Filtering by Category: ikebana

My Ikebana: Disassembling and Assembling Salal

Added on January 26, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

I found myself with a lot of salal branches this week so I thought I'd make an arrangement featuring salal.

However, the salal leaves were quite big and would completely overpower the snapdragons that I planned to use. So I thought of a way to show only the salal branches. Remove the leaves!

Sometimes, by disassembling the material into its smaller parts, we discover some new characteristics.

Here is the finished arrangement.

I put the salal leaves together with the snapdragons and green hypericum so that people would know what kind of branches were used!

I also removed the budding tips of the snapdragons because I did not want to introduce another "line" element into the arrangement.

By the way, the flower container was made by our friend, Nova Scotia pottery artist, Mindy Moore.

The holes at the top came in very handy for this arrangement!

Hope you like it.

Miyako

My Ikebana: "Sculpting" With Straw

Added on January 11, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Our backyard is entombed in snow and it was difficult to pick branches so I decided to use some dried susuki (Pampas grass) that a friend had given to me a while back. I had been saving them for a rainy day and I thought their time finally came. Not on a rainy day...but on a snowy one!

Because the stalks were very dry and brittle, many stems broke completely. It was a challenge to blend angled lines with the flower container.

I wanted to project this arrangement in 3-D. The lines were placed such that the viewer would be able to enjoy different expressions from many angles.

The alstroemeria, though more commonly used to create mass, were used to show movement this time.

The two colours--pink and orange--inserted on either side of the arrangement, helped to show depth.

I hope you like it.

Miyako

My Christmas Ikebana

Added on December 13, 2012 by the ikebana shop.

Ikebana is not always limited to showing simple lines using branches. Sometime we want to work on something more resplendent...especially for festive seasons like Christmas. Here is my Christmas arrangement.

To take advantage of the lines formed by the eucalyptus and bells of Ireland, I chose a "compote-style" container with a very tall base.

The lilies provide gaiety.

The deep red alstroemeria tightens the arrangement into a whole.

And some white carnation provide a fresh look when the arrangement is viewed from the side.

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays!

Miyako

This arrangement is currently displayed at the shop. The scent of lilies and eucalyptus is yet another sensory experience so please come visit us!

My Ikebana - Holiday Mass & Line

Added on December 1, 2012 by the ikebana shop.

When making a mass-and-line composition, my usual habit is to start with the mass and then work on the lines to add a certain flow and movement. Mass is "easy" to tackle first because it is static...almost stoic and uncomplaining while a line is more hard-to-please!

Anyway, with this work, I started in reverse and formed the lines first. The beautiful dogwood branches had much to offer. The vase I had chosen turned out to be too small so I ended up using the outside of the vase. Do you see the "star" amidst the dogwood branches? That was not intended! I noticed it only while putting the branches together.

The vase, by the way, is not a traditional ikebana vase. It is actually a candleholder! I liked the shape and the clear crystal reminded me of ice (and the cold of winter!) It went well with the shiny green of the oregonia and the deep red of the carnations.

I hope you enjoy this arrangement.

Miyako

My Ikebana - Keeping It Natural

Added on November 16, 2012 by the ikebana shop.

Recently, I have been concentrating my ikebana studies doing "formative" creations. That is to say, the works were designed to form a certain shape that I had envisioned. I took apart leaves from branches and put them together again!

This time, after looking at the branches available, I decided that a "natural" style of arrangement would be better. I had 2 kinds of branches--alder and an unknown one with little black berries (Does anyone know?) and two kinds of mum--yellow cremon and green pom-pom.

I chose a wide suiban container because I wanted to show the height of the branches. First I put together the skeletal frame of branches. Next, where to put the flowers? I wanted to keep the focal point of the arrangement up top so that's where the flower went. At the same time, I showed a clean base (notice that the branches seem to sprout up from one origin as opposed to being all over the place) leaving it stark in order to further emphasize the top focal point. I removed all the leaves from the mums except for the 2 leaves of the cremon in front. By doing away with the leaves, the slender lines of the pom-pom mums could be clearly seen, adding flavour to the arrangement. Lastly, I created some space by adding that branch on the left. It helped give the arrangement a sense of motion... to prevent it from looking like it was only sitting idly on the vase!

I hope you enjoyed this arrangement.

Miyako

See more of Miyako's work here.

Ballroom Arrangement

Added on July 7, 2012 by post@theikebanashop.com.

Some weeks ago, we had the honour of putting up an arrangement for a speaking engagement. It was at the Marriott Harbourfront Hotel, Halifax Ballroom...the best ballroom of the hotel!

The client gave us a free hand and only asked that the flowers should be equal in stature as the speaker on the podium. We hope we did not disappoint.

Have a closer look.... Lilies, sunflower, carnation and weigela.

Ikebana On Stage

Added on April 1, 2012 by the ikebana shop.

f you attended the Nova Scotia: Our Strengths, Our Future community forum event at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, you would have seen our ikebana arrangement that graced the stage. We are honoured to play our little part in the success of this event!

"...how beautiful the floral arrangement was on the stage. Very dramatic but not overbearing. Whoever handled that piece of 'set design' gets my bravo."
-- John M., NSCAD

How Was Your Valentine 2012?

Added on February 15, 2012 by the ikebana shop.

Hope the lady who received this arrangement had a great 2012 Valentine's Day.

Pink dendrobium orchids and lilies. The lilies are still buds. In a few days, they will bloom and the arrangement will transform into something new again!

This was a custom order arrangement.

Anastasia And Eucalyptus

Added on February 9, 2012 by the ikebana shop.

This arrangement is on display now. The shop smells good with the fragrance of the eucalyptus leaves!

New Year Display: Hanamochi

Added on January 3, 2012 by the ikebana shop.

Our New Year shop window display is inspired by hanamochi.

hana = "flower"

mochi = "sticky rice cake"

In the colder, snowy parts of Japan, where there are no flowers in the winter, people attached pink & white sticky rice cakes onto willow branches for their New Year decoration. This is also called mochibana.

In this arrangement, we used wisteria branches that had been given to us by a customer last summer. We also used Play-Doh instead of o-mochi sticky rice! (^-^) Here is a closer look.

And here is the view from outside. Please come and see it. The real thing looks much better than the photographs!