Filtering by Category: ikebana

Ikebana At Toyota Lexus Halifax

Added on December 6, 2015 by the ikebana shop.

If you are out shopping for a car, visit the Toyota Lexus showroom in Halifax!

We put up an ikebana installation there. Way up there above the showcase shelving! See it?

Toyota and Lexus being Japanese brands, we hope to show a little bit more of the Japanese aesthetic in the showroom. We express through flowers elements of the automobile design: elegance, boldness, power.

Sometimes, it is good to work outside the studio and create something BIG...a very different experience from the usual table-top arrangement. The project is a collaborative effort by Miyako and her advanced students : Val S., Susan R., Jean H. and Patti V.

Toyota Lexus had asked for something that could stay in place through the Christmas season. So, dried materials were used. Apart from the bleached palm, all other plant materials were those that can be found in Nova Scotia.

Gold maple leaves and Canada holly (ilex) among others.

We searched far and wide to get the right material! :-)

Planning, designing, creating the mock-up took an effort. But we enjoyed doing it! With everyone working together, there was an excellent exchange of ideas.

Since the arrangement was to be placed atop a 2-metre high shelf, we had to imagine it being viewed from the below.

The other challenge, of course, was bringing the work to the showroom...and the actual installation. Many thanks to Val's engineering & carpentry skills for coming up with a great "scaffold"!

Here are more views of the installation.

The installation will be there throughout December, 2015. Please visit when you have the chance!

We are very grateful to Toyota Lexus Halifax for generously allowing us to use their showroom. It is never easy to find big spaces for big arrangements!

Thank you to Val, Susan, Jean and Val! We hope you enjoyed the project. We are proud of your work. As well, thanks to Susan and Patti for sharing your photos with us!

My Ikebana: Fresh & Dried Contrast

Added on November 23, 2015 by the ikebana shop.

Fresh sunflowers and dried hydrangeas...a contrast of old and new.

For this arrangement, I combined use of hanadome wire and flower container.

Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. --Miyako

My Ikebana: Light Pink & Dark Red

Added on October 17, 2015 by the ikebana shop.

An arrangement using two containers. On one side, light pink anastasia...

On the other side, dark red Asiatic lily.

Apart from the contrast, I also wanted to show the purity of water...

...and the space created between the two containers. Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. -- Miyako

Afterglow Ikebana

Added on September 27, 2015 by the ikebana shop.

Miyako and Susan worked long and hard to design this installation for the Afterglow Art Festival, held in Bridgewater, NS last Sep. 25~26, 2015. The ever-evolving mock-up took over our garage for well over a month!

We thank Jim of Rofihe's Men's Wear (629 King St., Bridgewater, NS) for allowing use of the store's show window for the ikebana installation. The location was perfect!

“Have We Met Before?

We are all witness to the wild beauty that grows quietly along our roadsides and gets washed up upon the shore. What if we took that material inside? Susan Roberston is an Ikebana Enthusiast, Admirer, and Student and Miyako Ballesteros is a qualified Instructor Sogetsu School of Ikebana and Co-Owner of the Ikebana Shop in Halifax. Ikebana is an art in which the force of life in living plants and the spirit of the person arranging unite to create new beauty and form.”

— Entry #17, Afterglow Art Festival 2015

It looks like the ladies enjoyed themselves. Here is the ikebana at night.

Thank you to everyone who came to see the work. Thank you to Ashton Rodenhiser and the rest of the organizers of Afterglow Art Festival for letting us participate in this wonderful event.

Miyako & Susan, o-tsukaresamadeshita!

My Ikebana: Contrasting Cattails

Added on September 11, 2015 by the ikebana shop.

Isshu-ike...using only one kind of material for an arrangement. I selected only cattails.

I meant this arrangement to portray the cusp where summer ends and autumn begins. On the left side, I placed very green cattails, strong and straight, still very much in their prime. On the right side, I placed already weakening leaves, stooped and curled, browning in some parts...a portent of fall.

Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. --Miyako

My Ikebana: Little Green Apples

Added on August 7, 2015 by the ikebana shop.

Little green apples are beautiful!

First, some of the apple branches were placed at a low position to show some low-hanging fruit. Some red elderberry provides effective contrast. Then, a tall branch is placed to depict an out-of-reach fruit.

The alstroemeria play only a support role. The apple branches are the stars for this arrangement!

Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. --Miyako

Ikebana At The Biscuit Eater

Added on August 1, 2015 by the ikebana shop.

We went to Mahone Bay to share a little ikebana joy. The Biscuit Eater kindly let us use their beautiful space again to set up some ikebana arrangements. (Yes, we did this a couple of years ago too!)

Miyako and two of her students--Susan & Val--put arrangements in some corners of the café...

...including one in the ladies' room...

Oh...and the ladies did not forget about the men's room either. They decided to have a bit of fun there too!. Not ikebana...just mischief! :-)

The big table at the entrance was host to multiple arrangements that could be taken as one harmonious piece.

We plan to have ikebana workshops at The Biscuit Eater, outdoors on the deck, weather permitting. Aug 14th (Fri) and Aug 28th (Fri) both 3:00-4:30 p.m. Miyako will teach basic upright moribana on the first date and basic slanting on the second. We put sign-up sheets on the table so please join us. Or, you can contact us directly to register too. (Cost: 35.00 plus HST).

Of course, a trip to The Biscuit Eater always includes a lovely meal. Food there is always good!

Thank you very much Cara and Frederick for allowing us to intrude into your charming space!

L-R: Susan, Cara (co-owner of The Biscuit Eater), Miyako and Val.

My Ikebana: Using Cardboard

Added on July 13, 2015 by the ikebana shop.

I was in the middle of putting together some fir branches for an arrangement about disassembling-and-assembling branch material when I realized that the vase I was using did not really fit.

I could not find another suitable container so I decided to make one...with cardboard!

In the Sogetsu textbook, there is also a theme about using unconventional materials. I decided to give that a try too! Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. --Miyako

My Ikebana: A Little Tension

Added on June 23, 2015 by the ikebana shop.

Adding an unstable element creates s a little tension in an arrangement...and makes it more intriguing.

Roses that bring a weighty feel sit in contrast with the lightness of baby's breath.

Then, gentle wavy branches.

The arrangement is intentionally put off-centre to create a sense of instability.

Here is the whole arrangement. Do you feel the slight tension?

I hope you like it. --Miyako

My Ikebana: Pink Like Sakura

Added on June 4, 2015 by the ikebana shop.

Spring comes late in Halifax. I put together this arrangement early April of this year. The sakura were already blooming in Tokyo and I longed to see them. I decided then to use pink blossoms--a mix of spray carnations and alstroemeria--to remind me of pink sakura.

I took care not to let the flowers and branches sit heavily onto the vase. Rather, I made them "float" a bit from the mouth of the container. This lent an air of fragility to the arrangement.

Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. -- Miyako