Calla Lillies with Vines

Calla lillies, vine branches
front view

I love using vines branches. They are wonderful to focus on linear expression in ikebana. Very branch has its own characteristic and using them in unexpected combinations give strength to the arrangement. 

Here the unusual shape of the ceramic vase -heavy, rough, sturdy stoneware- necessitates a powerful statement of lines combined with a mass of beautiful calla flowers. 

For an other arrangement using vines, check this earlier post (in Turkish).

Calla lillies, vine branches
side view

Slanting Style Nageire

Sogetsu Variation No:3 Slanting Style Nageire
Frontal view
Protea, Aspidistra

Sogetsu Variation No:3 Slanting Style Nageire
Side view

Cycad Leaves and Deep Time

Cycad Leaves, (fresh, dried and colored)
Protea, Salix tortuosa, Chrysanthemum

I have recently read Oliver Sacks's memoir, On The Move: A Life. I love the book and the brilliant man behind, a scientist and a writer, a curious human being. There, in the book, I discovered his deep interest among many others for the cycad trees, whose existence goes back to Paleozoic era, roughly 520 million years ago. Through a plant, a cycad leave, one can reflect on the nature of deep geologic time.