Kate Graham lead a workshop showing how Ikebana can complement a Haiku

July 11, 2021 Ikebana Wellington

Kate sharing her haiku interpretation in an arrangement of yellow chrysanthemums and a large radish lying across the container. ‘After the chrysanthemums Besides the long turnip There is nothing’ Basho

Kate’s workshop was from Book 5 lesson 20 Complementing an Artwork - What is felt or inspired by it is important, as that can be a source of new creative ideas.

Members chose or wrote a haiku and created a freestyle arrangement to complement their haiku. The haiku was written on a card.

A Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry. Jonathon Clements book "Zen Haiku" has this to say “Haiku can transform the most mundane of moments into something special.

Kate encouraged us to consider:
What feelings/emotions do you experience when reading the haiku?
Can you imagine the scene and what the poet wanted to convey?
How might you convey these into an arrangement?

The choice of materials will help to express the sentiment, Haiku often refer to a particular season (and its colour and features), is it a wintry or summery feel, what colours of flowers, leaves or branches best convey this. Is there a sense of softness/hardness, happiness/melancholy silence/noise isolation/fullness...

Irises bloom
Over my feet
Blue sandal laces [Basho]

Camellia petals drop
spilling
Yesterday’s rain. [Basho]

Tangling the willow
and untangling
the wind blows {Chiyojo]

Autumn evening
A crow perching
On a withered bough [Basho}

Experimenting
I hung the moon
On various branches
Of the pine

'A clear waterfall Into the ripples Fall green pine-needles' Basho

Masako - 'Climbing a stone path Through sunless rocky walls Fragrance of daphne' - translation Jonathan Crawford

Elizabeth used a piece of driftwood with a touch of spring in a container revealing stones in water

Erris used a mass of lilly pilly berries with a karaka branch

Adriana - 'Winter solitude - In a world of one colour The sound of the wind'

Winter rose

Yoko, Kate and Julie admire Yoko's arrangement

Yoko created a wintry feel with bare branches and fresh winter sweet to herald spring

Setsuko used balanced branches in a special container revealing a small frog in the rippled water

Setsuko - 'The ancient pond A frog leaps in The sound of the water' - Matsuo Basho

Toshiko used red and white camellias in a black container revealing stones and water

Helen - 'Camellia petals drop, spilling Yesterday's rain' - Basho

Maria - 'Flowers in the ground Withered, gnarled turning brown Fading back to dust'

Julie - 'My straw-hat Mingles with the straw-hats Of the rice-planters'

Julie explains the use of a straw-hat and materials she used to interpret the haiku. Yoko is looking on.

Lyn used nandina berries and spring flowers

Satomi demonstrated how to arrange dried materials

June 13, 2021 Ikebana Wellington

Satomi demonstrating using dreid muehlanbeckia with fresh chrysanthemums

Satomi lead a workshop demonstrating how to arrange dried material. It was from Book 4, lesson 13. She showed three arrangements to inspire us. Each used both dried and fresh materials. She stressed the importance of keeping the dried materials out of water as the stems will rot, whilst making sure the fresh materials are in water.

Her first arrangement involved fixing dried strelizia leaves through the hole in the middle of the vase, then adding little bunches of dried statice, then finally a variegated leaf.

The second featured bunches of divaricating muehlenbeckia to build up volume, then adding some fresh flax leaves woven through it, and some chrysanths to finish it off. Finally, her last arrangement involved wiring a tin container in a nook in the branch which allowed the hebe and chrysanths to sit in water, tucked in amongst the dried puka leaves.

Satomi used dried muehlenbeckia with fresh flax leaves and chrysanthemums

Satomi used dried puka leaves in a branch with fresh hebe and chrysanthamums in water, tucked in amongst the dried puka leaves

Satomi used dried strelizia and statice with a fresh variegated leaf

Julie used a dried palm pod, eucalyptus seed head and fresh cotoneaster berries

Kathy used dried flax seed pods with fresh azalea flowers

Setsuko used fresh astelia, alstromeria flowers and dried vine and leaves

Lihong used dried cabbage tree and poppy seed pods and fresh daffodil air plants

Helen used dried flaxheads and yellow seed pods with fresh astelia

Misako used dried fern and toi toi grass with fresh leucadendron

Nicole used dried agapanthus, bamboo grass and palm fibre

Elizabeth used dried puka leaf and muehlenbeckia with fresh primula

Yoko dried fern with fresh yellow daisiess

Adriana dried muehlenbeckia and vine with fresh fatsia leaves and Singapore orchids

Lyn used dried branches and hydrangea seed heads with fresh palm and orchids

A Workshop lead by Sandi Hurnard - using driftwood in an arrangement

May 9, 2021 Ikebana Wellington

Sandi arranged single chrysanthemums and Japanese maple leaves with driftwood in a black container

Sandi gave a workshop at our May meeting. She demonstrated how to use driftwood to effect in an arrangement.

Sandi demonstrating arranging materials with driftwood

Kathy used azaleas and Japanese maple with driftwood

Julie used protea and gum tree seedheads with driftwood

Sandi used red roses, wild broom and lotus seedheads with driftwood

Sandi used agapanthus seedheads and stems, dried grass seed heads and driftwood in an interesting container

Setsuko used hydrangeas and driftwood in a moribana container without kenzan (suiban)

Detail of the suiban arrangement by Setsuko

Elizabeth used chrysanthemums and driftwood in a brown ceramic vase

Masako used lilies and succulents with driftwood in a low container

Lyn used orange chrysanthemums and dried hydrangeas with driftwood.

Kathy used strawberry tree berries, mirror bush leaves and driftwood in a round green container

Helen used protea, and gum leaves with driftwood in a low yellow container

Elizabeth used a round piece of driftwood echoed by the swirl of the fern and swirls in the glass vase. The rose is Cecile Brunner

Chrissiji used flax, mirror bush and succulent with driftwood

Sandi used lilies and varigated flax with driftwood

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