Filtering by Category: ikebana

Zoom Demo At SMU

Added on by the ikebana shop.

Every year, we are honoured to be invited to present ikebana to the Japanese Culture course offered at St. Mary’s University.

Normally, the demonstration would have been live in the classroom. Afterwards, the students would have been able to see the ikebana arrangements up close and enjoy the subtle details.

But of course, this year is different. University lectures are being conducted online and so must our demonstration! We are posting the demo arrangements below so that the students may have a second look at them.

We’d like to thank Dr. Alexandre Avdulov of the Department of Modern Languages and Classics and all the students in the Japanese Culture course for your warm welcome and keen interest!

Believe it or not, this was our first “Zoom event” ever.

Believe it or not, this was our first “Zoom event” ever.

Arrangement No. 1 - Basic Upright Moribana

Arrangement No. 2 - Drawing Attention to the Container

Arrangement No. 3 - Seasonal Arrangement: Autumn

We hope you enjoyed the demonstration!

My Ikebana: Packaging Cushion As Container

Added on by the ikebana shop.

We’ve been through a heat wave recently here in Halifax. We finally capitulated and bought an electric fan. What caught my eye was the packaging cushion. It was made of moulded pulp, with a rough and interesting texture. It was of course formed in the specific shape to protect the appliance. But I thought to transform it and use it as a flower container!

So, I folded it in some parts, tore up other parts, and put them together again….and then painted it black. I also made room inside for a container to hold water.

Next, I cut off the light twigs from a dried spruce branch, which I had sparsely painted white. The little twigs were rearranged into a small cluster. By placing it to seem like it was floating above the dense-looking container, I sought to show contrast between heavy and light.

Here is the whole arrangement.

 

I hope you like it. —Miyako

My Ikebana: Entrance Forsythia

Added on by the ikebana shop.

It’s summer. The tiny yellow flowers of the forsythia in our garden are long gone. They have now turned into lush green leafy branches! They can bring a refreshing feeling into the house.

This arrangement is placed at our entrance foyer…a light and cheery welcome as one comes in!

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Here is the whole arrangement.

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I hope you like it. —Miyako

My Ikebana: Pine Relief

Added on by the ikebana shop.

I found some pine branches that fell off a tree. It looked like they had been there for a while because the pine needles were in showing different stages of discolouration as it started to dry up.

I took the branches apart, re-assembled and mounted them on a board to create a relief arrangement.

Here is the whole arrangement.

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I hope you like it. —Miyako

My Ikebana: Lupins From The Floor

Added on by the ikebana shop.

As the weather becomes warmer, the lupins start to bloom here in Atlantic Canada. They are beautiful and, happily, they are all over the place!

A typical Halifax roadside scene in the summer.

It is wonderful to see the purples and pinks amid the refreshing green. We try to bring this freshness into our ikebana arrangement, using the lupins from our yard. This arrangement is a floor position arrangement, i.e. it is meant to be viewed from above.

I hope you like it. —Miyako

 

Welcome Propeller Beer!

Added on by the ikebana shop.

In the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Propeller Beer opened its Quinpool location. Another great addition to our vibrant community!

Image is a screenshot from @propellerbeer Instagram post.

Image is a screenshot from @propellerbeer Instagram post.

 

Here is our little welcome ikebana for Propeller Beer! A crystal container with light blue hydrangeas to evoke the pleasure of that first gulp of ice cold beer after a long day!

Apologies for the belated welcome. We are happy to have you in the Quinpool neighbourhood!

My Ikebana: Thinking Outside Of The Board

Added on by the ikebana shop.
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Do you know shiki ita (敷板)?

It is a flat wooden (usually lacquered) base platform used by ikebana practitioners to create and extend space that otherwise could not be fully expressed by the flower container alone.

Normally it is a supporting actor to the usual main characters of flowers/branches and container. Sometimes, it can also provided necessary contrast against backgrounds that have similar hue with the flower container.

In this arrangement, we flip the usual roles and use the shiki ita as “main character”. There is no flower container in the usual sense to steal the show!

Notice also that instead of the shiki ita delineating the boundaries, the arrangement extends its space outside of it.

Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. —Miyako