Ikebanafuzion      (Z for Zen)
  • Blog

Tranquility in Green

                   cooling transport

contact

Flowers or Wine - which would you prefer?

4/24/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
You are having a dinner party and a thoughtful guest arrives with a gift for you.  If it's wine, you already know what to do -- find the corkscrew and the wine glasses.  

What if it's flowers? 

Should you hastily find a dusty vase under the cabinet, stuff the bouquet into it and put the “arrangement” on the table? Probably not.


Then you would have only one bunch of flowers; and no matter how lovely and bountiful the blooms, it's still a supermarket bunch of flowers in grandmother's crystal vase. No artistry here.



We use flowers sparingly in Ikebana unlike traditional floral designers, so it possible to get two, three, or even four arrangements out of one standard bunch of 12 or 14 stems.  If you are lucky, some greenery is included in the cellophane funnel.  If not, in the winter, you can use some of your houseplants for stem (line) material, e.g. Ficus, Philodendron, or Sansevieria (Snake Plant).  In summer, most likely there are shrubs and trees in your yard.  I've been known to clip errant shrubs and vines hanging over my fence, not without asking my neighbor of course.  

Think about the lovely roses and pistachio colored button mums pictured here.  What can we do with them? There is an Ikebana container that is just waiting for an arrangement.  How many arrangements will this one bouquet yield?  One for at least two rooms.

The answer will have to wait until the next post. I have no idea as I write now, but as my Sensei (master teacher) always used to say, "Let the flowers speak to you."

Until then, Z for Zen,

Henderson 


0 Comments

My Interpretation of  Moribana in Three                        Ikebana Schools 

4/9/2015

 
Images from my recent demonstration/workshop on distinctive features of some Ikebana Schools

Welcome

4/8/2015

 
Picture
Ikenobo Styles: Rikka, Shoka, and Freestyle
Welcome to IkebanaFuzion.  The impetus for this blog came out of nearly a quarter of a century of arranging floral materials in the Japanese style, Ikebana.  My primary focus is the mental and emotional reward of the ikebana experience.   

Ikebana comes from the term, "living flowers." According to Wikipedia, "Ikebana" is from the Japanese ikeru   (生ける?, "keep alive, arrange flowers, living") and hana (花?, "flower"). Possible translations include "giving life to flowers" and "arranging flowers".[1]

Ikenobo is the oldest Ikebana school.  There are several thousand schools; I find that a classic  Ikenobo arrangement is recognizable by the centrality of the materials in the container.  You will find an interesting commentary on learning in the Ikenobo school in the late Sandra Lynn's blog here.   


Until next time.  


    Author: Mable Orndorff 

    Ikebana Practitioner - 25 yrs
    Ikebana Instructor - 14 yrs

    Categories

    All

    Archives

    December 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.