My response to A to Z challenge with my ikebana arrangements
Photo by Author
I have been practicing Ikebana (the art of Japanese flower arrangement) over 25 years, and have been taking photos of my work.
In my early days, I never thought of keeping every arrangement I made in a photo. Only it became easy to take a shot with a digital camera and now with a photo, I accumulate my work as pictures.
When I learned about the A to Z challenge, I wondered how many flowers that start with A I can find… I just found two, if Japanese Anemone can be counted as A.
Anthurium
Last December I was asked to make a festive arrangement by a local restaurant.
The vivid, shiny, thick red of anthurium was my choice. In order to emphasize the shape, I combined the three anthurium with a large palm leaf, bending like a circle to create a dramatic shape in the back.
I added white baby breath to soften the overall impression.
Japanese Anemone
I planted Japanese Anemone in my backyard. From late summer to all through the fall, the pinkish flowers decorate the corner of my yard. I have Jasmine vine right next to the anemone and decided to put these two together.
The vase is made of bamboo. The almost perfect circle shape of the vase inspired me to replicate the circles with the jasmine vine. The only one anemone flower in the center, as a focal point.
Akemi
And here is a picture of me demonstrating ikebana in front of 20 people at a private event. The challenge of the demonstration is I have to arrange from the back, imagining how it would look like from the front.
Ikebana is a very easy way to bring the beautiful nature into your everyday life. Utilizing nature’s creation, you create something totally new with your own creativity and imagination.
I hope to share with you the joy of Ikebana more in my future articles. I hope you will enjoy it.