My attempt at a Seika (a formal form that utilizes a a three-branch composition based on an asymmetrical triangle) made of juniper branches from my Saga Goryu Ikebana class today. It’s not an easy arrangement to do, and I am quite sure I will be doing it over and over again until I gain the skill to do it with ease. Today it was passable as a seika arrangement, with practice it will get better.
Archive for July, 2011
365 Days of Ikebana-Day 14
Sunday, July 31st, 2011
365 Days of Ikebana-Day 13
Saturday, July 30th, 2011
A gradual move to begin working outside the box, that’s what I ultimately want. Today a small shift outside my comfort zone and into something a bit more sculptural. Definately nothing new or earth shattering, just a small shift in the right direction.
365 Days of Ikebana-Day 12
Friday, July 29th, 2011
The record heat today made it difficult to do anything, and by record heat I mean 104 degrees! I had lots to do this morning, and an appointment to run to, so all my creating had to be done after noon and at that point the temperature had already hit 100 degrees. So I pulled a few dried aspidistra leaves paired with a bit of trifoliate orange and some left over green button chrysanthemums from Tuesday to make my offering for the day. Quickly doing the photos in the studio wasn’t easy. There is only one window that allows air in and out and the rest is just like being enclosed in a sauna. We need to get a thermometer in there just to know how hot a sauna really is. I worked fast and managed to eek out a small arrangement, just enough to make me happy with my continued efforts. Neither rain , nor snow, nor blast of record heat will keep me from my daily creativity.
365 Days of Ikebana-Day 11
Thursday, July 28th, 2011
Day 11 of my 365 Days of Ikebana brought me a chance to have a “do over” of a piece I did earlier in the spring. I used the same purple vase and the Hana Dome (flower fixture) I had made of cherry branches for the original design, and chose some flowers. I have an interesting whorled leaf begonia that I have growing in the garden, so I chose a stem of that because it was beatiful and went well with the vase and branches. There isn’t much blooming in this mid-summer heat so I found some dried billy balls(craspedia) and the last pink hydrangea bloom left. This is the final version of the ikebana arrangement, after working on it for a while it became more of a horizontal design and much improved from the earlier spring version.
365 Days of Ikebana-Day 10
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011
It was suggested to me that today I should try to do a small ikebana arrangement. It’s hot and dry and not a lot in bloom in the garden right now, so the perfect time to try working on a small scale.
365 Days of Ikebana-Day 9
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
My Sogetsu Ikebana class was tonight, so I used it to make my arrangement for today. We were given materials in shades of green to do ikebana using materials in the same tonal range. Lots of possibilities, with lots of materials to use: green button chrysanthemums, iris and nandina foliage, hosta leaves, and amaranthus. The triangular shape of my blue container lent itself to triangular shapes using the iris leaves, and from there I worked to bring the different shades of green together in pleasing design with some open space (which is referred to as “negative space”). Wonderful to return to my studies again after a few weeks out of town.
365 Days of Ikebana-Day 8
Monday, July 25th, 2011
My fist day back in WAshington,DC after a few weeks away. It’s nice to be home and have a larger selection of ikebana containers and some photographic backgrounds. Today my arrangement is done with hosta leaves and blue balloon flower from the garden, and a dried bird of paradise leaf.
365 Days of Ikebana-Day 7
Sunday, July 24th, 2011
It’s 4:30am and I forgot to bring any flowers inside to do my ikebana, and I tried going out with a flashlight but that didn’t work out so well. I had forgotten about the coyotes here, and got just a wee bit afraid of roaming in my parents garden without being able to see well. So I decided to use the flowers from the older ikebana arrangements I had done. This really is more of a traditional design, but we’ll call it ikebana using mass for today.
365 Days of Ikebana-Day 6
Saturday, July 23rd, 2011
My quick ikebana for today, I’m busy trying to pack and get ready to travel tomorrow. Up at 4:30am, hoping to get a small arrangement done,photographed, and posted.
365 Days of Ikebana-Day 5
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
Day 5 was a challenge in the oppressive heat. I wanted to find some greenbrier vines in the woods, and the heat and bugs were terrible. After searching for a bit I managed to find some. I had also wanted to use the magnolia obtusa (which my family calls “the cucumber tree”) and I located a few branches with blooms that I could reach. The foliage on each one was in terrible shape, so I removed it all. It is rather beautiful with the foliage, maybe tomorrow I will take my camera to get some photos of the branches that I can’t get to. So far this week I’m happy that I am creating again, reminding myself that as this project goes on it will get better.