Dedicated to the wonderful women of my life!

Japanese Girls Festival
Peach, anemone
Double containers

 Just look at the separate beauties of the two containers below:

Nageire with peach branches

Japanese Girls Festival
yellow beauty

For other Japanese Girls' Festival arrangements, see earlier posts here (2013) and here (2014) and here (2015) and here (2016).

Early Mimosas

I find it quite satisfying to use multiple containers in my ikebana works. The s-shaped plastic shuiban with my own yellow slipcast porcelain vases created a nice harmony with the curvy kiwi and bright yellow mimosas. It is full of light and energy that is very much needed now in the middle of winter.

Mimosa, Kiwi

Arranging Unconventional and Fresh Materials Together

Incorporating any unconventional which means anything other than fresh or dried plant based material into Ikebana work is challenging and great fun. There is no limit as long as you keep an eye on the overall balance of the arrangement. The main aim is to add value to the fresh materials, to achieve a different level of harmony and contrast within the work by adding any unconventional material.
Below are some examples from this week's session by different ikebanists:

Sogetsu School
Using Unconventional Material
arrangement by Evrim Ozkan Yazici

Sogetsu School
Using Unconventional Material
arrangement by Marie-Claude Noble

Sogetsu School
Using Unconventional and Fresh materials together