On August 13, 2010 at 7:30pm our teacher Ms.Lin will have a ceremony in memory of her daughter at Indian valley public library. She donated and contributed big collection of books to the library in her daughter's name. An Evening of Ikebana (flower arrangement) , Calligraphy, and Tea Ceremony will be held. All the program will be presented by Ms. Lin and some of her students. In this arrangement the leaves were stripped off from burning bush branches, bent, disassembled and rearranged . Withered sunflowers look very cool and cute. Below were the sunflowers opened a month before.(8-03-2010)
The surface created by massing of lines means assembled lines created with the plant materials without leaves. You can combine the lines of gathered materials, but do not always look alike and with subtle variations in color, shape and texture.
In this lesson, disassembling or taking apart the plant materials into their elemental pieces, we make a new composition using these pieces. It is difficult at the beginning to understand. But arranging a composition, the materials are trimmed, disassembled, and combined with other materials and made into an arrangement. This process is part of every Ikebana without our knowing it. The bare Oriental Pear branch is placed at the base(Deer clean out all the leaves and fruit). The other branch with Pear is fixed. Two Oriental Lilies add to the overall mood. Then new composition is created. All the materials came from my own yard.(7-20-2010)
To combine Nageire and Nageire, it would be a good idea to arrange the same materials partially between the two or use similar containers. In this arrangement, I use different heights of vases and arrange same materials to make two different units connected together. My teacher said branches of Burning bushes were trimmed nicely. The beautiful Zinnia flower seeds were given by Cindy (Ikebana classmate) last year. I sowed those seeds early in spring. This genus is an excellent source of cut flowers.(7-20-2010)
We have Taiwanese American /East Coast Summer Conference every year in the week of July 4th. This is our tradition. Ms. Lin is invited to have a seminar in the meeting and to display the technique of Ikebana. She is also in charge of decorating entire meeting hall. We are assigned to assist her to arrange the flowers. (6-15-2010)
Today we had a very interesting assignment,which we had to arrange reception table for wedding. This is a happy occasion , you want to express cheer and symbolize purity and sincerity of love for the happy couple. Wild rose branch combined with delicate hydrangea showing pink, blue and white. My white shiny ribbon around the branch set forth different taste. Everybody in the class admired its beauty. (6-15-2010)
Our teacher wants us to express ourselves in Ikebana as today's assignment. Make an arrangement by looking at flowers and yourself, and ask yourself what Ikebana you want to arrange from there. You can put your life stories and your philosophy in it. I used black container and painted black branch with light purple clematis
This is my mail box with two clematis around, one is white and the other is light purple .The yellow flowers are Stella D'Oro daylily.
When choosing to omit any of the main stems, Soe is omitted first. This Basic Slanting Style (variation No.4) , is composed 45 degree of Shin and 75 degree of Hikae without Soe and doesn't lose its balance . In most cases, as long as the work has Hikae, it can be somehow viewed as Ikebana. The Hikae, Gaillardia (Daisy-like flowers), are easy to grow and make good cut flowers. This picture was taken at home, which I forgot to take in the class. (6-01-2010)
It is the show time for Iris. At today's class, our assignment is using Iris as a main part in the arrangement. The basic style of arranging these flowers is to enclose a small numbers of flowers nicely with large numbers of leaves. And normally arranged in a shallow container in order to show the water, but you can also use a basket as a container to make it look more delicate . Ms. Lin demonstrated compositions of straight lines and arrangement of Iris today. I used horse tail to make it look taller with three Japanese Iris and a lot of leaves to complete my assignment. It looks soft and graceful.(5-18-2010)
Receiving Ms. Lin's e-mail, I was so glad I didn't throw away those branches last week. Making an arrangement only with branches using two or more kinds was today's assignment. Studying the different characteristics of branches such as their shape, and try to make the most of their unique features is important. Those handsome Heavenly blue's branches combining with flowering Azalea branches, created an artistic expression. I am so delighted for the arrangement. (5-4-2010)
Variation No.3 Upright Style Moribana means Soe is shifted to the front-right with 45 degree and Hikae is in the center keeping 75 degree inclination. The sunny yellow Double-flowered Daffodil(Narcissus 'Fortune') blossom in my garden.It is so pretty in spring, and Lilac just begin to spot new leaves. I combined those two spring materials to arrange my assignment. I like it very much because it shows the new life. (4-06-2010)
This was my last lesson for book one Happy!. In the class Ms. Lin demonstrated again the basic technique to secure branches in the vase. Cross bar fixture , Vertical type fixture or Direct fixing always a challenge for us. The Calla Lily and Euonymus were preserved two weeks ago, so I enjoyed cost free this time.
In order to improve my photo skill, I purchased a new camera Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX7 and took pictures again. I think this picture had better shot.(4-07-2010)
This assignment had to use at least 5 objects or containers,and arrange in a tray or piece of paper or a map. The purpose of this lesson was to train us to have a ideal of Ikebana in a free style manner and geometrical sense.
In this lesson, water is regarded more consciously as an element of the composition. There are various ways of using water, such as emphasizing the water surface, showing the water through a transparent vase. I used left over bamboo from New Year arrangement, and arranged upside down. With three white calla lily which created different composition and also expressed meanings of water. I am so delighted , since my teacher likes my arrangement. The top picture I took at home with white background. Does it look better? (3-2-2010)
This was the first class, since last winter storm . We canceled one class on Feb. 16 due to limited parking spaces and concern about driving safety. Finally,we were so happy to have class on March 2nd. I took this assignment for my make up class, which was made by reversing the positions of basic upright style. (3-2-2010)
Ikebana is not something to be placed only on a table or a desk, but you can be displayed on top of or on a cabinet shelf or on a pedestal. If the arrangement is placed above eye level, it is to be viewed from below. The composition must be made by taking this view into consideration. To practice this arrangement, you can bring a box as a pedestal to put on the table and then put your container on it . In this lesson, Ms. Lin said, we got the point to express well. We should always keep in mind, as Ms. Lin said "Less is more" and " group the flowers". Sometimes it slipped from my mind, but after teacher's magic touch it looked quite different in the top picture. (2-2-10)
