Filtering by Category: ikebana

My Ikebana: Extending Horizontally

Added on October 8, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Here is another blue vase that I picked up in my recent trip to Japan. You must have guessed by now that I went crazy and bought a lot of flower containers in Japan! :-)

Joan, a regular customer at our shop, is the owner of the nearby Marigold Bed & Breakfast. She knows I love getting branches so when it is time to prune her garden she invites me to go over and take my pick. My latest haul were branches that had many, many smaller stems.

The tiny branches were interesting but because I wanted to show a strong horizontal line, I decided to remove the small branches. The intricate little branches had the effect of diminishing the momentum of the horizontal.

In contrast, I used the branches in their original form on the right side of the arrangement. I created a slightly widening fan-like shape as an offset to the narrow horizontal line on the left.

Here is the whole arrangement. I hope you like it. --Miyako

My Ikebana: The Blue Vase

Added on September 24, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Another flower container that I was able to unearth during my recent trip to Japan was this blue vase. Isn't it pretty? This is my first time to use it.

For today's ikebana, I did have a variety of colourful flowers to choose from but I decided that the simple yellow of the alstroemeria would be the perfect companion to the blueness of the container.

I also had some wonderfully leafy weigela branches to work with. But, as much as I loved the little stems branching out of the main branch, I found my clippers snipping away at a furious pace until I ended up with only a strong, simple line. My guess is that it all came back to that desire to show off the container. That was also the reason why I left the lower portion empty.

Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. --Miyako

P.S. If you are wondering if we have this vase for sale at our shop, the answer unfortunately is "no". I only found it in a little antique shop in Tokyo!

My Ikebana: Taking Care Of Weeds

Added on August 23, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

The Japanese Knotweed (fallopia japonica) -- this plant is considered a weed and very invasive. There's a lot of them growing in our parking area so I decided to help myself with some!

Though not at really related to the bamboo, its stems are also hollow and has raised nodes. I stripped the branches of their leaves and focused on this interesting characteristic of the stems for this arrangement.

For my container, I took two crystal glass candleholders and put one on top of the other.

I played around with straight lines and circles. I lined up the stems horizontally against the vertical grooves of the crystal. The hollow circular cross-section of the stems added round elements into the arrangement.

The orange berries, apart from complementing the circular stem cross-sections, added some colour as well!

And finally, a clump of mini hydrangeas to strengthen the mass.

Here is the whole arrangement.

Another view from the side.

It was quite fun for me to be able to use weeds for an arrangement. Normally, they would've just been cut down and discarded!

I hope you like it. --Miyako

My Ikebana: All Green

Added on August 11, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

During my recent trip to Japan, I found this flower container at an antique shop and fell in love with it immediately!

Today's material consisted of all greens--myrtle, salal and alder. WIth a green container as well, how could I make the arrangement interesting?

I put the the berry-bearing alder branches near the mouth of the container and tightened the structure with salal.

Then I extended two myrtle branches outwards to provide lightness.

A good expression of contrast between heavy versus light! Here is the whole arrangement.

Another angle.

I hope you like it. -- Miyako

Mini Exhibit At The Biscuit Eater

Added on July 20, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

The Biscuit Eater is a cozy café and bookshop in Mahone Bay, NS.

They were kind enough to host a mini exhibit for us! So last Thursday (July 18th) Miyako and Susan (Miyako's student) worked all morning to set it up.

This arrangement, a combination of 3 containers, greets guests as they enter the café .

Inside, there are little spaces that allow for smaller arrangements. The window sills are especially bright and cheery!

The one on the left uses a teapot as container! The round yellow container on the right hides among square and triangle shapes! (Accidentally reminiscent of Zen master Sengai's work: The Universe!)

The space along the hallway that connects the two sitting rooms allows us a taller arrangement. The arrangement on the right is for ladies only. Ladies, make sure you visit the WC! :-)

...and up close.

After all the work, a sumptuous lunch! This is the Greek Isles Plate: hummus, kalamata olives, warm pita, cucumber, tomato, romaine lettuce and feta cheese.

