Ikebana lesson on 112208

(1), (2) Kelly, No. 3 variation


(3) Sandy, basic upright

Ikebana Study

Saturday's class usually is a small class, which gives myself time to study a few arrangements before and after the class. I have three new zealand flex leaves left over from previous class. I decided to study arrangements with intertwine technique. It was fun to do a few with the same material. Some were good. Some were not that good. Anyway, only practice can make it "perfect".

Ikebana lesson 11/21/2008

(1) Ping

(2) Eileen

(3) Wei

(4)

(5) Janelle

(6) Mary

(7) Alice

(8) Ping

Wedding Ikebana at Japanese Friendship Garden

Japanese Friendship Garden is such a nice place right in the downtown Phoenix. The tranquility and serenity of the atmosphere let you forget about the busy city life. I was asked to do some ikebana arrangements for a wedding reception. One for guest sign-in book table, one for buffet table, one for ceremony table, and one for the tea house. I chose a traditional bamboo basket, and use the bittersweet vine for the first one. On the buffet table, the arrangement had to go vertically. I chose kiwi vine for the arrangement. For the ceremony table, I wanted to do a big arrangement, I used two pieces of grape vine to form the frame, and filled in flower materials. Even though it's fall season, unfortunately, we in Phoenix don't have color of fall. The Garden is still very green. The color I introduced through Ikebana stood out nicely. In the tea room, I also chose the warm fall color, using "Matsezashi" style. It was a nice fit.

ikebana lesson 11/14/2008

(1) Eileen


(2) Yuko


(3) Donna


(4) Mary


(5) Alice

Art of Japanese Tea Bowl

After many frustrated attempt, I finally made a few tea bowls to my satisfaction. The tea bowl aesthetic is very intrinsic. A good tea bowl is a good tea bowl. It's the feeling unspeakable. When you see a good tea bowl, you will like it immediately. When I first saw the price of good tea bowls in Tokyo at over $1000 each, I was shocked. While it's fun to do tea bowl, it often makes you frustrated and shatters your confidence. It also brings much joy when you succeeded. Enjoy.

ikebana lesson 11/07/2008

(5) Yuko, color of the container

(4) Janelle, basic upright

(3) Wei, vertical arrangement

(2) Donna C., No.2 variation

(1) Mary, free style

ikebana lesson 10/24/2008

(1) Kelly, free style, special material, bamboo


(2) May, free style


(3) Yuko, straight and curved lines