Special Occasion - Christmas Eve Family Get Together

The extended family gathering on Christmas Eve has become our tradition! We hosted this year with the help of our children. The first generation, second and third generations all together were 32 people in total!  Every family member was so happy to see each other and gratefully enjoyed the holiday potluck dinner! Big families crowded in my small but cozy home! The older and younger cousins only meet once a year, so it was a great time to catch up with everyone!  (12/24/2023)

It’s a happy occasion, I put all the fresh flowers in this arrangement 

See the Xmas lights outside of my neighbor’s yard

December Class - Fun for The Holiday

Lesson two: Composition using unconventional materials with a holiday theme.   I did read the text book 5-7 couple times, but I was wondering if I could use a little bit of fresh materials for the holiday theme besides the other unconventional materials? Then I realized in the class, you should compose only with unconventional materials. So, I quickly changed the Xmas holly to chocolate balls (from classmate). It’s the best I could do! Sensei said it’s cute! 😅 (12/12/2023)

Xmas holly, copper wire, white sparkly fabric/ ceramic vase 

Sensei’s arrangement 

My arrangement with Xmas colors 

December Lessons- Free Style For the Holiday

December is our traditional potluck lunch after the two morning lessons.  Hata Sensei showed us two beautiful demonstrations for the holiday arrangements: Christmas and New Year!

Lesson One: Make an arrangement using a favorite container, it’s a freestyle with a holiday theme (12/12/2023)

Winter berry, ornamental cabbage, carnation and evergreen /
 ceramic container 

Sensei’s demo, Merry Xmas 

Sensei’s demo, Happy New Year 

Classmate’s arrangement, Oshogatsu

My other arrangement for New Year (12/10/2023)

The Birthday Bouquet - Ikebana for Celebration

It was a very special birthday celebration for me last weekend (earlier then my actual date). Not only did I received a beautiful bouquet, but I also enjoyed an exquisite Japanese dinner “Omakase” style with all my children and grandchildren! Especially, we got the chance to get together and all celebrate my 80th birthday at the Sushi of Gari Tribeca restaurant in NYC.  I felt so fortunate and happy! It was a blessing! (12/9/2023)

The flowers of this arrangement, I used only a part of a bouquet.  

“Art in Bloom” Exhibition at Delaware Contemporary art Museum

18 members of I. I. Philadelphia chapter participated in this year’s “Art in Bloom” exhibition event.  You should see how each person interpreted their chosen artwork in their arrangements!! It’s amazing!

How I Interpreted My Artwork in the Arrangement

My daughter, Vivian, who is an architect, explained to me what “Quartersawn” meant (the title of the painting). Initially, I picked the painting for its vibrant colors, but I had no idea what was the meaning of the word, quartersawn. Then with her help and researching, I changed my preliminary thoughts to have more depth and understanding of the word. During the Thanksgiving gathering, I had my granddaughter, Hadynn, help me. She spray painted some bamboo strips blue for me. Later, all I needed to do was just buy flowers and gather other materials. I tried to arrange it at home until the we were ready to go to set up.

Materials: blue painted bamboo strips, bleached mitsumata, orange alstroemeria, yellow mum, pale yellow small carnation, and dried Aspidistra / two black ceramic containers and wood 

Exhibition from 12/1 to 12/3/2023

The Interpretation of an Art Work

I was trying to make two arrangements at home to see which one interpreted the painting better. Then I will have my designated arrangement ready to set up at the Delaware Contemporary art center on 11/30/2023.

Materials: painted blue bamboo strips, yellow mums, orange alstroemerias, pale yellow small carnations, dried Aspidistra and bleached mitsumata / two black ceramic containers and wood.

Made at home on 11/29/2023

The art piece “Quartersawn” (60”x 48”) on the ground 

First tried without alstroemerias 

“Art in Bloom” Preparation

“Art in Bloom” exhibition event will be held on 12/1 - 12/3/2023 at the Delaware Contemporary Art Museum. I have chosen this painting  “Quarter Sawn”  by Mike McConnell. Since then I have been thinking and preparing how to interpret it with an ikebana arrangement.  Stay tuned! (11/27/2023)

Sound of Late Autumn - 晚秋之歌

The interesting shape of bittersweet vine, I found them from wild during my routine walk in the open field. Also, surprisingly! The leftover mums were still looking fresh! I arranged them together in a some kind of basic style nageire. I named it “ Sound of Late Autumn.” Because the vine looks like a sheet of music. (11/18/2023)

Two Containers Arrangement

For the upcoming event “Art in Bloom," I had made a special trip to Delaware Contemporary art center to choose a painting a month ago. I thought it over and over how I am going to interpret it with an Ikebana arrangement. My preliminary, rough idea will be using two containers.  I used leftover materials to arrange something with the two containers to get an idea of the massing. (11/17/2023)

Thanksgiving/ Autumnal Arrangement Using Dried, Bleached or Colored Materials - November Class Lesson

The third class lesson of November was “Thanksgiving, Autumnal arrangement using Dried, Bleached or Colored Materials.” Even though I had made two arrangements using dried materials already, I combined  the Thanksgiving and Autumnal arrangements with dried materials all in one, just like the title said and I chose the basket for this arrangement.

Materials: Dried hydrangea, bittersweet, dried leaves, fresh apple, pear, squash, persimmon, mum, nandina and green. (11/14/2023)

Happy Thanksgiving to all 

I love Sensei’s demo arrangement 

Variation No. 2 Upright and Slanting Style Moribana - November Class Lessons

We did two basic moribana styles again, upright and slanting. Their three main stems just (the shin is a long branch, the Soe branch is 2/3 of shin and one flower hikae is 1/2 of shin) changed around the position and the angle of degrees. They looked easy to do, but it was not easy to make sense 3-dimensionally. The worst arrangement is looking like a 🤚(flat)! The first two pictures below were Sensei’s two basic style demo arrangements. (11/14/2023)

Upright, Shin15 degrees, Soe 75 degrees, Hikae 45 degrees 

Slanting, Shin 45 degrees, Soe 75 degrees, Hikae 15 degrees