Ikebana Using Colored, Dried and Fresh Materials

This is my latest ikebana work using a dried sunflower saved from last summer, a branch that I have colored red, and a fresh begonia leaf from the garden. The branch was found in the street, an interesting shape that caught my eye so I brought it home to use. I stripped the bare completely off (most of it was already bare and the rest was ready to be removed easily) and then I cleaned it and applied a base coat of white paint by hand. I’ve given up using spray paints, not very good for the environment or my lungs, and I had been curious about painting by hand and what result I could achieve with that method .The paints are old acrylics from the 1970’s, so I guess it can be considered a form of recycling. After the white base coat dried I added the coat of red and loved the results. Painting by hand is slow and laborious, somewhat meditative, but the end effect is one that I love. So much better than spray painting in many ways!