It’s hard to believe that I am on day 22 of my project: a year of daily ikebana arrangements. One of our two banana trees provided me with some inspiration today, I wanted to so something with some leaves to show their surface. I cut two of the reddish banana leaves and shaped them in the low suiban I had chosen, first cutting one in half and placing it where I wanted it. Then I took the other and cut some of the leaf lengthwise, leaving more leaf surface than the previous one. I also used the half from the first leaf to finish and added a white hosta leaf bloom and blue balloon flower. I couldn’t stay in the studio for very long because the temperature was a steamy 94 degrees, so I could not make any more photos. Later in the day after dusk I went back and did another version that I liked better, with some added lighting that unintentionally brought out the colors a little more. The hosta bloom was taken out and I used the “walls” of the leaves as a hana kubari for the balloon flower. Here it is:
