SOGETSU SCHOOL OF IKEBANA

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Mrs Deborah Hathorn led the workshop on Saturday 9th September 2017.

The theme of the workshop was “CELEBRATION” for the 10th Anniversary of Sogetsu London Branch foundation and the 90th Anniversary of Sogetsu School.

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On September 9th Sogetsu London Branch was delighted to welcome Deborah Hathorn from Edinburgh for a special workshop to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Sogetsu London Branch and the 90th anniversary of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana, Japan. Sogetsu London Branch director, Shoko Koizumi Hanson assisted Deborah with some arrangements during the demonstration.
Deborah started by telling us that her demonstration was to be interactive so that she could talk about things, share tips and we could all learn together. Deborah stressed the importance of trying out different things in workshops.

The first arrangement was a simple design in a black ceramic bucket like container. Deborah started by fixing two New Zealand flax leaves on the kenzan giving height to the arrangement. This was followed by a monstera leaf and red anthurium. To finish off Deborah used two cards with gilded washi paper and origami paper, mounted onto barbeque sticks.

The second arrangement was in a heavy yellow glass container and was a celebration of Sogetsu London Branch. Deborah wished to show the transition from summer to autumn by using dried lovage sticks as a double shin in two placements, together with dried hosta leaves, showing the connection between the two placements and depth. Then sunflowers were used to show summer and complete the arrangement.

The third arrangement involved the use of a construction on a tall nagiere vase; there was no water and fixing in the vase itself. The construction was made by screwing together mahonia wood pieces which were all cut at an angle. A few tubes which were to contain water for plant material, were covered in brown tape and fixed to the construction. Stems of rose hips without leaves were placed in the tubes. She continued by placing bleached white palms, pink snowberry (Symphoricarpos species) with their leaves taken off and two red anthurium. Deborah showed us examples of mizuhiki and attached one hanging mizuhiki to the construction.

The fourth arrangement had a construction made from split reed which had been woven and glued together. Some red and orange washi paper triangle shapes were stuck to the construction using double sided tape, then this was placed on the brown wood effect and white ceramic container. The plant material used included two cow parsley stems (one white and one green) and physalis.

The fifth and final arrangement was in a large TSUBO container. Fresh thin silver birch stems were stripped of their leaves and wound into loop shapes. Additional plant material included, blackthorn, sloeberry and hawthorn berries; all with leaves stripped. This was followed by white gypsophila and white scented oriental double lilies which lightened everything. The arrangement was finished off with silver and gold mizuhiki.

Participants then worked on their own arrangements and Deborah was on hand to provide guidance. Afterwards Deborah gave constructive critique of all the arrangements. Deborah was an excellent demonstrator and teacher; all the participants greatly enjoyed the session.

(The article – by Mrs Nasreen Greenway)

< Last edited by Ikuyo Morrison on Sept. 30, 2017 at 11: 26pm>