Meenakshi Sarin turns Meiki Sensei!!

The Chennai Sogetsu Ikebana Group has a new teacher! Ms Meenakshi Sarin received her 4th Grade Teacher's Diploma and the flower name “Meiki” recently. The group celebrated this event on the 16th of November with a nice demonstration by her.

This beautiful arrangement sat on a granite table welcoming us!!! The 3 terracotta pots were hand painted in black, red and orange to such beauty and perfection, complete with mirror work!! The dry vine and an artificial flower made it even more beautiful!! Meenu expressed her joy on her Ikebana (that started twenty years ago with Malathi Sensei) coming a full circle! She had planned three arrangements for her demonstration. One each in Moribana, Nageire and Free Style.

She began with the Nageire arrangement in a Green Fibre Glass container (by Suma Eapen). The materials were Cannon Ball Tree Branches and Asia Lillies. She explained briefly about the angles and measurements of each stem. She finished the arrangement with ease to the applause of the whole group.



The next one was the Moribana. The beautiful and wide container is from Auroville. She used Heliconia flowers and leaves to demonstrate the ‘missing style’ where the Soe is omitted. She used separate kenzans to place the Shin and Hikae. The space between the separate Kabu (groups) was created with artistic tension!



She finished her demonstration with a free style arrangement . She used beautiful drift wood (from Haridwar), Red Asia Lillies, White coloured Anthuriums, Mehndi (Maruthani) branches and some Star Daisies in a beautiful blue coloured square glass plate to depict a “Pond Scene”. The show of water added a coolness to the arrangement. It turned out to be a gorgeous piece!!

I was looking for some sign of nervousness or tension or atleast a light trembling of hands from Meenu during the Demo, but she did not seem at all to understand what they are !! (Seriously! I am already nervous about MY DEMO which will happen after ……… some years!!!). I am sure Meenu was in paradise when Malathi Sensei congratulated and appreciated her achievement and work!! All the members of the Sogetsu Chennai group who were present and absent congratulate you for your achievement Meenu!! Keep it up and keep going! I am sure you will make it “BIG” in Ikebana like Malathi Sensei once wished!!


Some other members did arrangements as well. Here is Chitra’s moribana in a green shell shaped vase usiing vines, chrysanthemums, money plant leaves, branches and some bleached material.


Pushkala did 2 arrangements. This one in a nice moribana vase with ficus branches and carnations.
This nageire arrangement is also by Pushkala. Materials are Ixora & Gerberas.







Another view of the arrangement












Seetha brought a lovely boat shaped granite vase. She used cigar lillies, chrysanthemums, some orchids and leaves to create this arrangement. The arrangement could be viewed from all sides!!


Venkatesh used this vase (from Auroville) to create an arrangement using 5 materials. He used Anthuriums, Dry Vines, Carnation, Gerbera and Cypress leaves.


The fragrance of the Punjabi Dishes cooking was too irresistable and we moved to the dining hall. And there…. Was this absolutely beautiful Ikebana on the table!! She had plaited leaves to form this lovely shape on a plate with motiff of a bunch of grapes. Flowers in different colours were added at the back so that the arrangement had different views from different angles!! It was perfect for the dining table!!

Meenu, despite her not-so-okay leg had taken all the pain to create a great variety of dishes – Delicious Dal Makhani (my jaws dropped when I heard that it has to cook overnight in a low flame – or atleast for 8 hours!!!), Kadai Paneer, Parathas (thank you Vaishali & Prerana for bringing along different varieties), Cauli Flower & Carrot pickle, Carrot Halwa, Pineapple Raitha, Jeera Rice and a salad – (sorry, I don’t remember the name because I missed it somehow – such a pity). Thank you Pushkala for the nice Mysore Pak!!


Padma Ma’am , Trishala and Dally we missed you. And you did miss the nice demo and great food!!

There was one more greeeeeaaaattttt event we were celebrating. Malathi Sensei and Pandurang Uncle celebrated their 50th Wedding Annivrsary two weeks ago!!! Wow!!!!! I have no words to describe how happy we all feel for the sweet and graceful couple!! May they be blessed with many more wonderful years of togetherness. Sensei was overwhelmed, shall I say, when the group gave her a surprise gift!! Thank you so much Ambika for keeping the secret a secret till the last moment! I would have gone into therapy if I had to keep a secret for such a long time!!


All the while, The Buddha lay there silent, serene and enlightened - witnessing the happenings and suggesting that we could achieve THAT through the way of the flowers - Ikebana!!

The next workshop is scheduled for Monday, 14th December at Malathi Sensei’s residence. The theme is Tate-No-Soegi-Dome ; Jumonji-Dome and Jika-Dome. That’s going to be very interesting!!! Ok ok.. Let me make it simple for you : The Vertical Type Fixture, Cross Bar Fixture and Direct Fixing. So…… practice, group!! Vertical bar isnt a joke!!

The way of the wasp

To be able to "wonder" is a fascinating experience. To me the wasp's home, which is about 2 years old, is one such item. It is on the inner ledge of the drawing room's eastern window, very close to the seat which I usually use. Many a time, when the wasp was busy with its home, my husband would remark that I ought not to sit there, that I will be stung by the wasp and to move away. But I would sit still, more to show him that creatures in nature generally are harmless. The wasp built it day upon day and to me it was a truly wonderful event to see the progress. We do have squirrels entering the house for the same purpose, but they do damage our belongings in search of soft and fibrous material to complete their home, but they too can pick the most unusual places! So we generally close the window at mid-day while we are resting. When I woke up for tea and went to my usual seat, I saw the wasp hovering by the closed window, as I have obstructed her life's mission/ I wait for a while, she buzzes to the northern window; I am foxed and wonder even more as to how she directs herself to the centre of her "site".

