The annual spring exhibition of ikebana by the Washington,DC chapter of Ikebana International will open tomorrow, Friday April 2nd and will run thru April 26th. It will take place at the United States National Arboretum and is open daily from 10am to 4pm. The exhibition is located inthe National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, Special Exhibits Wing. Master demonstrators will give free ikebana demonstrations on Sundays April 4,11,18,and 26 at 1pm, all events are free to the public.
Here’s a short YouTube video of the exhibition from 2008:
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.
It’s been a while since I posted, I got busy and I also ran out of steam. For a while I have been thinking about what I could do to get myself to post, and what I could write about. So to help me out a bit I decided to take the Blog Triage course with Alyson B. Stanfield and Cynthia Morris . With their knowledge and creative efforts and the support of other artists striving to improve their blogs, I can’t fail.
Now on to my very first lesson , which is about who I want to read my blog. Who am I writing for ? I guess first and foremost I am writing for anyone who is interested in ikebana and flowers in general. I want people to share my journey, and maybe also to share theirs as well with me. But I also want artist of all kinds to come here also. Sogetsu Ikebana has a long history with arttist of all kinds: painters, ceramic artist, sculptors, glass artists, installation and environmetal artists and others as well.
I also want to make connections with other artists, not only ikebana but other types as well. It’s a big world out there and there is so much to see and do. So feel free to leave a comment and share a little too!
This blog was started originally as a way for me to show my work, maybe get some feedback,and to chart my progression. I thought it would also be a really great way to encourage me to do more, and to some extent it has greatly helped.
It’s not easy for me to write, as you may be able to tell from this post. That’s going to be the one thing I really need to work on. I’m looking forward to see what I can do with this blog in the next month and beyond.
It’s been a while since my last post, much too long. For me it has been a very busy time that has kept me from doing any ikebana, at least any that I had time to photograph. During the winter months I have limited space to work and to set up my photography background, and that tends to make the work very rushed to get done. I really don’t like rushing work, it’s better for me to be able to start a piece and to stand back from it and think a while about it. I’ve also been thinking about what type of ikebana I want to do. I started examining ikebana artists like Toshiro Kawase to see some really stunning work that I have connected to emotionally. His work can be seen at his website http://www11.ocn.ne.jp/~kawase/index.html . These past few months I have really had to ask myself questions like “What direction I want to go?” , and “What kind of ikebana do I want to do?”. “What excites me and draws me into this wonderful art in a way that captures my creative spirit and enthusiasm?” So during the next few weeks I will attempt to find the answers to all of these questions, and share my answers (and more ikebana) here.
Today I did this arrangement of materials that were cut from my backyard garden (with the exception of the Indian Summer calla lily). I had planned to do some larger arrangements with some flowers bought yesterday at the Dupont Circle Farmer’s Market, but the lillies were not yet open. There is something really fun about exploring the garden to find small gems to use in a smaller arrangement. I was happy to rediscover the heuchera leaves, and the blackberry lily. I also found one lonely nerine lily that is coming up. It’s a reminder to me to order some new nerine bulbs to plant this fall so I can enjoy many of them in various colors next fall. Right now the lillies from the farmer’s market have been re-cut and placed in a warm spot to open. I’ll work on some sketches for my arrangement, and be ready to make it tomorrow morning. Maybe I will canvas the neighborhood for some native grasses, and see what other surprises await.
Autumn, my favorite time of year for color and flowers. I have a few new arrangments that were inspired by fall colors. They were fun to do, but done with the fading sunlight in mind. I have to take advantage of the light at the right time of day, and sometimes I don’t have the time to get an early start. Maybe next week I can be a little better prepared. Soon I will lose my “outdoor studio” to the late fall and winter elements, so I need to utilize it while I still can.
