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MASSED EXPRESSION
This week Roadside Ikebana comes to you from Adelaide, South Australia. We came to visit a long-standing friend of Laurie's whom we have not seen for several years. While here we visited the Botanic...
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BANKSIA SPECIOSA
The annual exhibition for 2024 finished yesterday, Saturday 23rd November, with a demonstration presented by Aileen Duke, the Deputy Director of the Victorian Branch. Photos of the final weeks of the...
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LEAVES ONLY
Last Tuesday was very warm. Suddenly, a day in the mid-thirties. Perhaps, rather unsurprisingly, the warmth brought out an echidna that was foraging beside a path in the sand dunes.The black arrow...
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SMOKEBUSH: COTINUS CORRYGRIA
 In the garden, a week and a half ago, I noticed that the Brachychiton AcerIfolius was looking unhealthy. Some of the leaves were yellowing and dropping. I was worried that it may have had an insect...
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SHOWING LINES AT THE BASE: USING TWO VESSELS
During the final term for this year of my Geelong class, I asked the senior students to choose the subject for each week's exercise. At the class on 28th of November the chosen theme was an Ikebana...
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STRELITZIA NICOLAI
The structure that I created for the first week of the Sogetsu Victoria Branch Annual Exhibition in November (see below) has now been "re-purposed".It is now serving as a Christmas decoration. That is,...
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MAKING SOMETHING OLD, NEW AND FRESH
The theme set by one of the students for the second-last Geelong class, was to make "a table arrangement without using flowers"; an interesting and slightly counter-intuitive theme given the lead up to...
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RED CORYMBIA FICIFOLIA
The corymbia in the garden has started to bloom again this summer. This particular one has bright red flowers. Others have pink, white or orange flowers.I climbed the fence to photograph the top of the...
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MELALEUCA LANCEOLATA and VALERIANA RUBER
On Thursday afternoon last week... ...Laurie and I were surprised that we did not notice this Echidna until we were only about three metres away. It was very preoccupied fossicking for ants in the...
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A SLANTING ARRANGEMENT of CROCOSMIA
At the beginning of the week, as I was preparing for bed, I noticed this small lizard, a Marbled Gecko, on the outside glass of the living room window. The grey lines behind the lizard are external...
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UMBRELLA GRASS: CYPERUS ALTERNIFOLIUS
Last week I noticed that a number of stems of the umbrella grass Cyperus alternifolius in the conservatory were yellowing. I think from insufficient water. I have them growing in a small plastic pond...
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CROSSING LINES
My apologies to subscribers, for not noticing that I had inadvertently published the photos a few hours ago, before I had started to write the text. As I stepped out of the back door last Monday a pair...
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LIFE IMITATES ART
Recently, Laurie and I attended a National Gallery of Victoria members' after hours viewing of the current Yayoi Kusama exhibition. It is an extraordinarily comprehensive survey of her life's work....
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VARIATION NUMBER 3
This week marked the return to Ikebana activities for 2025. My Geelong students returned to class last Thursday. Jo's exercise was to make an ikebana using direct fixing. This means not using any...
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IKEBANA WITH ROSES
 There have been some richly colourful sunsets recently which have been pleasant to enjoy as the season changes to late summer.I caught this moment looking a Bird Rock on Jan Juc Beach just after the...
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ASPIDISTRA LEAVES
On Friday afternoon I had some free time before going to a concert and had a walk around Johnstone Park in Geelong. In the bright afternoon sunlight I noticed that some of the large Brachychiton's were...
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EXPRESSIONS OF SUMMER
In a recent Geelong class, Jo's exercise was to make a freestanding structure with bare branches. Then she had to re-position the structure with, or in, a vessel. Finally, she was required to add fresh...
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SYDNEY DEMONSTRATION AND WORKSHOPS
 This week I am sending a brief blog post, having just arrived back from three days in Sydney where I was invited to present a public demonstration on Saturday and two workshops today.This photo shows...
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CASCADING COOTAMUNDRA WATTLE
After last weekend in Sydney, I am back in Torquay. When I get further photos from Sogetsu Sydney's 65th anniversary I will present them or provide a link. This weekend's ikebana shows recent work of...
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"FLOATING" LEAF
In my Geelong class, Maree's exercise was a continuation of the fixing practice necessary when using a Tsubo (spherical) vase. In this case, the very long branch on the left side has been stabilised by...
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GOLDEN ROD (The Canadian weed)
In my Melbourne class recently ......my student Chen has advanced from Moribana ikebana arrangements in a Suiban (shallow vessel) to the next stage in the Sogetsu curriculum. That is, arranging...
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EXPERIMENTING WITH PAPYRUS
Two weeks ago I set my senior Melbourne students the fairly traditional exercise of making an ikebana using Autumn grasses, arranged in a basket. Eugenia collected all the materials from her garden,...
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RED PAPER
In late March, Laurie noticed a flower spike on the Dracaena fragrans in the conservatory.When I came closer to investigate I was really surprised to see the spike. I had never never thought about the...
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THE LAST HYDRANGEA OF AUTUMN
In the garden this week:Two of the Hydrangeas, which can only survive in pots in our garden, have developed a rather lovely autumn colouring. Both of these produce a fairly deep pink flower. The second...
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HIROE SWEN
In preparing photos for my weekly posting I usually crop and colour-correct as best I can. I also remove distracting elements from the background of ikebana photos where possible. Unfortunately I...
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