My Ikebana: Cornered

Here is an arrangement to brighten up a dull corner on the stairs landing!

I hope you like it. —Miyako

My Ikebana: Improvising With Paper

When I was about to start on this ikebana arrangement, I was shocked to find that the flowers I had prepared were already wilting! No good for an arrangement! So, I was on the spot and needed to improvise.

Luckily, the Sogetsu School allows for the use of unconventional materials. There were some bright red paper lying around the studio…and they were transformed to replace the flowers!

Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. —Miyako

My Ikebana: Asian Heritage Month Demonstration

Last Saturday afternoon (May 25, 2019) was the Asian Heritage Month closing celebration at the Halifax Central Library. There were many wonderful cultural performances from India, China, Philippines, Japan etc. We were honoured to participate and present an ikebana demonstration.

Our many thanks to our kuroko , Karen B for helping us in the shadows, on- and off-stage…and to friend, Christina K for taking the great photos!

Photo credit: Kent Martin

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Here’s a fun photo with the St. Mary’s University Wadaiko (Japanese drums) group. They gave a very exciting performance too!

My Ikebana: Using Furoshiki

Furoshiki (風呂敷) is the the traditional Japanese wrapping cloth. It is used to wrap mostly small hand-carry things and gifts. It is the old style re-usable “bag” except it is really just a simple square fabric.

For this exercise, furoshiki was used to wrap the vase and make a hanging arrangement. The corners of the fabric, tied together made the perfect place to hang it from.

Here is a closer view seen from below.

The convenient thing about using furoshiki is that we don’t have to care about the appearance of the container! We only have to make sure that it will balance well inside the cloth.

I hope you like this idea. —Miyako

My Ikebana: Using A Fruit Basket

I bought this container at a local supermarket in Tokyo. It was meant to be a fruit basket (but it is ceramic). With the dried vines as handle, it was perfect as a flower container as well! So, in the same way we put a variety of fruit in a basket, I used a variety of flowers: liatris, alstroemeria, anastasia…plus forsythia branches from the backyard!

Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. —Miyako

My Ikebana: From The Floor

Most of the time, we learn to make arrangements to be placed on a table or stand. But if we look around our surroundings, sometimes we can find lovely spaces on the floor as well. This arrangement is laid on the floor on purpose. The intention is for the viewer to see it while looking downward from standing position.

I used an obi (kimono sash) as a way to give a sense of space around the arrangement.

The placement is on a stairs landing. Here is what you would see as you round the corner coming from downstairs.

I also made sure that the arrangement could be appreciated as one comes down from upstairs.

I hope you like it. —Miyako

My Ikebana: Nova Scotia Holly

Winter time in Nova Scotia. Lots of festive materials in the farmer’s market. I came upon these wonderful bundles of Nova Scotia holly.

And from there came my winter holiday-themed arrangement!

Merry Christmas! —Miyako

My Ikebana: Heavy Hydrangea

This arrangement was from a few months ago…when the weather was still warm! I found some lovely hydrangea with robust blooms in purple and green. I purposely chose very flat containers to further draw attention to the flowers.

Extra Detail: I left some space between the mouth of the container and the flowers so that the shape of the container may be properly appreciated as well!

I hope you like it. —Miyako

My Ikebana: Holiday Arrangement For Office

Here is a holiday-themed arrangement created for our friends at the North Star Immigration Law office. The arrangement gives us the festive & glittery feel of the holidays on a red-white colour theme.

I hope you like it. —Miyako

My Ikebana: Tsubo on TV

In the Season 8 opener of CBC’s hit comedy series “Mr. D”, the main character, Gerry, goes to Tokyo to seek his fortune. Here is a screenshot of a scene set in a Tokyo apartment. Do you see the ikebana?

Screenshot from “Mr. D”, Season 8, Ep 1, aired on Nov 7th, 2018.
Watch the episode here. (For Canadian audiences only.)

“Mr. D” is actually shot here in Halifax and the school they use for most of the scenes is located a few blocks from our shop! The set department did a wonderful job of re-creating the inside of a Tokyo apartment here in Halifax. We were honoured to help with this by providing an ikebana arrangement to the set.

Photo courtesy of Barb L. Thank you!

We hope you enjoyed the show….and liked the ikebana!