Saturday and Sunday - My students did the most amazing ikebana for JapanFest. The group arrangement using five black iron containers of the Ichiyo School was filled with three different types of beautiful autumn maples, orange bittersweet, and yellow chrysanthemum. We watched the faces of people who walked into the room and were thrilled to see the look of awe as they became aware of what they were seeing. In addition to the group design each person in the class also presented individual arrangements with their own designs.
On Monday we all gathered together for class and patted ourselves on the back for a very successful weekend.
The next night I taught a private lesson to a young woman who has the most amazing connection with nature and a deep desire to In Progress
understand how to bring that sensitivity into a deep level of artistic expression. Her ikebana is thoughtful and beautiful.
Then, the next day I had the opportunity to install five of the same black iron containers we used at JapanFest on the walls of the Fulton County Library in Sandy Springs, Georgia. The wall was 20 feet long so it was quite a project. The five containers were spread across the space but still did not fill it up so I went back later and installed four more arrangements using bamboo wall mounted containers. I used dried material and the arrangements will stay up until the first of November.
What an invigorating week. I wouldn't trade my love for ikebana for anything else and I am so happy to be a part of a group of ladies who feel the same way.
After our show at JapanFest we saved all of the bittersweet used in the arrangements and rearranged it into smaller designs. This arrangement was done by one of our class members whose assignment was doing an arrangement with just one type of material. The bittersweet was perfect for that particular study.
