Filtering by Tag: exhibit

Tantallon Ikebana Exhibition 2026

Added on May 24, 2026 by the ikebana shop.

Our ikebana exhibition was held on May 21-23, 2026 at the Tantallon Public Library. Exhibitions are always a special time for our students as this is the stage where they can display what they have learned. Each student designed their own arrangement(s) from scratch. They all stepped up to the challenge! It was a great success and we thank everyone who visited us. We hope you enjoyed the ikebana!

We’d like to thank Emma B and Jasmine Z for offering the library’s generous support. We love working with you!

This year, we prepared a hana-guruma 花車 (“flower cart”) as the central piece. The actual cart design hails back from the Heian Period (794-1185). It is an ox-drawn cart used to transport the nobility.

Now, the cart is filled with flowers and transformed into hana-guruma meaning "flower cart”. It represents a traditional motif of elegance, prosperity, and seasonal beauty. The hana-guruma pattern is frequently found in textiles, art, and crafts.

Hana-Guruma Arrangement by Miyako

Arrangement by Susan R

Wall Arrangement by Susan R

Arrangement by Val S

Basket Arrangement by Miyako

Wall Arrangement by Val S

Arrangement by Brenda D

Arrangement by Michelle J

Arrangement by Robert L

Arrangement by Michelle C

Arrangement by Miyako

Arrangement by Miyako

Basket Arrangement by Miyako

Pair Arrangement by Odessa G

Wall Arrangement by Miyako

Arrangement by Leo A

Arrangement by Susan R

Arrangement by Brenda D

Arrangement by Robert L

Ikebana Demonstration by Miyako

The demonstration was well attended. The Library folks even offered coffee to the guests. What hospitality!

The 106th Sogetsu Annual Exhibition in Nihombashi

Added on October 23, 2025 by the ikebana shop.

My sensei gifted me with tickets to the 106th Sogetsu Annual Ikebana Exhibition at the Takashimaya Department Store in Nihombashi, Tokyo. 『花は心』 ”Flowers Are The Heart”.

At the entrance was a huge bamboo installation created by Sogetsu Iemoto Akane Teshigahara. It was like a graceful dance of bamboo, showing speed of movement and yet still elegant.

Here are some more of the beautiful arrangements.

And… how lucky for me to meet Iemoto Akane Teshigara herself! It was an honour!

LaHave River Books Ikebana Exhibition

Added on April 21, 2025 by the ikebana shop.

This year, it seems like our ikebana has a very strong connection with books! After an exhibition at the Sackville Public Library, where we used the shelves as ikebana platforms, we found ourselves at the LaHave River Books, a charming bookstore tucked behind the landmark LaHave Bakery on the South Shore of Nova Scotia.

Before anything, we would like to thank the wonderful people at LaHave River Books: Gael, Marion, Andra, Sylvia, Janet, and Charles. We hope we didn’t make too much of a mess. Your warm welcome made everything so much easier!

The bookstore is housed in an historic building, built in 1901 and originally housed a ship’s chandlery, a general merchant, and a fish processing plant. For a time, the building’s top floor was also home to a branch of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. In 1985, the LaHave Bakery was established. Not only did it provide delicious bread and pastries, but it has become a hub for the close-knit community to gather. The bookstore was opened later in 2016, taking over the space of a master boat builder after it closed shop.

Miyako and two of her senior students—Susan and Val—took on the challenge to create arrangements that would blend with this place full of memories of times past whilst showing the uniqueness of ikebana as well.

Arrangements by Susan R.

Arrangement with hyrdangeas using no kenzan, showing the beauty of water while viewed from above.

Arrangement to be viewed from above, placed on a low side table.

Using unconventional material: toilet paper rolls! This arrangement was nestled in books. We just moved the arrangement temporarily to the hallway to get a better photo.

This arrangement was created to fit in this narrow bookshelf, with thin driftwood seemingly trying to stretch itself towards the window, beyond the boundaries. Susan has been saving the driftwood just for an opportunity like this!

Arrangements by Val S

A book of Queen Victoria (whose reign ended in 1901, which incidentally was the year the building was constructed) atop a bookshelf, right beside a piece of whale jawbone. Val made it all come together!

The iconic sign of the old chandlery was set between this seemingly unrelated pair of arrangements to produce a unified whole.

Arrangements by Miyako

Miyako’s arrangements were placed on a long table. It was an original table (circa 1970’s) that sat at the Trinity College library in the University of Toronto! In keeping with the theme, she used old books as platforms for her work.

An arrangement using aloe and chili peppers!

Eggs were used for this one to remind us that it was the Easter weekend; whilst the light blue colour reminded us of the LaHave River waters outside.

