition time = SPRINTER

September 6, 2014, 10:01 pm
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Last week I commented on the beautiful warm sunny afternoons we had been enjoying in the previous week. Two days later, on the official first day of Spring, September 1st - according to Australian practice, we had a whole day of rain and cold winds. So, I was interested when my brother sent a link to an article by the Director of the Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens, Dr Tim Entwisle, who proposes that we learn from the aboriginal view of the seasons * ( You may need to scroll down to find the article posted 31st August). In our area of Australia five seasons were recognised by those who lived here before European settlement. In the west of our state, about three hours drive from where we live, six seasons were identified according to the Bureau of Meterology Indigenous Weather Knowledge * project.

Below are some additional wildflowers that I had photographed last week in Iron Bark Basin. The first two are of 'Green Hood'* ground orchids, members of the Pterostylis genus.



The next is a 'running postman' flower, kennedia prostrata *.



Speaking of seasons, in two weeks I will make a sudden change from Spring ('Sprinter' as proposed by Dr Entwisle) to Autumn as I will be  in North America. Expect a different look.

Last weekend I attended a Sogetsu Ikebana, Victorian Branch, workshop on the theme of 'A Random Encounter' *. Many more photos are on the 'recent workshops' tab of the Victorian Branch website. Below is a photo of my example followed by a re-working of the exercise I did later at home with different floral material. An explanation of 'random encounter' is given on the Sogetsu Victorian Branch website.





Greetings from Christopher
7th September 2014

* Click on the blue text for more information
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OUT OF SEASON HYDRANGEA

September 13, 2014, 6:25 pm
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About six months ago, at the beginning of autumn, a newly potted hydrangea in the garden suddenly produced a single flower. It grew slowly over winter and I was waiting for it to develop some autumn colour. Although the leaves have gone a satisfying bronze colour, with the very cold winter nights the flower only developed a few spots of pink.




I finally decided I had to pick the flower before going on holidays, in case it withered while were are away. The flecks of pink made me think it would go well in this beautiful red-splashed ceramic bottle by Barry Singleton * . It hardly seemed to need to be arranged. However, I did do some careful pruning, leaving only one of the leaves to counterbalance the large flower.



In this second arrangement I have used some bright pink ranunculus * that I had used in a class-room demonstration. Here I have re-used them with two leaf stems from a strelitzia in a white ceramic vase. I was interested to learn that these flowers are in the same family as buttercups and have toxins that may cause dermatitis if handled too much. Take care.  



* Click blue text for further information

Greetings from Christopher
14th September 2014
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New York, New York.

September 20, 2014, 5:57 pm
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The view below is of the  lower Manhattan skyline, with the Brooklyn bridge in the foreground, taken from the Manhattan bridge. We arrived in New York last Monday evening.


Our flight from Australia was long and somewhat exhausting. A gentle walk in Central Park was restorative. 



I certainly had not expected to see such a natural feature as these beautiful rocky outcrops.


We took this walk after our first engagement on Tuesday in New York, which was luncheon at the Nippon Club and a demonstration by Ms Nobu Kurashige * , Head Ikenobo Professor and Managing Director of Ikenobo North American Headquarters.  


Here are some of the elegant works she created.

               
            
                
              
                     
The next photo shows some of the attendees viewing the ikebana after the luncheon. 


On the next day Laurie and I visited the Frick Collection. To me, a little slice of Europe, in an exquisite house museum overlooking Central Park. The quite amazing collection included portraits by Holbein of Thomas Moore and Thomas Cromwell * . The life of the latter is the subject of two recent books by Hilary Mantel.


( * Click on the blue text for further information)

Greetings from Christopher
in New York.

20th September 2014
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IN MEMORIUM: CARLYNE PATTERSON

September 26, 2014, 9:11 pm
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Last week I was asked why this blog is named 'roadside ikebana'. At the time I began studying Sogetsu Ikebana in Melbourne (2001), I was driving into the countryside on a regular basis in the course of my work. On these trips my 'ikebana eyes' would often notice material growing by the side of the road that would be suitable for my next class, which I would then collect and put in the boot of my car. When my teacher would ask me 'What have you got there?' I would reply 'I am doing some roadside ikebana today'. Here I go again. In the first picture below are some 'ink berries' * (Phytolacca americana) that I saw growing through a hoarding at the edge of a Brooklyn footpath.

              


You will notice, in the photo above, that there are also some other grasses that have a pinkish tinge to the seed head. Although it doesn't show, further along the path is a miscanthus-looking reed that has a similar hue in the feathery flowerhead.



These are the roadside materials that I used for this arrangement that I created in a ceramic vessel I bought at the Guggenheim Museum in New York last week.


My first teacher in Australia was Carlyne Patterson, who died last week from Motor Neurone Disease. Below is a photo of my class in October 2004, with Carlyne on the right of the group. This was the occasion of the first exhibition of 'Ikebana at Qdos' in which we made ikebana in vessels created by Graeme Wilkie and his colleagues at the Qdos Gallery.



