Our ikebana demonstration at the Ross Creek Centre For The Arts is featured in the February 2020 edition of "Sō" (「草」) magazine, the official publication of the Sogetsu Teachers' Association.
Welcome East Peak Climbing!
Congratulations to our new neighbour, East Peak Climbing, on their grand opening today, Feb 29th, 2020! East Peak has converted the inside of the old Oxford Theatre into a fabulous indoor climbing gym…and they’re right across the street from us!
Here is a welcome ikebana to our new neighbour. This arrangement was inspired by the rock climbing walls found inside the gym.
Hope you see the connection….
The photo of the climbing wall is from this CTV News article. Hope they don’t mind that we used it for inspiration. Please read the article as it gives us the inside story of how hard the folks there worked to get this gym up and running.
Happy climbing on Quinpool!
My Ikebana: Toying With Tulle
One of Sogetsu Ikebana’s themes challenges us to use unconventional items together with fresh material. (生の植物と異質素材). Here, we play around with a piece of tulle fabric.
It was fun to blend the synthetic bright blue netting with the natural plant colours. Here is the whole arrangement.
I hope you like it. —Miyako
Happy New Year 2020!
Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! 明けましておめでとうございます。 It’s the dawn of a new decade! We opened back in December, 2009 and so it is also a decade for our shop! We give thanks for your support through the years and look forward to another 10 years, at least! Will it be another “Roaring 20’s” ? :-)
We wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2020.
My Ikebana: Holiday Arrangement
A little red and green with a holiday theme!
It is placed in the living room to spread some holiday cheer to everyone in the house!
I hope you like it. —Miyako
2019 Year-End Store Hours
My Ikebana: Snowy Image
Silver-painted fern makes a good depiction of the snowy landscape we see right now in Halifax!
I hope you like it. —Miyako
SMU FASS 2019
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.
Arrangement by Miyako.
The ikebana portion of FASS 2019 ran from Dec 3rd to 7th, 2019.
Arrangements by Dr. Linda Campbell.
….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!
Welcome The Oxford Taproom!
Just across the street from our shop, at the iconic Oxford Theatre building, The Oxford Taproom by Garrison Brewing opened its doors.
Here is our little show of welcome for our new neighbour. We do enjoy their beers, so creating the ikebana arrangements were a double pleasure!
Tall Ship premium East Coast ale.
Lemon Drop dry hopped sour.
Ikebana can complement many different things by finding a connection and extending it into an arrangement. With the above, we played with the colour themes of the beer containers. The vivid hues were a joy to work with!
Hope to see you and say “kampai” at The Oxford Taproom some time!
My Ikebana: Shades of Green
This arrangement is all about using green material. We play with different shades of green—from dark to “regular” to light, yellow-green!
As well, there are all sorts of textures to have fun with…slightly rough & dull or smooth & glossy!
It was interesting to seek out each of the “green” characteristics and put them all together. Here is the whole arrangement.
I hope you like it. —Miyako