Ikebana Workshop In Mahone Bay

We are bringing a taste of ikebana to the South Shore!  

Ikebana workshop at the Mahone Bay Centre on Jun 24th, Sunday, 2-4 p.m.  Well, come over at 1:30 and enjoy tea and snacks too!

We are preparing a short demonstration and then instruction on how to make a basic upright arrangement.  Participants will get to take home their work too!

Pre-registration is required (because we need to prepare the flowers for you!) so please call or email us to book.  We also ask participants to please bring a pair of floral clippers (what you use for your garden is OK) to the workshop.  Workshop fee is $35 (plus HST).  

The Mahone Bay Centre is located at 45 School St., Mahone Bay NS B0J 2E0  http://www.mahonebaycentre.com/

Thank you to Susan and Lynn, who consistently make their way from Mahone Bay to Halifax to join us for lessons, for helping make this possible!

We hope to see you there!

Special Offer Extended To I.I. Ottawa!

Dear Members of Ikebana International Ottawa,

Due to your very warm response, we are pleased to announce an extension of our free shipping offer until July 31st, 2012.  Pool your orders and save more!  We thank you for your patronage.

Special offer to members of Ikebana International Ottawa: 
1. Any mail order purchase by members of merchandise with total value (before HST) less than $200, we offer to cover 50% of shipping cost. 
2. Any mail order purchase by members of merchandise with total value (before HST) of $200 or more, we offer free shipping.

Other conditions: 
a. Shipping will be via Canada Post (shipping method will be at our discretion) 
b. Shipping destinations will be limited to Ontario and Quebec. 
c. Orders must mention membership of Ikebana International Ottawa before payment processing. 
d. Members are free to pool their orders to avail of free shipping as long as shipping destination is only to one location. 
e. This offer is not limited to ikebana supplies but includes all other merchandise at the shop. We do reserve the right to refuse sales of certain items which we deem too fragile to ship.

Offer ends on July 31, 2012.

Beyond July, 2012, all is not lost!  

We will cover 50% of shipping cost for any mail-order purchase with total value (before HST) of $200 or more.  (All other conditions apply.  Offer ends December 31, 2012.)  It's almost going to be like the cost of a taxi ride...almost!  But hey, you're shopping in Halifax! (^_^)

If you are an ikebana group in Canada or the United States and would like to avail of a similar arrangement, please let us know and we'll see what we can do.  No promises but we'll give it very serious consideration!

Fat Quarters ... So That's What They're Called!

Seeing our selection of Japanese fabric, a customer, who turned out to be an avid quilter, exclaimed, "Oh, fat quarters!"  

...which raised about 3 question marks on the top of my head.  Fat quarters???

I asked and she kindly explained.  "In the quilting world, these are called fat quarters," she declared, pointing at the fabric "end-cuts".  For lack of a better term, we had coined the word "end-cut", which had simply been a direct translation of the Japanese hagire (端切れ), to refer to these strips of fabric.  (We had previously introduced them in this blog post.)

A standard roll of fabric is 44" wide.  Fabric is normally purchased by the yard (36").  So a yard gives you a piece of cloth that's 44" x 36" big.  If you want a regular quarter, then you'll get a cut that's 44" wide and only 9" long.  Now, a "fat quarter" is when you cut the width in half and a yard-length in half as well...which gives you 22" x 18"...which is still a quarter of the basic yard, only "fatter".  Apparently, quilters prefer fat quarters because they are able to cut bigger chunks of fabric for their purposes.

Now, our Japanese fat quarters are a little chubbier, measuring around 22" x 20" ...which makes sense because 20" is about 50cm.  And because Japan uses the metric system, these cuts are probably quarter meter (as opposed to yard)!

Later on....  Feeling like a child with a new toy, I put this fresh knowledge to the test.  Another customer came to buy a Japanese quilting book.  Said it was a present for his mother who loves quilting.  So I mentioned casually, "Oh, we have fat quarters too."  He knew exactly what I was talking about and said he would bring his mom to the shop next time!  Joy!  I almost felt like an "Insider"...but reality is I am still just a "name-dropper"!  (^_^)

Many patterns available at the shop.  

(All photos and illustrations by the ikebana shop.  All rights reserved.)

