Memories of Summer Holidays

The first meeting for 2015 was held on Tuesday 10th February. The ikebana theme was 'Memories of Summer Holidays'. Christopher James gave a demonstration in which he used materials gathered locally to his seaside home. He spoke of his memories, going back to childhood, of the beach, sand dunes and cliffs where materials are strongly affected by the elements: hot summer sun, salt air and prevailing winds. The materials he used were: driftwood, cushion bush (leucophyta brownii) and marrum grass seed heads.

 Below is the finished arrangement in a ceramic vase.

Other members had their own individual responses to the theme:

Thea Sartori arranged berries in a tall bottle shaped vase.

Margaret Wilson used a glass bowl to show the lines of blackberry stems and a mass of fruit cascading down the side of the bowl.

Chieko Yazaki, who spent the January holiday period in Japan, had memories of snow covering plants that were waiting for the promise of springtime.

Click on the coloured text for further photos of 'Memories of Summer Holidays' arrangements. 

The next meeting is on March 10th at Toorak Uniting Church Hall at 10.30 am. The theme is: 'White and Grey Matter' with a speaker from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. 

Please note that there is an additional Chapter activity on March 18th. Wayne Crothers, Curator of Asian Art at the National Gallery of Victoria, will give a 'lecture tour' of the current Mingei Exhibition in the Pauline Gandel Gallery of Japanese Art and of the 'Reflection Model Itsukushima' contemporary sculpture in the Rio Tinto temporary exhibitions space. The tour begins at 2.00pm. If you wish to meet other members for lunch look out for them near the information desk in the Federation Court, inside the main entrance to the gallery at 1.00pm.

SHOGETSUDO KORYU DEMONSTRATION and WORKSHOP

Members of the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International and their guests were pleased to welcome Shihosai Uematsu, the Iemoto designate, of the Shogetsudo Koryu School at the meeting held on Tuesday 11th November. In the morning Mr Uematsu gave a demonstration of ikebana works focusing on the Seika form and in the afternoon he lead a workshop, which was attended by 44 members from all schools of the Chapter, on the subject of 'Ryureika', a modern form of Seika.

Above Mrs Chieko Yazaki, Melbourne teacher of the Shogetsudo Koryu School of Ikebana, and Mr Uematsu. 

The  photo above shows Mr Uematsu explaining the principles underlying the Seika form.

Below are other works created by Mr Uematsu for the demonstration

As Tuesday was Armistice Day Mr Uematsu created a commemorative freestyle ikebana for those who gave their lives in war and at 11.00am a minutes silence was observed by all present.

             

Below some of the 44 members of the Melbourne Chapter who participated in the workshop.

Click on the coloured text to see other photos from the Shogetsudo Koryu demonstration.

The marriage of ikebana and haiku



November promises to be an lively month in Melbourne for anyone interested in ikebana.

Visiting master from Japan, Mr Shihosai Uematsu

The Shogetsudo-koryu school in Australia is small, but growing rapidly.

This school of ikebana was established by a Buddhist monk, Ichiro Zeshinken, 250 years ago. It was named for Eison Shogetsudo, a thirteenth century Japanese philosopher, whose teachings are a reference point for the school. It established the Seika style, which embraces the principle of Yin-Yang balance and the five elements of the universe.

Mr Uematsu is the son of the current head of Shogetsudo-koryu school in Kyoto and will shortly take over as the 13th headmaster. He will showcase the school's style at the general meeting of Ikebana International on November 11, demonstrating both traditional and contemporary arrangements.

Everyone is welcome to attend and the meeting is free of charge.

There will also be a workshop in the afternoon with Mr Uematsu. This is for members only and booking is essential. Contact Mrs Chieko Yazaki on cyyazaki@gmail.com for more

 information.   

A reminder about the

Ikenobo demonstration and workshop on Sunday 30 November, 1.30-2.30, at Rippon Lea, 192 Hotham Street, Elsternwick. Rippon Lea House and Garden is currently running a Spring Garden Festival with a wide range of talks and displays. More details are available on the National Trust Victoria website www.springgardenfestival.com.au

Cost: $25 or $20 for members of the National Trust.

 A similar workshop was also held last month and as can be seen from the photo below the old mansion and its garden provided a wonderful backdrop for flower-arranging.   

 At the Sogetsu school meeting Monday October 21 Lara Telford presented the theme of Haiku and Ikebana. Both arts are minimalistic, offering an economy of essence.

Free-style arrangements accompanied haiku verses, both ancient and modern, were selected by members.

A modern verse....European food -/every blasted plate/is round

  Nothing there but/the whorl of a fern/this floating world. Kawabata Bosha

And a personal note:

This is my final blog for the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International. When Pat Hetrel, raised the suggestion of starting a blog two years ago I agreed to take on the task of shepherding it through its infancy, although I could offer no relevant experience! It has been a steep learning curve and I have greatly appreciated assistance from many people, especially Rosemary Parry-Brock and Christopher James. Everyone who helped by sending photos or information, as well as those who patiently held backdrops while others took the photos have all contributed, for which I am very grateful.

Christopher James is the new blogmaster and I urge all members to keep in mind the potential of the blog to advertise our activities and showcase our work. The potential is, as yet, largely untapped. Jennie Stuart