Friday...with Ikebana

There is no competition in Ikebana, no striving to better someone else.

The object is simply to create something beautiful for the delight of others and in doing so inform ourself...

I pulled out one of my Granny’s Ikebana books yesterday and lots of her old notes fell out.

I had vaguely and rather nostalgically looked at them before, but I hadn’t actually read them.

The section above really touched a chord.

My table arrangements are brief moments which are never designed to last...they are flowers and tea after all, and only have a finite life span, but they are designed to delight.

I have never studied the Art of Ikebana ( unlike Beryl who had certificates ); I have always worked instinctively, but I find the aesthetics of it immensely pleasing. 

My Granny says at one point in her notes:

Like all forms, Ikebana needs a great deal of study.

I don’t have enough time just now for a great deal of study; I’m usually trying  to keep on top of the washing and ironing, and reading and studying has never been an easy or natural activity for me.

But I opened the book yesterday and saw a similar trough to one I have.

I have quite a few beautiful vases but am never quite sure what to do with the trough.

The picture showed Arum lilies and Yukka leaves, and although I thought the arrangement was quite dated, it inspired me to create one of my own, as I had recently been given the Arums from next door...

I realise that form in Ikebana is very important and this small diagram was really useful...

I went into the garden and picked some Montbretia stems which haven’t flowered yet ( and which are almost like weeds in some parts of the garden ).

I also picked a Giant Cow Parsley leaf, a Japanese Anemone stemmed leaf and a stem of Japanese Honeysuckle leaves.

When I started trying to put them together, I realised that actually the diagram on the opposite page was going to work better with what I had...

The Cow Parsley leaf didn’t work at all; it was far to overpowering and didn’t seem to move with enough dynamic; it didn’t compliment the Arums, but I felt the Japanese Anemone leaves did...

I very simply positioned them in the ceramic trough, with the help of some oasis, along with the Montbretia stems...

...and then added the Honeysuckle stem one Arum.

It took a few different attempts to make the Honeysuckle balance the piece with it’s natural shape and movement, and although I tried to emulate the 1960’s photograph in the book with 2 sections of ‘spikey’ leaves, it didn’t feel right.

One Arum didn’t feel right either, so I added a second, took away some Montbretia stems and placed a large stone I once brought back from a Cornish beach alongside, as I thought it somehow pulled out both the colour and the texture from the arrangement.

I was so pleased that I had been able to utilise yet another of my Granny’s ceramics, as well as her old book...

I love this picture of Stella Coe, the book’s author, with Grand Master Sofu Teshigahara. 

In the 1960’s she was a universally acknowledged authority in Ikebana...and in February 1965 she signed this copy of her book for my Granny, Beryl.