Exhibit Preparations

Finally, the day of the exhibit is almost upon us.  It's this coming Saturday, May 12th.

For the past few months, pottery artist Mindy Moore has been working hard to produce new pieces.

​Photo courtesy of Marvin Moore. (http://marvinmoore.com/)

Has she perhaps been sleeping between the potter's wheel and the kiln?  (^_^)

​The past two weeks, Miyako has been feverishly designing ikebana arrangements.  The garage has been taken over...

...and the studio is lined with mock-ups.  She will dismantle all of these and re-create them at the gallery.

Please join us and see how Mindy's pottery and Miyako's ikebana breathe life into each other.  See the connection!

Exhibit Title: En: Connections
Opening reception: May 12th, Saturday, 2-4 p.m.
Venue: Argyle Fine Art, 1559 Barrington St., Halifax NS
http://argylefineart.blogspot.ca/
Everyone welcome.  No entrance fee.

Exhibit days: 
May 13th, Sunday, 12-5 p.m.
May 14th, Monday, gallery closed
May 15th, Tuesday, 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
May 16th, Wednesday, 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

(Photos by the ikebana shop except when noted otherwise.  All rights reserved.)

Sushi And Ikebana

fter watching the movie Jiro Dreams of Sushi, we got to thinking how similar ikebana is to sushi.

The film was subtitled in English but two important words were not translated but kept in the Japanese original: umami and shokunin.

Umami has almost become a loanword (just like "sushi"!) incorporated in the English language.  It normally refers to the "savoriness" of food.  The different tastes and aromas of the ingredients are carefully combined then presented to provide a superb culinary experience.  We learn the paradox: the simpler the food, the more difficult it is to prepare!  What can be more simple, more minimalist than simply putting uncooked fish on rice?  Yet we realize, it is not that easy.  The fish needs to be sliced just so; the rice needs to be steamed with the correct pressure; the temperatures of rice and fish when the sushi is served should be just right, etc.   

Ikebana is also very simple...a few branches, a few flowers.  Every one of them has its place in the arrangement.  Nothing more, nothing less.  We often use the analogy of a choir vs a duet.  In a big singing group, if one person sings off-key, he can actually stay "hidden" and perhaps lip-sync.  The performance is not affected all that much.  In a duet, if one person sings out of tune, then the whole performance is ruined.  In a huge bouquet of flowers, an errant bloom could be hiding somewhere in the back but still the arrangement would be OK.  In ikebana, a single misplaced stem will be fatal.  Jiro's style of sushi is similar...it is just sushi set on a plain black lacquer plate.  No fancy decorations, no distractions...only umami.  When we view a good ikebana arrangement, like putting one of Jiro's sushi in our mouths, we experience a kind of umami.

​(Photo by the ikebana shop.  All rights reserved.)

Loosely translated, the word shokunin means "craftsman".  But the film did not use the English word.  To grasp the Japanese sense of the word, we must think of the craftsman of medieval times, when one traversed long years from apprentice to journeyman to finally, master craftsman.  One's craft was one's life.  A shokunin practices his craft, day in day out.  Yet it is not a mere repetition of motions, not mass production.  Be it a sheet of washi (Japanese paper), a  samurai sword or a bamboo basket, every piece contains a part of theshokunin's spirit.  Every time the shokunin creates something, he is always thinking of how he can make it better.  He is forever perfecting his craft.  So it is with Jiro.  After more than 70 years of making sushi, he still thinks there is room for improvement.  He was once told that sushi was a very old cuisine and whatever could be improved had already been done.  He disagrees and continues to work on his "craft" and even dreams about it (thus, the title of the film!)  There is no shortcut to becoming a shokunin.  It is not a matter of taking the required courses and getting the diploma.  The skill and instinct cannot be put down in a textbook.  They are honed only by never-ending practice.

In ikebana, you may be doing the basic variations over and over again.  It could look like you are doing the same thing, but really each one is different.  No two branches will ever be identical, just as no two seasons will be the same.  Every arrangement is a new encounter, a new challenge.  Anyone can follow the rules and arrange the branches in the proper lengths and angles...in the same way as anyone can cook rice and put a slice of fish on top...but the person with shokunin spirit sees beyond this.  Always the question is how I can entice all the beauty out of what I have in front of me.  The ikebana master will have conversations with the flowers.  She gently coaxes the plants to show her their best faces, their preferred angles.  This cannot be learned from reading the textbook...the only way is through practice, perseverance and proper guidance from someone who has been on the same journey. 

