Last night, March 4th, the Washington, DC Sogetsu Ikebana Chapter opened it’s biennial show in collaboration with the Art League Gallery in Alexandria, VA . The show pairs 22 ikebana artists with artwork chosen from Torpedo Factory artists, and is on display thru Sunday.
For my installation I chose a wood engraving by artist Rosemary Feit Covey and a horsehair ceramic piece by Phyllis Roderer. I created a two pieces of sculpture, composed of large nails and cable ties, and added a touch of pine and single stem of purple phalaenopis orchid.
The Biennial Sogetsu Ikebana Exhibition will also feature several other events :
Ikebana flower arranging demonstration by Tone Olsen : Saturday, March 6, 1:00 pm
Japanese Tea Ceremony and discussion of Chado, the Japanese way of tea, with Stephen di Girolamo of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution: Sunday, March 7, 1:30 pm
Musical performances by the Washington Toho Koto, Performed by Mrs. Kyoto Okamoto: Sunday, March 7, 3:00 pm
The Vancouver Olympic games not only has athletics, but also art. One such piece is the dramatic Vectorial Vancouver light display. The best part, it’s controlled by YOU on the internet. Go to the site and make your own light sculpture and have it seen briefly in the night sky over the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. I did two pieces that were seen in the night sky last night! One of them is pictured below:
More Hana Dome from the workshop, this one is wired also. It’s done with red stick dogwood branches, yellow chrysanthemums, and some green plumosa fern to give it a soft, gentle look. I’ve also included a link for a PDF file on how to wire so that you can see how it’s done.
In the photo below I show Hana Dome made by fixing branches together with nails, in this one I’ve used cherry branches. I completed the design using banksia protea and some dried banana leaves. There’s a link for another PDF file too, so that you can learn how to affix branches together with either screws or nails.
The new year brought a new challenge for me, and that challenge was leading my very first workshop. Earlier last year I had attended the 8th North American Sogetsu Seminar and took part in several workshops. One of the workshops was “Hana Dome” or “flower fixture”, and I was asked to teach that for the January workshop for the Washington,DC Sogetsu Ikebana chapter. Basically Hana Dome is a method of fixing branch material together, using either wire or nails, to make a fixture that will hold flowers and greens in place without the use of a kenzan.
I first demonstrated Hana Dome made from curly willow branches, and secured it with wire. Using the willow I chose to make a more organic form, something that I think the willow lends itself to. I placed the fixture in a ceramic container and added white calla lilies and a monstera leaf. You can use the ends of the wire as an interesting focal point by covering them with material such as the red hypericum berries pictured below, or simply bend the wires to blend with the fixture.
In part two I will talk more about the process of wiring branches together, and show another example from my demonstration.
Last month I was fortunate enough to attend the workshops held here in Washington,DC by our local chapter of Ikebana International . Mr. Shuji Ikeda of the Ikenobo school of Ikebana conducted the workshops, held on a particularly rain soaked Saturday morning. Mr. Ikeda was really inspiring and genuinely enjoyed every moment of both workshops. His ikebana students are lucky to have someone who loves what he does, and uses that knowledge and wisdom in such an energetic way. Both sections of the workshop gave me some insight into Ikenobo Ikebana, but I came away with a much deeper appreciation of Sogetsu. Ikenobo, being a classical school of ikebana, is very structured. Sogetsu has a very modern approach, and much more freedom. Perhaps that is what I like so very much about it , that it allows me greater personal expression.
Following the workshops I rushed in the rain to get downtown to see Soho Sakai’s demonstration, or so I thought. I got to the hotel to discover that the demonstration had happened the night before. I had written the wrong date on my calender! It was a big shock to me, and I know I missed a great demonstration. I’m still upset about it today. Lesson learned: always check and recheck your dates.
Demonstration: Sunday, September 20, 1:00pm-2:30pmNational Bonsai & Penjing MuseumSpecial Exhibits Wing Members of the Washington DC Metropolitan Area Sogetsu Branch fill the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum’s International Pavilion and Special Exhibits Wing with dramatic arrangements in this modern style of Japanese flower arranging. Sogetsu promotes an ikebana of no limits in which designers use plant materials of any type to create sculptural compositions. Watch master teachers demonstrate their techniques as they create a series of basic and free style arrangements during the drop-in session on Sunday, September 20 from 1:00pm to 2:30 pm. Free. No registration required.
The poll in my previous post is still open, so take a look and VOTE! The poll is asking the question: “Is it Ok to actively study another school of ikebana?”. This question came to me by chance a few months ago. I know someone who is studying with one school of ikebana and has just started studying another, and wants to keep it somewhat of a secret. Why, you might ask, would this be kept quiet? It seems that this person’s sensei might not approve of their study of another school. So I was very curious about why that might be. I know lots of people who have have studied at least two schools, some have even gotten certificates from multiple schools. I started asking around and found that people were either very open to studying another school or very devoted to their current school. Perfectly understandable responses in my opinion.
Then I found MY answer to this question, from the So magazine, Volume 67, November-December 1987 in an article by famed Sogetsu artist and teacher Norman Sparnon:
“It was classical Rikka of the Ikenobo School which next took my attention. On receiving my Sogetsu Diploma I asked Mr. Sofu if I should study this classical style. He said “Yes, it will be good for your technique, and I will introduce you to a good teacher.”
This week I signed up to attend Ikenobo Ikebana workshops and a Sogetsu Ikebana demonstration . The two workshops are sponsored by Ikebana International Washington, DC Chapter #1 on Saturday, October 17, 2009 featuring Mr. Shuji Ikeda, Sokakyo Professor with the Ikenobo School of Ikebana. Details and registration are available on the Washington,DC Chapter #1 link above. After the workshops I will be going to see a demonstration by Ms. Soho Sakai, Riji of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana. The workshop is part of the World Association of Flower Arrangers 2009 Excursion Botanicus, a ten-day multi-state Seminar. The cost of Ms. Sakai’s demonstration is $50, the event is at the L’EnfantPlaza Hotel in Washington,DC and it is open to the public . More information on tickets is at WAFA’s website.
So this brings me to a question I have been pondering, and also asking for opinions on: Is it OK to study more than one school of ikebana? I know that you should not do more than one at the same time, but after you finish the curriculum for one school do you think studying another school is a good idea? I’d really like for your vote in the poll below, and also for some comments and thoughts on your opinion or your experience with studying with more that one school of ikebana.
