The leader of the Sogetsu school of ikebana have kindly answers questions of teachers and students collected with the help of Facebook Anticipation was building up over the last couple of months. When earlier this year Ms. Teshigahara was visiting Belgium we wanted to interview her. We collected the questions of ikebana teachers and students … Continue reading Interview with Akane Teshigahara
A helpful list of 70 Janapese terms frequently used in Ikebana (downloadable in PDF format) When I started learning Ikebana Japanese words Kenzan, Moribana and a few others entered my world. It was fun and it felt exotic. It also gave some subtle sense of belonging to a group connected by a distant, unfamiliar language. … Continue reading Essential Japanese vocabulary for Ikebana students
Mass in Ikebana arrangements is a somewhat controversial topic. On one hand it is quite similar to the appearance of Western arrangements and therefore is not "Ikebana-like". On the other hand it is a rather difficult task to construct a proper mass. In several workshops I have seen advanced students and even teachers struggle with … Continue reading 3 Main Elements of Ikebana Flower Arrangements: #2 Mass
Sunday Ikebana post series is dedicated to the minimalist aesthetics of the Japanese floral art. Part 2 is all about the lines and how they make a world of difference.
Sunday Ikebana post series is dedicated to the minimalist aesthetics of the Japanese floral art. Part 1 lays out the main principles, which will be further explored in this series.
In my search for the perfect Ikebana webpages I find a lot of definitions of Ikebana created by different people. Most of them start with "Ikebana is more than just an art of flower arranging..." So how do you define this "more"? Here are a couple of versions, my favorite ones so far: "More than … Continue reading I am still looking for a perfect definition…
There are many ways to learn new things in life. Some of us prefer to learn by trying, others by reading, but the majority still prefers to have the good old teacher - student interaction. In recent years technology has widened our learning horizons far beyond the book selection of the local library or courses … Continue reading Can you learn Ikebana on-line?
By way of introduction let me share with you an essay I wrote to answer a question “What does Ikebana mean to you”? It was one of the assignments towards the end of the teachers’ training program at the Sogetsu school of Ikebana. Here is what I said: "For me Ikebana is first of all … Continue reading What Ikebana means to me