Journal archive
September 25, 2011
My arrangement today is the heika from my Saga Goryu Ikebana class. In the design are pomegranate branches, solidago and rose hips. This is the more clasical school I study and I find it to be a lot more difficult, lots of rules and challenging arrangements. Still it does add to my understanding of basic […]
Read story →September 24, 2011
Mass and curved lines are the theme for today, mass is created here by castor bean and craspedia and kiwi vine forms the curved lines. It’s worth mentioning that castor beans are extremely poisonous, so care should be taken to make sure they are placed in a safe place out of the reach of children […]
Read story →September 23, 2011
For today’s ikebana arrangmetn I chose to re-use the manipulated equisetum form again, it’s still in good shape today and the inspiration struck. It’s always nice to show variations and how the same materials or form can be used in different ways. I used a different container, and added a single dried aspidistra leaf and […]
Read story →September 22, 2011
A short enty since it is so late at night, the manipulated equisetum is from the workshop I helped teach tonight at the Freer Gallery of Art. I brought home the piece I made and added the beautiful dahlia. So my work for today is finally complete. Sweet dreams!
Read story →September 21, 2011
Every day presents a challenge in getting an arrangement done, some days I am pretty worn out and I am afraid of hitting the wall. Despite the fact that I have had one of those long days I still did it. It’s due to the success of developing a daily habit of creating, and that […]
Read story →September 20, 2011
It’s such a simple arrangement, but it makes me laugh a bit. The single peach surrounded by the foxtail millet is like a beach unbrella, or palm tree (or Sideshow Bob, if you’re a fan of “The Simpsons”). Perhaps it was made to remind me not to take things so seriously, some days there will […]
Read story →September 19, 2011
My return to my Sogetsu Ikebana classes tonight after a brief summer break was a delight. I didn’t have to go cut flowers, or go buy them, I just went to class and had them handed to me. The hard part about that is trying to work with a combination that you are given. The […]
Read story →September 18, 2011
Autumn leaves called me today, and I collected them one by one. They were massed on a branch to create a hana kubari (flower holder) and a sinble sunflower was placed in it. The branch created a contrasting movement to the self made vase I used. It’s a simple arrangement really, but it captures the […]
Read story →September 17, 2011
My daily work keeps drifting back to leaf manipulation, it’s a really dynamic way to add an interesting and different element to designs. Today I started altering a banana leaf to see if I could make it work, but I was trying too hard to make it fit with the arrangement I had started. I’m […]
Read story →September 16, 2011
Miniature ikebana facinates me, it seem so simple but it is hard to do. It takes skill to make something so small look so good. I’m alsways on the hunt for small containers to work with, little vases and bottles of all sorts, they just fuel my desire to make these delicate gems. The late […]
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