Filtering by Category: ikebana

My Ikebana: The Mexican Mug

Added on by the ikebana shop.

I was thinking of using things found in the house for an ikebana arrangement.

This colourful mug from Mexico caught my eye. It was a gift from our Mexican friends. Such bright and vivid colours are not normally seen in Japanese-style pottery. It was refreshing! To me, it spoke of the vibrance and gaiety of the Mexican culture.

The other piece of pottery is a shallow bowl made by Danielle Sawada of Thrown Together Pottery from Truro NS. It has been with us for over 10 years now! The Mexican mug, by the way, sits atop a candle.

Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. —Miyako

Ikebana Homework: Try Aluminum Foil

Added on by the ikebana shop.

Most of us are probably staying at home in self-isolation as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. We miss doing ikebana together and hope that we can enjoy making flower arrangements together again soon.

For those of us with some time in our hands, let’s try some ikebana at home!

Let’s try to use something that is normally found in our kitchens: aluminum foil! The challenge is to use aluminum foil to create your container. Here are some guidelines:

  • The lead “character” is the container. Any flowers you add should be there to help the lead character.

  • You may use a different container to hold water or to help you with forming the shape (if you need). This other container may be completely hidden or could be showing as part of the arrangement. It’s completely up to you!

  • You may use kenzan, if you need. Again, completely up to you!

  • There are no other rules. Have fun with it!!

Share your work with us! Tag us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!

Welcome East Peak Climbing!

Added on by the ikebana shop.

Congratulations to our new neighbour, East Peak Climbing, on their grand opening today, Feb 29th, 2020! East Peak has converted the inside of the old Oxford Theatre into a fabulous indoor climbing gym…and they’re right across the street from us!

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Here is a welcome ikebana to our new neighbour. This arrangement was inspired by the rock climbing walls found inside the gym.

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Hope you see the connection….

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The photo of the climbing wall is from this CTV News article. Hope they don’t mind that we used it for inspiration. Please read the article as it gives us the inside story of how hard the folks there worked to get this gym up and running.

Happy climbing on Quinpool!

My Ikebana: Toying With Tulle

Added on by the ikebana shop.

One of Sogetsu Ikebana’s themes challenges us to use unconventional items together with fresh material. (生の植物と異質素材). Here, we play around with a piece of tulle fabric.

It was fun to blend the synthetic bright blue netting with the natural plant colours. Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. —Miyako

SMU FASS 2019

Added on by the ikebana shop.

Every year the St. Mary’s University community shares its creativity through the annual FASS (Faculty, Alumni, Student, Staff) exhibits at the St. Mary’s University Art Gallery.

(Poster from the SMU Art Gallery website.)

(Poster from the SMU Art Gallery website.)

In collaboration with Dr. Linda Campbell, professor at the Department of Environmental Science, we had the chance to present ikebana at the 2019 FASS exhibit. Linda has been learning ikebana with Miyako since 2016. She had missed participating in our most recent exhibit at the Keshen Goodman Library last May; so, it was quite opportune that SMU Art Gallery was able to allocate space for ikebana.

Arrangement by Miyako.

The ikebana portion of FASS 2019 ran from Dec 3rd to 7th, 2019.

Arrangements by Dr. Linda Campbell.

….and a fun selfie of the people behind the works: Miyako and Linda.

Last but certainly not least, a big thank-you to Robin Metcalfe, director/curator and Adam Myatt for your kind assistance and patience to make this possible!

Welcome The Oxford Taproom!

Added on by the ikebana shop.

Just across the street from our shop, at the iconic Oxford Theatre building, The Oxford Taproom by Garrison Brewing opened its doors.

Here is our little show of welcome for our new neighbour. We do enjoy their beers, so creating the ikebana arrangements were a double pleasure!

Tall Ship premium East Coast ale.

Lemon Drop dry hopped sour.

Ikebana can complement many different things by finding a connection and extending it into an arrangement. With the above, we played with the colour themes of the beer containers. The vivid hues were a joy to work with!

Hope to see you and say “kampai” at The Oxford Taproom some time!