Happy New Year

Wishing you all have a happy holiday season and a peace, healthy, wonderful 2018 New Year!
Two arrangements shown here for New Year celebration! 
Picture 1- Hata Sensei's demo, using bamboo, pine, nandina, carnation, lily and mum / hand made wood container.
Picture 2 - My arrangement, the Materials, please check previous post. (12/18/2017 class) 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

In Hata Sensei's class this month, we celebrate Eastern New Year and Western holiday traditions in our arrangements. So, we only need to arrange two holiday celebration arrangements in the morning, followed by a year end pot luck luncheon. For Christmas, traditionally use color red, green and white. For the New Year, we need to use Japanese traditional materials like pine, bamboo, chrysanthemum, red berries, lily, nandina and any budded branch... The mizuhiki (Japanese paper string, for celebration) can be use for both design. Sensei said using mizuhiki in Western arrangement can be striking and modern looking.

Poinsettia, treated baby's breath, holy and spread painted azalea / metal container

Pine, nandina, mum, winter berry, spread painted azalea branch
 and budded lilac branch with mizuhiki / ceramic container

Winter berry, mum, pine and branch with mizuhiki / ceramic container

Holy Night and Silent Night

Ikebana class for this month is all about holiday design. Christmas is just around the corner. For my Christmas celebration arrangement, I choose my metal crescent moon shaped container to arrange a "Mass Expression". That will be the " Holy Night". The other one, I used a Japanese lacquer salad bowl for another holiday arrangement. It will be " Silent Night". (12/12/2017 MeiiHuey Sensei's class)

Holy, Nandina, Carnation, berry, ornament and pine corn

Bitter sweet, mum, rose and green.Water is silently shown

Season's First Snow

I said before that this Winter has been very mild, but it's turning colder and colder as time goes by. On December 9, snow was falling all day long, sometimes heavy and sometimes just flurries! We had only 3 inches of snow on the ground at the end.

These are cornflowers, we did not clean them up yet. It looks like road side IKEBANA

The five Magnolia trees look like X'mas tree. Beautiful !

Thanksgiving with Family

Thanksgiving has come and gone. The weather here was just perfect, sunny and warm. Forty seven years ago, there were only two of us: my husband and me. Now, he is a retired physician, my son has followed his footsteps, my daughter (an architect) helped us design and renovate this comfy, beautiful retirement house, and our youngest daughter is a high school principal in New York City. This past June she had her school's first graduation (she founded the school), and 95% of her seniors graduated. We are so proud of her! We also have our four grandchildren, they are good kids and healthy. We have 12 people in total in the family by now. We are thankful for so many things, and our family being together, happy and healthy, is what we are most thankful for!

Using all the materials I had on hand to make an arrangement in ten minutes.

My four grandchildren and their cousin are sitting at kids table.

Climbing up a tree at Washington Crossing park

Fall Arrangement (Lesson 3)

Lesson 3) Fall arrangement- It should be suitable for the Thanksgiving dinner table.
My materials: Kale, mum,Winter berry, Hinoki, Hydrangea and dried branch / ceramic container

Front side view

Back side view

Hata Sensei's demo arrangement

Morimono Thanksgiving Arrangement (Lessons 1 and 2)

Hata Sensei's class had been moved one week early for November because of the Thanksgiving holiday. We had three lessons as usual. Two in the morning, and one after lunch, which was Free style.
Lesson 1) Variation #4 Upright Style Moribana: Basic style, Shin and Hekei but no Soe arrangement
Materials: Magnolia, Kale and mum / ceramic container ( 11/13/2017)

The Magnolia branch should be a little bit taller

 Lesson 2) Morimono arrangements

Hata Sensei's morimono arrangement

My morimono arrangement in class

My other morimono arrangement, days before class

Leaf Manipulation Demonstration with Yuri Ishizuka

On November 16th, Ikebana International Philadelphia chapter held a program "Leaf manipulation." I was there to see first hand Sensei's demonstration. I usually just leave the leaves in a natural way in my ikebana arrangements. If I should have the big tropical leaves like below, I certainly can use the ideas from Ms. Yuri Ishizuka. Please see the arrangements that she made for the I.I members below. Here is her biography from the program:
      
"Ms Yuri Ishizuka is a Senior Professor of Ikenobo School, the highest Ikenobo diploma- Jun Katoku 15, a Special Teaching Member. She teaches privately and at the Nippon Club in NYC, and holds workshops at the Tiffany & co. design studio. She has also exhibited widely, including at the United Nations, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the residence of Japanese consulate General."

Beautifying the Township Building for MWGC

For the week of 11/6 to11/9/2017, I promised to do an arrangement at the township building. It is our Martha Washington Garden Club's weekly job to have their members bring a potted plant or a flower arrangement to beautify the office's front desk.
Here is my simple arrangement. It should last for a few days.

Kale Cabbage Arrangements for Fun

I bought two Kale cabbage plants to use for any fall arrangements. It is a long lasting material for Ikebana arrangement.

Kale, Winter berry, Hydrangea, hosta and forsythia / ceramic

Kale, Hosta, mum and bittersweet / ceramic container

Kale, nandina, sunflower and bitter sweet/ ceramic

Main Line Exhibition at Haverford College

The last weekend of October (10/27-10/29/2017), the Main Line Study Group had our annual display at Haverford College library. We only had eight participants with arrangements. The first day, there were only four of us there. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the other arrangements set up on the second day. The first two pictures were the two I created for the exhibit. In the end, I picked the second one. Now that I look at them again, I think I prefer the first.

All dried materials arrangements "Santa Anna Wind"

Hata Sensei's Class for October

It is almost the end of October, but the mild weather is still around. The fall foliage are so colorful and beautiful! The Autumn is in the air. I am enjoying every minute of it!
For my lesson of this month, the materials I need are easy to find.  
Lessons for October 23:
Lesson 1) Variation #3 Slanting Style Nageire, try to arrange from behind
Lesson 2) Free Style - Basket using fall materials
 Lesson 3) Book 5-13 - Glass Containers

Lesson 1: zinnia, crap apple and azalea

Lesson 2: basket with bittersweet, kale and forsythia

Lesson 3: Sunflower, horsetail, pepper and forsythia

Hata Sensei's arrangement, very pretty.

With glass container arranged at another view

Margaret's glass container arrangement, I like it very much!

The 2nd Annual BuxMont Study Group Exhibition

We have been busy preparing for weeks for our 2nd Annual Exhibition. On 10/14/2017 Saturday, our Sogetsu BuxMont study group finally officially opened to the public. The exhibition is titled "The Joy of Ikebana." There were 28 arrangements in total, including those from our new classmate members. I had 3 pieces for display. Two were titled:
1) "Indian Summer" (Triforlia Orange, Baby's breath, dried and fresh Sunflower, Nadina / two ceramic containers with wood base.)
2) "Autumn Joy" (Hydrangea, mum, Azalea, Hinoki, pepper, dry branch / ceramic vase with wood base.
The third one "In Memory of Dr. Loraine Toji." Please see next post.

"Indian Summer" the Triforlia Orange branch painted in orange

"Autumn Joy" arranged day before exhibition

Some Materials were changed to be exhibition