From left to right. Graeme Wilkie (ceramic artist), Philip Keon, Maria Hernandes y Jensen (ceramic artist), Sara Forsythe, Christine Theodorou, Annette MacKintosh, me and Carlyne Patterson.

Carlyne was a keen ikebanist and teacher until her illness prevented her practise only a few months ago. When I was her student she pushed me beyond my 'comfort zone' on many occasions and was renowned for her modern approach and frequent use of unconventional materials. She participated in the 50th anniversary exhibition of the Victorian Branch in May this year. The images below are of her directing and setting up at that exhibition.   

    
  
        

This work above is hers from the Qdos exhibition of 2005


The following year she created this out-door work using bark gathered from the sculpture garden, painted palm spathe and wire (faintly visible around the top of this large vessel). 


This very contemporary work, from a 2007 exhibition, was a collaborative piece by some of her students in which I think she was also a creative force.
 

Above is her last publicly shown ikebana work at the 50th Anniversary Exhibition of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana Victorian Branch.
Vale Carlyne and thank you.

Christopher 
27th September 2014

* Click on the blue text for further information.
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STORM KING

October 4, 2014, 8:07 pm
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Our Australian friend, Brett, who lives in New York took us to the Storm King Art Centre  * two weeks ago. This is a large sculpture park about an hours drive north of the city. I was keen to go there to see an environmental art work by the British sculptor, Andy Goldsworthy. In my experience his work often appeals to Sogetsu ikebanists in particular. This project, made in 1997 - 1998, is called 'Running Wall' (Click on the blue text to see a really interesting article about it in American Scientist). There is a comment in the article stating that Goldsworthy's work is 'most alive' immediately it is finished, that is, just before it starts to decay. To me this is at the essence of ikebana, the transitory nature of our creations. Below are some photos I took of 'Running Wall'.



The next photo shows a large rugged sculpture that looked like a massive pile of slate.


It turned out to be small blocks of cypress covered in graphite. The texture was wonderful.


This sculpture, of metal tubes, had a great sense of movement. Only three of the tubes are anchored in the ground, the rest are supported by wires under tension.




It makes me wonder about trying the same technique with bamboo. 

Here are three photos I took of wild flowers in the park. I don't know what any of them are.


Actually the one above could be the dried head of 'Queen Anne's Lace' * (daucus carota).




I have seen a lot of the yellow flower in the photo above growing wild, and think it looks lovely, fresh and bright. So, I was delighted to find some in a vase of our Chicago apartment. I used it and some tan coloured chrysanthemum to create the ikebana below.



Greetings from Christopher
4th October 2014

* Click on the blue text for further information. 
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CHICAGO and OTTAWA

October 11, 2014, 1:03 pm
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Thanks to Amos from Maryland, I have been advised that the blue flower in last weeks blog was a 'bachelor button' Centaurea cyanus, the yellow one was Canada Golden Rod Solidago Canadensis and the dried one, was indeed Queen Anne's Lace. 

We (Laurie and I) spent the week before last in Chicago, where we were particularly keen to see some of Frank Lloyd Wright's * architecture. We did a three hour walking tour of his original home and studio, some nearby houses and the Unity Temple (Unitarian Universalist Church). 



The front of the house.



Living room.



In the dining room Wright used the very high backs of the chairs he designed to create a 'room within a room'.


Gallery of the studio of his architectural practice.



The Unity Temple *. Wright's mother was a member of this congregation.

After a week in Chicago we flew to Ottawa where, on Saturday morning of last week, I gave a workshop for teachers of the Ottawa Branch of the Sogetsu School on 'construction techniques' (using dowelling): photo below. 



After creating sculptures, the teachers added fresh material in the form of 'accordion leaves' (Molineria capitulata) only.


The example above was my demonstration piece. Below are three photos of work by some attendees. I must apologise for the poor quality of the pictures; I had the camera on the wrong setting.






The image above shows the only example of work created from 'dressed' timber. The ikebanist who created it explained that she had to carry her material on a bus and this was the easiest to transport. The result was a very contemporary look with a strong contrast between the fresh material and the sculpture.



The afternoon workshop, in which students also participated, was on the theme of 'colours in the same tonal range' or 'colours in contrast', using autumn materials. My demonstration work above, is an arrangement without kenzan using ash and some red leaves that I collected from the roadside. I really enjoyed giving the workshop for the Ottawa Branch members and was delighted with the enthusiastic engagement of the attendees. The idea for giving the workshop came from Leonora Duffield who, with her husband Richard, have been generous hosts to Laurie and me. We are most appreciative.

For more photos of our travels: Christopher and Laurie in North America *.


Greetings from Christopher in Ottawa,
(with apologies to J.R.R.Tolkien).

The sculpture is 'Maman' by Louise Bourgeois at the National Gallery of Canada.

* Click on the blue text for more information.



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