The people who made this possible: (L-R) Cara, owner of The Biscuit Eater, Susan and Miyako.

The mini exhibit will be in place up to at least Sunday (July 21st) or, if the flowers are still holding up, even later the following week.

We will have an ikebana workshop also at The Biscuit Eater on July 31st, Wednesday. You can sign up at the café or by email/phone directly to us.

My Ikebana With Sensei: Roots

Added on July 14, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

It's been a few years since I last set foot in my sensei's studio in Tokyo. It was comforting to find myself in the familiar room but I was also thrilled to see many new additions to sensei's collection of flower containers. Sensei is also a potter and she creates many of her vases!

I chose a jug-shaped vase for this day.

There were a lot of dried branches, driftwood and bamboo available but what caught my eye were these dried roots!

For my flowers, sensei prepared roses and small chrysanthemums...plus nandina, horsetail and forsythia branches.

The challenge was in creating the framework with the container and the roots.

Then came the flowers and branches. I had envisioned a "solid" arrangement so I did not add much height. I used the forsythia branches to extend the arrangement horizontally.

I hope you like it.

I cherish the moments that I can spend with my sensei. I learn many things even by simply being in the room with her. --Miyako

Flowers At ALIA

Added on July 2, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Last month we had the privilege to create some floral arrangements at the ALIA (Authentic Leadership In Action) Summer Institute.

This was the reception table.

The hosta and rhododendron leaves were generous gifts from a friend's garden!

Here is the arrangement on the main stage.

We were lucky to have a friend accompany us to a spot where trees were being pruned. Many beautiful branches were to be had!

This was how the main seminar room was laid out.

Another arrangement for the Dining Hall.

The pine was from our backyard!

And some small arrangements for each of the dining tables.

And one more...

My Ikebana: Contrast

Added on May 24, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

This time, I brought out this black-and-white glass vase. I remember purchasing it because I was drawn to the contrast.

I had in my hands two different colours of chrysanthemums, which I thought would look good against something black. I decided to use the mums as "colour" rather than as "flower". I placed them on the black side of the vase.

The yellow and pink against black stood out clearly enough...but, there was something lacking on the white side of the vase. I wanted to show contrast (as the vase dictated) but the yellow and pink against white was not strong enough. So, I placed dark purple statice in the middle to intensify the difference in space. The statice were made to look like the blooms were overflowing from the vase.

The next question was how to make use of the space on the white side. I needed lines to complement the mass on the black side. I stripped myrtle branches of all their leaves and fashioned them into circular shapes.

Black side = mass. White side = line.

Back view: did you notice my little eryngium helpers? :-)

Here is the complete arrangement. I hope you like it. --Miyako

My Ikebana: Maple Lines

Added on May 13, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

In our parking area, there is a maple tree. Close to its trunk, there are many new maple branches sprouting, probably from seeds that have fallen from the mother tree. I decided to use some of them.

The little buds and young leaves were a breath of new life of spring.

This arrangement is all about showing lines. Most of them were very straight branches. But there were at least some that curved a bit...or some that bent with a little "encouragement"! I chose a container that showed a strong surface to contrast against the lines.

I wish I could take a three-dimensional picture. It is not easy to express the depth on a flat photograph!

Here is the complete arrangement.

Hope you like it. --Miyako

My Ikebana: Only Branches

Added on May 1, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

After a particularly strong snowstorm last winter, I picked up some branches that had fallen off a maple tree. I kept them until now.

Finally, long winter is over and we start to smell the earth, the grass and the trees again. The branches have started to flower!

For this arrangement, just the branches were enough. I decided to make isshu-ike (arrangement with one type of material only). No more flowers. And since the branches were quite thick, no kenzan either.

I did not have an appropriate container that could match the strength and heaviness of the branches. So I decided to use 4 containers. I used two of them simply to enlarge the space and showed only water.

Here is the whole arrangement. I had fun making this! Hope you like it. --Miyako