Calla Lily, Monstera leaf and Wisteria vine.

The dried elephant ear leaf seemed to float lightly, like the wing of a bird.

Two tall arrangements: one in a bamboo basket and the other in a Sogetsu steel vase.

Live Demonstration by Miyako

We were so happy that the demonstration was very well attended. The community here in LaHave is really special. Thank you very much for coming!

*Photo courtesy of Rene Saulnier. Thank you!*

And here is a special guest: Becky. She is rumoured to be the real boss of LaHave Bakery.

Added on May 1st, 2025…
We made it to the South Shore Bulletin, Apr 30, 2025 print edition, page 19! Thank you!

Sackville Ikebana Exhibition 2025

Added on February 24, 2025 by the ikebana shop.

Our ikebana exhibition this year was held on the weekend of Feb 22-23, 2025 at the Sackville Public Library. Thank you to all who came and visited us. We hope you enjoyed the show. We certainly enjoyed putting everything together!

It was an interesting challenge as the tops of bookshelves were used as platforms. So all the arrangements had to be designed to be seen from roughly around eye level and up. Also, we had to take care that no branches go past beyond the air space of the shelf, lest a library patron get poked in the eye while browsing the shelves!

The library’s main hall was a beautiful space with a large wall-to-wall glass window that allowed natural light into the space. It also afforded us with a breathtaking view of the outside scenery and was a wonderful backdrop for the demonstration. We used the shelves on the right side for the exhibition.

We’d like to thank the team at the Sackville Public Library—Eric D, Jasmina K, Ainslie C, and Doreen S—for your warm welcome. You made everything go smoothly! Thank you for entrusting your space to us for the weekend!

To Miyako’s students who gave so much of their time and effort to make this a success, well done and thank you! We hope you had a great experience.

Free-Style Arrangement by Robert L

Free-Style Arrangement by Miyako

Variation No. 5 by Leo A

Free-Style by Media C

Free-Style by Michelle C

Variation No. 3 by Denise P

Variation No. 4 by Heather N

Free-Style by Val S

Variation No. 5 by Brenda D

Free-Style by Linda K

Free-Style by Lyla H

Free-Style by Miyako

Free-Style by Linda C

Free-Style by Odessa G

Ikebana Demonstration by Miyako

And here are some members of our team having a relaxed moment! That was a lot of fun and we hope to do it again soon.

CBC and CTV News also featured us in their local news!

Read the CBC article here.

Watch the CTV News at 5 clip here.

The Ohara Ikebana Exhibition Apr-2024

Added on April 18, 2024 by the ikebana shop.

The wonderful thing about being in Japan is that there are many ikebana-related events happening year-round.

We were fortunate to be in Tokyo when the Ohara Ikebana exhibition was happening at the Takashimaya Shinjuku department store (Apr 11-16, 2024).

Please enjoy some of the exquisite works at the exhibition!

Sogetsu Ikebana Exhibition In Halifax 2022

Added on May 16, 2022 by the ikebana shop.

After 2 years of not being able to really go out and about, we were very happy to be able to present a live ikebana exhibition once again! For sure, many ikebana artists continued to publish their floral arrangements online during the pandemic (including our own virtual exhibition last year!) but there is always that extra dimension when the arrangements are in front of us. We can feel the depth, switch angles, and even smell the subtle scents! And so we were ecstatic when the Halifax Central Library approached us for a collaboration. This exhibition was held on May 13th-15th, 2022, as part of the Asian Heritage Month celebrations,

Our special thanks to Kassondra Torraville, Regional Programming Lead for the Halifax Central Library for her wonderful support. The planning had gone very smoothly!

Our thanks to our students who gave their time, effort and talents to this exhibition: Leo A, Media C, Michelle C, Odessa G, Lyla H, Robert L, Susan R, and Val S. We hope the experience has been as rewarding for you as it has been for us.!

Arrangement by Leo Artalejo
Variation No. 1 Upright Style Nageire

Arrangement by Media Chalabi 美虹 (“Miko”)
Free-style: “Hope”

Arrangement by Michelle Ciach
Variation No. 4 Slanting Style Nageire

Arrangement by Odessa Godbold
Free-style

Arrangement by Lyla Hage
Variation No. 1 Slanting Style Moribana

Arrangement by Robert Lee
Variation No. 5 Upright Style Moribana

Arrangement by Susan Roberson
Free-style
The vase was made by Lunenburg-based NS pottery artist Jason Remai.

Arrangement by Val Spencer
Free-style: “One Flower, One Branch”

Arrangements by Miyako Ballesteros

Joint Arrangement by Val Spencer & Miyako Ballesteros
This work sat atop 2 tall shelves and was designed to be viewed from a low angle.

