We spent an enjoyable morning with the little ones at the Japanese School of Halifax. We were happy to introduce ikebana to the little ones!
It was a great opportunity for the children to connect to a part of their cultural heritage even whilst they are very far from Japan. Everybody did a great job!
We are also conducting workshops for the older boys and girls. But this group is the cutest of them all! :-)
I thought I'd make an arrangement appropriate for Hallowe'en. Something spooky. This bare mountain ash branch devoid of berries looked ghoulish enough, I thought.
I put more weight on the dark side of my black-and-white container to show asymmetry.
But the chrysanthemums and eucalyptus branches looked more cheerful than "scary"!
So it became my not-so-Hallowe'en arrangement!
I hope you like it. --Miyako
Once again, on one magical night, our shop was transformed into a little ikebana gallery.
It was hard work to put all the merchandise away and set the stage.
But it was harder work to design the arrangements! All worth it.
On October 18th, 2014, from 6 p.m. to midnight, we were there to show and explain ikebana.
We also served some cake to show our appreciation. :-)
Here are the work of Miyako and her students.
The outside installation was a collaborative effort by Miyako and Val Spencer. Hemlock greens, magnolia & willow branches, spray mums and bamboo.
The big willow branch was actually given to us by a friend last winter. She said her neighbour's tree had fallen in a storm. She thought we might like it so she hauled it all the way to our shop. That was probably a good 3 blocks away! Thank you Joan!
Left:: "Autumn Happiness" by Patti Vaison. Patti could not join us on Nocturne so she had prepared her arrangement in advance using dried material: Chinese lantern, cattails and eryngium. Glass beads on blue glass containers gave calming balance to the vivid orange!
Right: "Paintbrush" by Val Spencer. Anthurium and hosta stems. Now, you couldn't have guessed those "sticks" were from hosta, right? :-) A couple of sheets of square paper underneath may seem inconsequential but they complete the picture.
Left: "Moonlight" by Avril Yu. Stargazer lilies and alder branches. Like a bright moonlit night!
Right: "Kabu-Wake" (That's the style of arrangement having 2 "islands" in one moribana container) by Jean Henshall. Yellow roses and pincushion protea.
Left: Basic upright moribana by Randa Bdeir (L) and Abeer Sabanekh (R). Pink anastasias, alder branches and eryngium. The two friends' works had been done separately but came together perfectly as a pair!
Right: "No-Mind" by Miyako. Dendrobium, yellow mums, grape vine and Japanese rose branches. For this arrangement, Miyako said she wasn't thinking at all. Her hands just moved!
Left: "Discord" by Miyako. Silver Dollars, dried hydrangea and hemlock. We don't know what the branches are. We picked them up on the sidewalk after a storm had blown by! This arrangement went through countless iterations as if there were opposing forces pulling it back and forth.
Right: "Hope" by Miyako. Mountain ash branches, Japanese rose hips and craspedia. It looked like it just crested a steep peak!
Left: "Tall Gladiola" by Sydney Feng. Gladiola, cattail leaves and pine. The heavy vertical presence of the gladiola was contrasted by the light sprinkling of pine needles.
Right: "Dawning" by Val Spencer. Begonias and climbing hydrangea...and meticulously sculptured branches!
We thank everyone who came all the way to Quinpool to visit us...even as the bulk of Nocturne festivities were happening in downtown. We hope you enjoyed our little exhibit. Time flew by very quickly!
Thank you to the ikebana students who participated. We hope you also had an enriching experience. Everybody loved your work!
A more complete set of Nocturne images can be found on our flickr album.
The big branches were from a mountain ash tree that had been felled by a recent storm.
I put together the red berries of mountain ash with bright yellow chrysanthemums to show a contrast.
The hips on the Japanese rose branch are turning orange--a preview of the coming autumn.
Here is the whole arrangement.
I hope you like it. --Miyako
Another pine branch I had picked up last winter was all dried up. All the needles were gone. The tiny bare branches looked like sparklers to me!
I cut up this branch into smaller pieces and re-assembled it around the vase. I used the horsetail to show some movement.
Then, to further emphasize the fine patterns of the dried pine twigs, I embedded some roses among them.
Here is the whole arrangement.
I hope you like it. --Miyako
This past few days, if you've walked through the doors to enter the McNally Theatre at St. Mary's University in Halifax NS, this ikebana arrangement would have greeted you.
The arrangement was created as part of the Japanesque activity, celebrating Japanese culture. At the McNally Theatre, there were free screenings of two Japanese films last Saturday, Sep 27th.
Miyako and three of her advanced students--Jean, Patti, and Val--worked hard to put this together. That includes enduring the freezing cold working on the design in our garage! :-)
Other friends also contributed. The silver dollar medallions (top left of the photo) were a gift from Beverly. Every year, when she prunes her garden, she delivers silver dollar branches to us! Thank you, Beverly!
These tall branches were courtesy of our friend, Sheila. She graciously let us walk around her cottage and gather whatever branches we needed. See the action photo below! :-)
So, this is what an ikebanista will do just to get that perfect branch! :-)
We show our appreciation too!
And... here are the four ladies who made this possible. (L-R Jean, Patti, Val, and Miyako.) Thank you all for the wonderful work!
We'd like to thank St. Mary's University for kindly allowing us to use the space for this arrangement!
N.B. The date stamp on the last two photos say "09/27/2014" but in fact they prepared this on Sep 26th. The camera came from Japan and was still on the Japanese clock where the dateline had already been crossed! :-)
I chose flowers with autumn colours--orange spray mums and alstroemeria plus some pink mums to add a splash of light colour!
The dried branches were ones I picked some time last winter!
SInce there was no need to put the branches in water, I used the space outside of the container. By placing the branches next to the thick body of the metal container, I showed a light vs heavy contrast.
Here is the whole arrangement.
I hope you like it. --Miyako
Photos by the ikebana shop. All rights reserved.
Due to the warm weather, this bunch of irises went into full bloom earlier than expected!
For branches, I used what was readily available...
...the ever abundant roadside weeds! :-)
I took most of the leaves out and formed curves out of the branches.
A view from the top. The curls contrasted well with the very straight irises.
Here is the whole arrangement.
I hope you like it. --Miyako
All photos by the ikebana shop. All rights reserved.
Once again the weeds around the shop caught my eye!
I was attracted to the large leaves and the unusual patterns along their edges.
WIthout cutting or folding, I arranged the leaves to show the beauty of the edge patterns.
I added one sunflower to accent and provide contrast to the greenness.
Here is the whole arrangement.
I hope you like it. --Miyako
All photos by the ikebana shop. All rights reserved.
This day, I had monstera leaves and oriental lilies.
The monstera leaves proved to be too big so I ended up with cutting a leaf to fit in the container's opening.
I used one lily bud and then some grass to show lines, a contrast to the large surface of the monstera.
Here is the whole arrangement.
I hope you like it. --Miyako
All photos by the ikebana shop. All rights reserved.
