Ikebana and us

 January 22nd 2022 The Sogetsu Branch had its 11th annual Virtual exhibition.  Our first one as a branch. Once again sadly, Chennai was in the throes of a Covid outbreak, this time the third wave was raging, and as a result, members were once again restricted to work and create from home, with materials they could find. Many of our members went through quarantine, but yet we proceeded undaunted, wanting to use Ikebana to keep our spirits up, keep us connected to one another and continue to hope for better times. 21 members participated and we put up 33 exhibits Sensei Meenakshi, welcomed the gathering, and due to the wonders of technology, we could have her join us despite still being under quarantine!  We were honoured to have guests from across the world including Master Instructor Misei Ishikawa from Japan.    Sensei Molly introduced our Chief Guest Mr Masayuki Taga, Consul General of Japan in Chennai. Consul General, Mr Taga, had words of encouragement for us, as he recalled the lo

 11th December 2021 Our last meeting and workshop of the year.  The them was Variation 2, both Upright and Slanting in Moribana and Nagiere.  It was good for everyone to revise this lesson, in which the Soe and Hikae are reversed from the Basic Upright. We had demonstrations of the lesson from Ms Bhuvana Shivshankaran and Ms Luna Bose, our senior students, this time. 20 members tuned in to watch on Google Meet. Bhuvana first demonstrated Variation 2 Upright style Moribana in a nice large suiban, with ixora branches and roses.   Her second was Slanting Variation 2 Nagiere, with sapota branches and chrysanthemums.  Sensei Malathi then suggested that she turn the vase to show the line in front, and Bhuvana quickly redid the arrangement with the vase in this position.  The members could appreciate the difference this made for the composition. Luna began with the Slanting style Variation 2 in Moribana, with lovely gerberas and eranthemum leaves, graceful in the large ceramic container. She