Some of the people behind this exhibition. Sorry we did not get a chance to get everyone together!

SMU FASS 2019

Added on December 10, 2019 by the ikebana shop.

Every year the St. Mary’s University community shares its creativity through the annual FASS (Faculty, Alumni, Student, Staff) exhibits at the St. Mary’s University Art Gallery.

*(Poster from the SMU Art Gallery website.)*

In collaboration with Dr. Linda Campbell, professor at the Department of Environmental Science, we had the chance to present ikebana at the 2019 FASS exhibit. Linda has been learning ikebana with Miyako since 2016. She had missed participating in our most recent exhibit at the Keshen Goodman Library last May; so, it was quite opportune that SMU Art Gallery was able to allocate space for ikebana.

The ikebana portion of FASS 2019 ran from Dec 3rd to 7th, 2019.

….and a fun selfie of the people behind the works: Miyako and Linda.

Last but certainly not least, a big thank-you to Robin Metcalfe, director/curator and Adam Myatt for your kind assistance and patience to make this possible!

Connecting - An Ikebana Exhibition in Lunenburg NS

Added on June 4, 2019 by the ikebana shop.

Connecting - An Ikebana Exhibition was held on June 1-2, 2019 at the Lunenburg Library in the historic town of Lunenburg, on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. Founded in 1773, the town itself is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its narrow streets and well-preserved architecture. It is also the birthplace of the famed Bluenose, a racing schooner built in 1921, which lives on in the Canadian ten-cent coin. Lunenburg has a very vibrant arts community and ikebana fit right in. The library is housed in the Lunenburg Academy, an imposing 3-storey Victorian building, built in 1893-95.

This exhibition’s theme is “connecting”. Through ikebana, we connect people, nature and cultures. It is also an expression of our wish to deepen further our bond with the South Shore. We thank the South Shore Public Libraries and the staff of the Lunenburg Library in particular for your very warm welcome and your patience as we prepared for this event.

This exhibition is also part of the on-going celebrations of the 90th anniversary of Canada-Japan diplomatic relations.

Group Arrangement by Val S, Susan R and Miyako
Three arrangements all using a red furoshiki (Japanese wrapping cloth) as a unifying theme.

Arrangements by Lely A
Lely created 4 arrangements in the basic styles and peppered them all around the library. Her work exuded a lot of tranquility and somehow brought a feeling of kindness to the library. Many people commented how they loved seeing the ikebana tucked in the little corners of the library.

The small arrangement placed right on an old water fountain was a big hit! Nobody imagined that could be a place for a floral arrangement.

Arrangement by Val S
Val paired her arrangement with a woodblock print by artist and master printmaker, Robin Wall. The artwork, titled Light/Boat Patterns (1989), depicted boats at North Head Harbour in Grand Manan, NB. Val introduced nautical elements in her work with mesh wire, branches and grass, intricately put together into a shape that brings to mind the prow of a boat, or perhaps fishing nets being dried on the wharf.

Arrangements by Susan R
Susan, who is based in Mahone Bay, was our point person for this project and did a lot of the legwork!

Wall arrangement. Susan liked the "boxiness" of the euonymous branches. She then added a smooth willow branch for texture contrast and a bit of quince for colour contrast. One visitor exclaimed: "There's so much je-ne-sais-quoi in this work!"

An arrangement with driftwood and obi spilling down to the bottom…did you notice the blue-painted branches in the back that provided beautiful colour contrast?

…and a simple coffee table arrangement!

Arrangements by Miyako
The centrepiece for this exhibit is this large work that showed a clash of curly and smooth branches…but ultimately making a connection in the middle.

And some smaller arrangements: table top and door hanging.

Miyako’s demonstration was very well-attended. We loved the audience enthusiasm and interest! There were audible gasps when Miyako took out some weeds with big leaves from the bucket and started using them in an arrangement. Yes, weeds can be ikebana material too!

And here’s the gang that made this exhibition possible. Thank you very much Val, Susan, Lely and Martin (who worked behind-the-scenes!).

Press Release: Connecting - An Ikebana Exhibition

Added on May 18, 2019 by the ikebana shop.

For Immediate Release - May 18th, 2019

Ikebana on the South Shore of Nova Scotia!

Connecting - An Ikebana Exhibition will be held at the Lunenburg Library on the weekend of June 1-2, 2019.

Ikebana is the art of Japanese floral arrangement. This exhibition’s theme is “connecting”. Through ikebana, we connect people, nature and cultures.

This event is part of the 90th anniversary celebration of Canada-Japan diplomatic relations.

