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Your Fireball and Ikebana

7/11/2020

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Life is a like a fireball. It can consume you, vaporize you leaving only aerosols of your humanity. Can you escape this fate? If so, how?

People use different strategies to live and not just survive but thrive. One commonly recommended approach is to go back to the earth, cool green refreshing nature. How so in the city dweller’s environment? If you are not lucky enough to have a patch of green in your condo “yard” or a home with a lush landscaped yard, whatever the size, you still can evoke the refreshing feeling of nature in a container on your coffee table, teacart, or bar no matter how tiny your abode.
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Yes, bring nature to your personal space and benefit from its calming effect. When you are designing an arrangement in the Japanese way of Ikebana you experience a communion with nature as you handle those stems and flowers and even the other accessories you might choose to complement the floral arrangement. Last week, I used a nesting doll of frogs to accompany yellow yarrow (from a planter by my garage) and Japanese iris (from the grocer) in a long, narrow container. It sat on a bench in my living area for over a week and was a refreshing view each time I walked by. 

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Minimalism - "ma" - and More

4/30/2017

 
Minimalism is the buzzword of this decade, and much to my surprise, this word has crept into the Ikebana lexicon.  According to Merriam-Webster.com, it is a style or technique in music, literature, or design that is characterized by extreme spareness and simplicity. Its early use was in Russian political theory around 1902 and in architectural design in the mid-1920s.  Minimalism became a popular term for the modern abstract school of visual arts in the mid-1960s.  Now, not only I, but also many Ikebana artists are looking to this term or concept to guide our work.  Everywhere one looks in the current literature and on the Internet; minimalism pops up in conjunction with Ikebana. 
 
I first learned the word, ma in The Japanese Mind, edited by Davies, Roger and Ikeno, Osamu.  There, it is defined as “an empty space full of meaning”, which is fundamental to the Japanese arts and present in many fields of artistic endeavor (p38 Kindle version).
The hidden meaning is sought as one holds the floral materials when making an Ikebana arrangement. 
 
The “more” is just that: initially unseen meaning apparent from employing minimalism and ma in our designs.  Just as one reads “between the lines” in a text, one can experience meaning in the unoccupied space of a minimalist arrangement.

(I shared these concepts at a recent demonstration and workshop for Ikebana International #41.We used only orchids for the floral material to illustrate the variety in one compelling plant type. Attendees brought their own newly purchased orchid plant and cut the blooms (with much anguish) to use in their arrangements.That event informs the theme of this blog post.)


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Minimalism on Refreshment Table by Master Ichiyo Instructor Chowning

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Outside The Comfort Zone:  Christmas-themed Arrangements

12/23/2016

 
We ventured out of our comfort zone, Ichiyo, into more traditional arrangements, but with 21st century élan.  After all, Ikebana is about the designer, the setting, and the time, Christmas 2016.
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These three arrangements illustrate what this “fuzion” is all about.  Using features from various schools undeniably nuances the art form.  
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Traditional, nearly Rikka style Ikebana


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    Author: Mable Orndorff 

    Ikebana Practitioner - 25 yrs
    Ikebana Instructor - 14 yrs

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