One last word: Do not watch this film on an empty stomach! (^_^)

JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI is a quiet yet enthralling documentary that chronicles the life of Jiro Ono, the most famous sushi chef in Tokyo. For most of his 85 years, Jiro has been perfecting the art of making sushi.

Jiro Dreams Of Sushi.  Directed by David Gelb.  Magnolia Pictures, 2011.

Special Offer to Members Of Ikebana International Ottawa

Dear Members of Ikebana International Ottawa, if you are planning to make a mail order purchase from our shop, please make sure to tell us that you are an I.I. Ottawa member to avail of our special shipping discounts (offered until end of April, 2012). Pool your orders and save more!

Special offer to members of Ikebana International Ottawa: 
1. Any mail order purchase by members of merchandise with total value (before HST) less than $200, we offer to cover 50% of shipping cost. 
2. Any mail order purchase by members of merchandise with total value (before HST) of $200 or more, we offer free shipping.

Other conditions: 
a. Shipping will be via Canada Post (shipping method will be at our discretion) 
b. Shipping destinations will be limited to Ontario and Quebec. 
c. Orders must mention membership of Ikebana International Ottawa before payment processing. 
d. Members are free to pool their orders to avail of free shipping as long as shipping destination is only to one location. 
e. This offer is not limited to ikebana supplies but includes all other merchandise at the shop. We do reserve the right to refuse sales of certain items which we deem too fragile to ship.

Offer ends on Apr 30th, 2012.

Exhibition--Ikebana: Melody | Canadian Museum Of Nature

Ikebana Exhibition: Melody​
April 19-22, 2012
Canadian Museum Of Nature
240 McLeod Street, Ottawa, ON K2P 1A1 
tel (613) 566-4800
toll-free in Canada and U.S.A. 1 (800)  263-4433 

The ancient art of Japanese floral design comes alive in this annual display of 50 unique and beautiful arrangements.  This exhibition, organized by the Ottawa chapter of Ikebana International, showcases the styles of the Ohara and Sogetsu schools.  See demonstrations by Ikebana artists in the gallery on Saturday and Sunday.

​the ikebana shop is happy to be one of the sponsors for the 2012 ikebana exhibit Melody by the Ikebana International Ottawa Centennial Chapter No. 120. If you are in Ottawa next month, please be sure to visit!

Congratulations St. Mary's University!

On March 10th, 2012, the 14th Annual Atlantic Canada Japanese Language Speech Contest was held at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick.  Seventeen students from the St. Mary's University Japanese Language Programme participated in all the category levels.

Out of the nine major awards in the four different categories, St. Mary's won eight of them (including all the top prizes)! 

Two students from the university have been selected to represent the Atlantic region at the National Japanese Speech contest, which will be held in Vancouver on March 31st, 2012.

What a great accomplishment!  Congratulations to you all and good luck to the two students who are on their way to the Nationals!  Gambatte kudasai!

"The students’ speeches were creative, passionate and artistic.  They raised important problems and introduced new places. Some were  like paintings with words. It was a very long day but everyone enjoyed themselves.  Many commented on how polite, thoughtful and supportive of each other our students were. I am happy to see how culture becomes part of their training and every day life."  Dr. Alexandre Avdulov, Programme Coordinator

Photo courtesy of Dr. Alexandre Avdulov.

Valentine's Day - We Got You Covered!

Flower - Our Valentine Special 

/theikebanashop/our-valentine-offering

Chocolate - Chocorigami: Crane Envelope

/theikebanashop/chocorigami-crane-envelopes

Chocolate - Chocorigami: The Pyramid

/theikebanashop/chocorigami-the-pyramid

Gift - Glass Angel Music Box 

/theikebanashop/heavenly-music-from-a-glass-angel-music-box

Hand-Made Bird Installation

Have you seen our latest shop window installation?  

They are stuffed fabric birds...all hand-made.  Our own little way of beckoning spring to come quickly.

Please come and visit!

(Photos by the ikebana shop.  All rights reserved.)