The exhibition will be presented by Miyako Ballesteros (Sogetsu School of Ikebana) and her students. Please come and enjoy the ikebana.

Admission is free.

Connecting - An Ikebana Exhibition

Jun 1st (Sat) 10 - 5 p.m. *
Jun 2nd (Sun) 12 - 4 p.m.
*Short live demonstration on Saturday, 2:00 p.m.

At the Lunenburg Library (Lunenburg Academy 1F, 97 Kaubach St., Lunenburg NS)

We hope to see you there.

20190601 exhibit Connecting Lunenburg Library final small file.jpg

Surprise! - An Ikebana Exhibition

Added on May 15, 2019 by the ikebana shop.

Surprise! - An Ikebana Exhibition was held last May 10-12, 2019 at the Keshen Goodman Library in Halifax. We chose the theme “surprise” with the bold mission to surprise people with what they can do with oft taken for granted plants that are easily found in backyards and roadsides! So in this exhibit, you’d have seen familiar things, —pine and spruce branches, magnolia, quince, bridal wreath and lots of tree bark—alongside blooms from the florist! Thank you to all who visited us! We hope you enjoyed the arrangements as much as we did creating them!

We are very grateful to the Keshen Goodman Library who let us use their beautiful space. The staff were all very welcoming and helpful! Special mention to Dacia M. for her patience with us. Preparations and take-down could not have gone any smoother!

This exhibition is part of the on-going celebrations of the 90th anniversary of Canada-Japan diplomatic relations. It also coincided with the Asian Heritage Month festivities in Halifax.

To the people who made this possible: Val S, Susan R, Nina D, Media C, Jean H, Robert L, Brenda D, Heather N, M. S., Linda K and Cody O. A very BIG thank-you! Your hard-work and dedication to ikebana are very much appreciated. We hope to do another exhibition next year!

Arrangement by Jean H
We are welcomed to the exhibit by this floor position arrangement by Jean H. Hydrangea, magnolia and delphinium.

Arrangement by Val S
How Val deftly peeled away the bark from a fallen birch tree is beyond us! Pink lines and pink blooms accent the white bark perfectly.

Arrangement by Susan R
A lovely vase (origin unknown but acquired at the local Xmas market in Mahone Bay!) paired with driftwood from Nova Scotia’s shores. Something very wabi-sabi about this!

Arrangements by Nina D
Nina uses spirea branches called bridal wreath. The shrub with droopy branches grow all over Nova Scotia and blooms with little white flowers…but for these arrangements, Nina uses them not for the flowers but to show lines.

Arrangements by Media C
Exotic-looking vases! Gentle curves of delicate grass contrasted with a chunk of rough, fallen wood!

Arrangement by Robert L
Robert says he never heard of Bells of Ireland till he started ikebana lessons…and now he just absolutely loves them!

Arrangement by Brenda D
Brenda tells us that weeks before the exhibit, she already mentally placed “reserved” tags on select branches of the spruce tree in her backyard. ..and behold, a nageire with very strong lines. The addition of a piece of bark at the bottom anchors the forceful upward surge of those branches.

Arrangement by Heather N
Quince branches and lilies. This arrangement was evolving as the lilies started to bloom during the 3-day exhibit!

Arrangement by M.S.
May is the month when irises bloom in Japan as well so this arrangement connects us to the seasons in Japan as well! Irises normally grow straight up but M.S. bends these irises to her will!

Arrangement by Linda K
This arrangement is meant to be seen all around.

Arrangement by Cody O
In ikebana, the clearness of the water is an important element. Cody O gives us more to appreciate by adding some blooms in the water!

Arrangements by Miyako
A convolution of corkscrew willow branches, crisscrossing in brightly painted red and natural colours. (Thank you, Nina D, for bringing these branches, freshly pruned, from the Annapolis Valley!)

There is a pine tree in our backyard that fell after a strong storm some years ago. Recently, its old bark started coming off…and this is showcased in this arrangement. Miyako inserted some pine needles to remind us that the bark was from a pine tree. With the aged bark, Miyako added some young, budding magnolia branches! The vase is by local pottery artist, Sally Ravindra (Purcell’s Cove Pottery).

These uncannily curving branches were found on the roadside. Arranged on a tall vertical vase with a few tufts of moss added to give some sense of motion…like a pinwheel!

Last but certainly not least…thank you, Kent Martin, for visiting the exhibition and allowing us to use your photos. Kent Martin is a professional photographer/film producer who is currently working on The Halifax Project—a documentary of our beloved city, Halifax NS!

Updated Aug 10, 2020

This exhibition won an award! Please click on the image to see the details!