Within a week her home stood 6 inches tall, broad at the base and she created 10 perfectly circular windows, spaces so aesthetically. I looked at her meticulous design, location and such perfect architecture! Till today no cracks, no crumbling. With what did she glue up the sand, brought in by thousands of trips, so single-handed? I have been watching this "home" every morning. It makes my day full of inspiration and motivation. I am afraid none of you have seen it, I have kept it as a personal secret, tucked away behind the window drapes.

Now, the time has come for me to share it with all of you, as I will be away at Bangalore, and I am afraid, the painters working at our home may not heed my request to leave it alone, for you know, the hands keep on changing. With these pictures, I hope I have passed on my "wonder" to all of you, as I have been truly humbled by the wasp's dexterity, perseverance and perfection.

Malathi

Valeria Sensei's Ikebana Arrangements

Here are some beautiful Ikebana arrangements by Sensei Valeria Raso from Auroville.

Did you notice how the vase and colours blend with the painting in the background?


The branches are that of the Tulsi Plant.

Here is a beautiful combination arrangement.

This is Lesson 13 from Book 4 - "Dried, Bleached or Coloured Materials". Interestingly, that is going to be my next lesson and challenge. Malathi Sensei.. Please have mercy on me :) :) :)

Titan Arum - The Largest Flower in the World

Sensei Valeria Raso Matsumoto from Auroville shares with us these very interesting pictures of "the Largest Flower in the World". This flower is the Titan Arum and goes by the botanical name of Amorphophallus titanum . This is the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. This flower originally belongs to the tropical forests of Sumatra, though it can be seen in many botanical gardens. It looks very beautiful indeed!! Blooming of this flower is a much looked forward to event.

The circumference of the flower goes to about 3 Metres (10 Feet!!). The spadix or the pyramid like thing can reach anywhere from 6 ft to 10 feet tall. On 20 October 2005, the previous record was broken at the botanical and zoological garden Wilhelma in Stuttgart, Germany. The bloom reached a height of 2.94 m (9 ft. 6 in.)

And now, I know what is going on in the mind of all the Ikebana Group Members! How they wish they got this flower as the centerpiece in the next Ikebana Exhibition.. But hey, hold on. It is not as pleasant as you think it is.

Why? To know that click the following links and find it our for yourself !!!

Please click here to go to Wikipedia.

Or click here to go to anoter link which has details about this flower!

Celebration time!

Prerana's handwork

Celebrations all around. There was deepavali, which meant friends, family and food!

The Sogetsu Group met at Prerana's just before the Deepavali weekend, and we were greeted with this lovely floor decoration by her. (Venkatesh almost sat on it, but that's another story!)

The DVD of the felicitation function of Veena Dass at Delhi had arrived and we all watched and commented and critiqued and appreciated everything, so there was a lot of noise all through the session.

In the midst of this, some Ikebana was also done. Prerana had done a combination vase arrangement, using seven kinds of material, with a tone of brown/rust. With some corrections from the sensei, it ended up looking fabulous, but of course before I got down to taking a picture, (I was busy chattering away, you see), it got knocked a bit, and so sadly I dont have a record of it.

I quickly made sure I took pictures of these arrangements, though!

Chitra
Seethalakshmi

Another celebration has been the golden wedding anniversary of our sensei, and what better way to say it than with flowers!!

A lovely bouquet arrived at her doorstep, courtesy all the Group members, and she was inundated with phone calls and messages.
It was an unusual day for the "anniversary couple", as he had to go off to the dentist and was restricted to soft food, and she had to supervise the painters, carpenters and other workers, who are currently working in their home!!


We all pray for their good health and long life, and many more years of togetherness, and may sensei Malathi continue to guide us all though our Ikebana learnings!

The next meeting at Meenu's, where we celebrate her new teacher's certification!

What did I say, celebrations all around isn't it?!

Ikebana, Chimpanzee and a Bulldog

For those who have not heard of this very famous pair - This is Pankun the very adorable Chimp and James the Bulldog - Pankun's best friend. Pankun is very famous in Japan for his TV show and his alomost human feats - like making Ramen Noodles, boarding a train with James and so on. And ask me what - Pankun even had an episode doing - guess .... yes, Ikebana!!! And that too with Akai Sensei who is an Ikebana expert. Akai Sensei has created Ikebana for the G8 Summit and for the Pope.

You must see this video of Pankun doing Ikebana and I am sure you will love Pankun as much as I did! And let me add that I have posted this video because of Pankun's attempt on Ikebana only.

Lan Minagawa talks about Ikebana to Indian Express!

All pictures from the original article.

FLORA JAP WAY - Exquisite Ikebana

The little arrangements of exotic flowers have a method and mentality behind it Ikebana is a form in which nature and humanity are brought on the same platform

THE Japanese art of flower arrangeC ment is catching up, with a lot of Chennaiites. Many women are learning this beautiful art form. This is not a simple flower arrangement in a vase, it's more about a form in which nature and humanity are brought on the same platform.
Shape and form are important while arranging the flowers to bring out the essence of the arrangement.

Stems and leaves are necessary to give the organic feel. "I didn't learn from a school, I learnt ikebana from books," says Lan Minagawa, the wife of the Japanese Consul General in Chennai. She shares that General in Chennai. She shares that she loves "Making ikebanas at home, when expecting guests."
Along with flowers from her garden, Lan gets her flowers from Amethyst as well. She prefers the Moribana form and uses kenzan or pin holders. "In the summer, my arrangements are such that the water used, can be seen. It gives a cooling effect," she says. Along with the flowers and stalks, water, pin holders and stones are required to make the ikebana.

Ikebana making classes: Sogetsu School-24914886, Ohara School of Ikebana -22266147