Freestyle in February

February 14th 2019

Our February workshop was attended by Mrs Karen Uchiyama, the wife of the Consul General of Japan in Chennai.  It was a pleasure and honour for the Study Group to welcome her for our meeting.

14 members were present for the workshop.

Chairperson Mrs Malathi Pandurang welcomed and introduced her, and we were happy to hear that she was also a Sogetsu practitioner!

Chelvi presenting a bouquet

She shared with us her experiences with working with different kinds of material, across the world and how the art has given her so many friends as well.  

A bouquet of beautiful chrysanthemums seemed an appropriate way to welcome her!

Trishala handing her a hamper of jams and sauces from their
family factory

It was then time for sensei Dalley's freestyle demonstration.  Emphasizing naturalness and gaining inspiration from her beautiful garden,  Dalley created three large compositions.

The tree stump from her garden was the centrepiece in this tsubo pot. 

She complemented the browns of the vase and the tree trunk with Carnations, Asia Lily and
white Gyposfilia, with the Eranthimum leaves bringing a focal pointing the front.

Her second piece was a floor arrangement with a  very Japanese theme -
bamboo sticks forming a tripod stand, with bamboo leaves and rust coloured
chrysanthemums, matching beautifully with the brown nagiere vase.

Her third composition used material that she picked up on a  recent trip to the hills.

This dramatic composition was once again in brown

We got down to our own arrangements, and we were delighted that Ms Uchiyama readily agreed to also try her hand.  She worked with the vase and materials from Malathi's garden!

Given that it was Valentine's day, there was a lot of use of red by the members!

Bhuvana created a dramatic no-kenzan arrangement,
with jerberas, bleached branches in a wide black moribana
container.

Sathya brought movement into her elegant composition of roses in a Sogetsu freestyle vase

Sensei Meenu created a wide spreading form in a tall vase

And this beautiful and dramatic composition was done by Mrs Uchiyama, with a beautiful display of water and tight placement of jushis..

Sensei Molly also had a Valentine theme

Chitra Thiagarajan created a tropical scene, with the berries of Sterculia foetida providing a mass, implemented by the lines of the branch and the colours of the heliconia.

This beautiful minimalistic composition was by sensei Padma with the vine accentuating the
shape of the container.

Chelvi conveyed the Valentine spirit, with a decoupage wine bottle and a basket of flowers,
complete with a heart! 

It was then time for fellowship, and Mrs Uchiyama had brought along this home-made basket
of delicious shortbread,  to add to the chocolates and nuts which were on offer.

We hope to see more of Mrs Uchiyama in our coming workshops, and hopefully even a demonstration!