Journal archive
November 27, 2011
This was my chance to use the vase I bought a few months ago. It’s unusual shape and color never seemed quite right for an arrangement until today. The pale blue vase and light green fuji chrysanthemums were made for each other, and I added in a few bare Bradford pear branches and some stems […]
Read story →November 26, 2011
The last of the wild pink sweet peas, combined with green fuji mums and an aspidistra leaf in a freestyle arrangement. That combination of light pink and green really does go so well together. It has a lot to do with it being a complimentary color scheme, it’s a high contrast of color bbecuase they […]
Read story →November 25, 2011
My practice today was doing a cascading arrangement, and I did practice and practice. Not quite what I wanted, but I kept thinking about what pratice really is. It’s being willing to practice, even when you seem to be getting no where. One of the best books to read about pratice is Mastery: The Keys […]
Read story →November 24, 2011
This isn’t ikebana, they’re simply flowers for Thanksgiving Day. It’s my offering for the holiday table. A day for me to de-stress, relax, give thanks and to just be. I hope for those in the United States celebrating Thanksgiving (and for the rest of the world) you are having a relaxing day with family and […]
Read story →November 23, 2011
Back to the very beginning today, and by that I mean back to the very first arrangment in the Sogetsu ikebana curriculum. Basic upright style is the basis of Sogetsu ikebana. It’s where we learn to measure length of line, placement of branches and flowers and how they relate to each other. Even if it […]
Read story →November 22, 2011
Just a quick arrangement today, not easy considering the vase I used. I got this glass vase as a gift, and I just did not have any idea how I was going to use it. It seems simple enough, and that is the deception. You really have to work to be able to make something […]
Read story →November 21, 2011
The lesson for some of our Sogetsu ikebana class tonight was from the Sogetsu textbook #4 Lesson #10 “Vegetables and/ fruits in an arrangement”. We were asked to bring our own materials to class, so I selected some Daikon radishes, orange peppers and cherries for my arrangement. Our Sensei did a short demonstration to show […]
Read story →November 20, 2011
The Bradford pear branches are in full color today, so I clipped some on my walk today. I’ve waited for the leaves to turn, and the cold weather earlier in the week helped speed that process along. The arrangement is done in two containers, both designs relate to each other to form one arrangement. I […]
Read story →November 19, 2011
The rust/red chrysanthemums were so beautiful that I decided to use them again to create a different design. This vertical composition with the chrysanthemums also has akebia vine and dried aspidistra leaves. The rule for a vertical compostion is that the movement of the design must continue upward, lines can be straight, vurved, zig zag, […]
Read story →November 18, 2011
Hooray! I think that I have my groove back, today’s ikebana arrangement seems to confirm that too. Manipulated curly willow branches and rust/red chrysanthemums were used to make this fall nagiere. This is what an arrangement with chrysanthemums should look like. Only a few were needed, and there is some interesting negative space created with […]
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