Introducing The Resin Kenzan

Added on August 8, 2014 by the ikebana shop.

The kenzan of the 21st century is here! Introducing the resin kenzan!

Hyperbole aside, this is a revolutionary kenzan. The pins are brass but the base is made of a hard polyester resin. It will take the usual heavy branches that a regular kenzan would. It is translucent, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. It contains no lead; therefore, it is quite lightweight.

So how does it stay stable? It works with another revolutionary product, the double-suction kenzan mat!

The mat is made of silicone resin. There are suction cups on both sides of the mat. One side adheres to the container while the other side holds the kenzan steady. It may look like a soap holder, but the suction quality is infinitely better. The kenzan will stay in place!

The mat is available in two colours: black and clear. Choose according to the colour of your container.

The black mat disappears in a black container.

The clear mat disappears in a white container...

...and it looks good in other colours as well.

Of course, you can also use it with the traditional kenzan. The weight of the steel kenzan plus the suction cups will increase the stability. It is the ultimate kenzan mat!

Whether you use it with traditional or resin kenzan, the mat will keep the kenzan solidly (but within limits of course!) in place. To all of you who know the difficulty of moving a moribana arrangement, this now becomes easier to do!

Extra bonus: you can use these mats in the kitchen too. Use it as a base for your mixing bowl while you're whipping up some cream, for example! :-)

Made in Japan.

The resin kenzan and double-suction mats are available for purchase at our online shop . Or, please visit the bricks-and-mortar shop to see the real thing!

My Ikebana: Iris

Added on August 7, 2014 by the ikebana shop.

Due to the warm weather, this bunch of irises went into full bloom earlier than expected!

For branches, I used what was readily available...

...the ever abundant roadside weeds! :-)

I took most of the leaves out and formed curves out of the branches.

A view from the top. The curls contrasted well with the very straight irises.

Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. --Miyako

Ikebana At The Berkeley

Added on August 3, 2014 by the ikebana shop.

On Sunday, Aug. 3rd, we had the opportunity to present a short demonstration of ikebana at The Berkeley (Gladstone St., Halifax), a retirement home for senior citizens.

We would like to thank Pam, one of the residents, for inviting and giving us the opportunity to introduce ikebana to the community at The Berkeley.

There was some animated discussion after the demonstration too. We hope the flowers brought a little extra cheer to the Sunday afternoon.

Afterwards, our gracious host, Pam, showed us around the garden that the residents work on. The flowers beds are set on raised plant boxes so that the ladies would not have to stoop down to tend them. Such wonderful colours there!

We've left the flower arrangements at the residence so that people could enjoy them for a while longer. Thank you everyone for your enthusiastic attention to our demonstration! Thank you to the management and staff at The Berkeley for having us there.

Matcha Affogato-Style

Added on July 25, 2014 by the ikebana shop.

Here is a simple-to-make indulgence for lovers of green tea on hot summer days!

Affogato al caffè is, of course, the Italian treat where a shot of espresso is poured over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The name literally means "drowned in coffee" in Italian!

Now, let's substitute the espresso with thick matcha...

Make koicha (thick matcha) by using only half the amount of water you'd normally use when preparing your matcha drink. If you need to start somewhere, try 1 teaspoon matcha with 35 ml hot water (80℃). This concoction is good for about 3 servings...but it depends on how "drowned" you want your ice cream to be! :-)

Pour some of the koicha over one (or two?) scoops of vanilla ice cream.

That's it! Enjoy!

Matcha is available for purchase at the shop!

"Sō" Magazine June 2014

Added on July 24, 2014 by the ikebana shop.

We are happy to see our work featured in "Sō" (「草」) magazine, the official publication for the Sogetsu Teachers' Association. Thank you!

The event was our exhibit during the Nocturne Halifax Art At Night last October, 2013. Please click here to see more about the exhibit.

My Ikebana: Big Leaves

Added on July 22, 2014 by the ikebana shop.

Once again the weeds around the shop caught my eye!

I was attracted to the large leaves and the unusual patterns along their edges.

WIthout cutting or folding, I arranged the leaves to show the beauty of the edge patterns.

I added one sunflower to accent and provide contrast to the greenness.

Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. --Miyako

Works By Heather Midori Yamada

Added on July 11, 2014 by the ikebana shop.

We are very happy to have here at the shop some works by Montreal-based artist, Heather Midori Yamada.

Her work uses different textures and abstract shapes, employing among others, washi Japanese paper. All the swatches of paper you see here have been painstakingly dyed by Heather herself.

We can also see elements of shodo Japanese calligraphy.

Heather's art exudes spontaneity and openness that pique our contemplative side.

Artist profile taken from Heather's website:
Heather Midori Yamada is a Montreal visual artist and teacher who works with Japanese washi papers in paintings, collage and installations. Having begun in Toronto`s Open Studio during the 1980`s Heather primarily used washi papers in monotypes. These works explored natural plants as imagery and actual plants imprinted. These washi, etched & embossed, monotype-print constructions were often marouflaged onto western paper supports. The work evolved into mixed media and collage paintings.

Available for sale at the shop.

Anti-Spam Legislation Compliance

Added on June 26, 2014 by the ikebana shop.

Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation will comes into effect on July 1, 2014. The spirit of this law is promote a safer online environment and to protect Canadians from scams and disruptive/unwanted emails. We are all for that!

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has outlined 3 rules that must be followed when sending out a commercial electronic message (CEM).

Prior consent from recipient.
Clear identification of sender.
A mechanism to unsubscribe in the future.

See the CRTC website.

To be clear, we do not send out spam. We also do not "harvest" or purchase email addresses.

However, we do send out the following unsolicited messages to an email list:

Monthly ikebana lesson schedule updates.
Occasional announcements of origami and other workshops that we plan to have.

These messages can be technically categorized as CEM and therefore subject to the Anti-Spam Law. The email addresses in our mailing lists have been painstakingly collected through the years from people with whom we have had direct contact. They have expressed interest in our activities. It is unfortunate that we did not keep any kind of proof of consent. Some email addresses were given to us by phone, by little slips of memo paper, by a business card, etc. None were archived in any organized way.

Sooooo, we're going to push the re-set button. We will delete our mailing lists and start with a clean slate.

Our Request

If you would like to continue (or begin) receiving our ikebana lesson schedule updates and/or our origami & other workshop announcements, please send us an email saying:

I subscribe to your ikebana / origami & other workshops [choose one or both] mailing list.

In the same way, you will be able to un-subscribe by sending us another email to tell us to remove you from the mailing list(s)....and we will do so promptly (as we have always done till now).

Thank you very much for your understanding.

My Ikebana: Monstera And Lily

Added on June 17, 2014 by the ikebana shop.

This day, I had monstera leaves and oriental lilies.

The monstera leaves proved to be too big so I ended up with cutting a leaf to fit in the container's opening.

I used one lily bud and then some grass to show lines, a contrast to the large surface of the monstera.

Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. --Miyako

My Ikebana: Garden Branches

Added on June 12, 2014 by the ikebana shop.

One of the greatest joys for an ikebanista is to be able to wander around a large garden and gather branches to one's heart's content. A few days ago, I had that opportunity because I conducted a workshop sponsored by the Halifax Public Gardens. (See previous post.)

There were leftover branches after the workshop. I used them. This is my thank-you-to-the-Gardens arrangement!