Explore Ikebana with Shan

Ikebana is a contemplative journey, inviting individuals to connect with the essence of plants, style of containers and the environment around them.

During the 5 day-course, the students will be introduced to the basic principles of Sogetsu Ikebana and get familiar with the fundamental tools and techniques. With the demonstration and guidance of the tutor, the students will be able to make their own flower arrangements of basic styles, variation styles and free styles.

The students will re-discover both the plant materials and unconventional materials seen every day and enjoy expressing themselves through ikebana.

Please bring the following on your first day of class:

• Gardening secateurs

• Apron/gloves for protection (optional)

• Pen and paper (optional)

This class has an extra materials cost of $40, which is payable directly to the tutor.

Once you book your ticket, the tutor will be in touch to arrange payment.

Cost includes:

• Fresh plant materials (flowers, leaves and branches)

No experience required.

The techniques and fixture methods will be introduced and taught during class each day, based on the contents of the lesson.

The program is subject to change according to the materials available and the feedback from the students.

DAY ONE

Morning:

• Brief introduction on the history and development of ikebana, especially the Sogetsu school of ikebana.

• Introducing basic tools and the care of tools and containers.

• Introducing the basis of ikebana, e.g. the lengths and angles of the main stems and the subordinate stems.

Afternoon:

• Demonstration and guiding students with the basic upright style moribana (arrangement in a shallow container using the kenzan, a needle point holder).

• Five-minute sculpture using one leaf.

DAY TWO

Morning:

• Quick revision of the work of Day 1 with question and answers.

• Demonstration and guiding the students with Horizontal style moribana which is suitable for a dining table.

Afternoon:

• Freestyle arrangement with student’s own containers. Discussing on their works, sketching and photograph of the works.

• Five-minute exercise with sticks (e.g. chopsticks and a leaf).

DAY THREE

Morning:

• Freestyle arrangement with green plant materials only. Any kind of container, e.g. the flat container (suiban), a kitchen ware, or containers from op shop.

• Taking a walk outside in the grounds to see how many different greens they can find. Textures seen in the different greens.

Afternoon:

• Arrangement with one kind of material only. (Also introducing “Dissembling and rearranging the materials”).

• “Cool down” exercise with pebbles and a small flower.

DAY FOUR

Morning:

• Relief work – arrangements using dried, coloured or bleached materials on a flat base e.g. a piece of cardboard, a wooden board, or a canvas etc.

Afternoon:

• “Focusing on Water” – arrangements with glass containers and just have fun with water and experimenting with refraction, material under water; or floating arrangement in the flat moribana containers.

DAY FIVE

Morning:

• Composing with dry branches and fresh material – A Two-step Approach

  • Making a free-standing “sculpture with dry branches” – introducing wiring techniques

  • Arranging the branch structure together with fresh materials in a container, creating a different look.

Afternoon:

• Mini exhibition with any topic covered in the previous lessons.

• Sketch ideas and execute the arrangement and place it as if in an exhibition.