Ikebana Workshops

I am studying Sogetsu Ikebana with Ilse Beunen (Belgium) via Zoom. Besides the formal study lessons, Ilse offers “workshops” with a particular theme also via Zoom to participants from all around the world. I have joined several of these workshops even though I am still very much a “novice” Ikebana student. The skill and creativity of most of the workshop participants is amazing and I love seeing their work.

Here are my arrangements for Ilse’s Spring and Summer workshops that I was a part of.

“Inspired by Easter” – a workshop incorporating egg(s) as a part of our design

For my design I chose to use an ostrich egg as my vase which I purchased through a vendor on Amazon,
the blue pottery stand I found at Etsy
To hold water I needed to seal the ostrich egg with a sealant spray since it was porous, the blue hydrangea blossoms were cut from an Easter hydrangea plant, then I added curly willow for interest and height

“Inspired by Nature” – a workshop incorporating nature in some way in our design

I created my own nature-themed vase using Campbell’s soup cans and bark pieces
My floral materials consisted of crabapple branches and grape hyacinth blossoms from my yard
I cut openings into two soup cans, glued them together to create the “vase”
I covered and glued the cans with pieces of bark
I used a kenzan inside the bark covered soup cans to hold the fresh materials.
The “vase” was not as watertight as I hoped but it worked well enough.

“Inspired by a Bird’s Nest” – a workshop creating a feeling of a bird’s nest but not simulating one exactly in our arrangement

Hosta leaves created my “bird’s nest”, the Siberian Iris represented baby birds flying from the nest
My Siberian Iris patch showing up this past Spring in all its glory along with the many Hosta plants

“Inspired by Abstract Art” – a workshop reflecting a vision of abstract art in our design

After looking at images of abstract art on the Internet, I was inspired by a “black and white” theme and the geometric shape of circles
White hydrangea blossoms with deep red roses are held in place with a kenzan. Black and white painted embroidery hoops are glued together to create their interlacing shape. A curly willow stick is painted to compliment the overall color scheme and bring height interest to the design.

“Inspired by the Color Green” – a workshop using only fresh green materials in our design

I used several types of ornamental grasses growing in my garden this summer to create this green-only Moribana upright design with kenzan
Zebra Grass, Prince Tut plumes, Hakonechloa Macra and one more grass than I have forgotten its name

“Inspired by Weeds” – a workshop incorporating weeds in the design

I needed to use “weeds” somehow in my arrangement. The best I found were spent flower stalks of “ditch” lilies that I have in my garden. I used the flower stalks to create structure and a framework for the gorgeous yellow-orange dahlia blossoms that are starting to bloom in my garden.
This is a side view to see the tall bud stem in the back. In Ikebana this is called the “depth” branch”. It is meant to take the eye to back of the arrangement. I used my shallow black vase with a black kenzan for this Moribana arrangement.

This wraps up the workshop offerings for Spring and Summer. In September Ilse will offer a new selection for Fall and Winter. Looking forward to joining in!

2 thoughts on “Ikebana Workshops”

  2. Jan Mace Sollenberger

    Wow! Lots of eye appeal. How long have you been doing this? It must give you many happy, creative hours, in your gaeprden and designing and creating.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Jan

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