Ikebana and us

Large arrangement inside Sogetsu Center , a photo by Koshy Molly on Flickr. This workshop was held at the Sogetsu International Ikebana School Headquarters in Tokyo. (Molly) Pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8585733@N08/sets/72157629900326100/with/7271748008/

Chennai team chatting in the lobby , a photo by RabiCherian on Flickr. Three members of the Sogetsu Study Group attended the Ikebana International convention. Here are the pictures from Molly sensei: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9255420@N07/sets/72157629892601110/with/7268530010/

Our exhibition is on, at  - ABK-AOTS Dosokai Tamil Nadu Centre, Yamamoto Hall 3rd Floor, Chateau 'D' Ampa, 37 (110), Nelson Manickam Road, Aminjikarai,, Chennai, India Until March 19th, Monday 7pm. Do visit!

The Sogetsu Study Group will take part in the ABK-AOTS Dosokai celebrations, commemorating 60 years of Indo-Japan friendship. The Ikebana exhibition will be open from Saturday March 17th until Monday March 19th, from 10 am to 6 pm. The venue is Yamamoto Hall, ABK-AOTS Dosokai, 3rd Floor,  Old No. 110, new No. 37, Nelson Manickam Road, Aminjikarai  Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600029.  Ph: +91-44-23740318

Our February workshop was at ABK-AOTS Dosokai, and the group members all worked with leaves, to create All-Leaf compositions in free style. By Sensei Padma using a ceramic container Sensei Meenu, ceramic vase Sensei Vaishali, ceramic vase By Dalley, steel container By Seethalakshmi, ceramic container By Trishala, ceramic vase By Ashoka, fibreglass By Prerana, glass vase By Shobhaa, ceramic vase By Chitra, ceramic Nagiere

There was lean attendance for this month's workshop. It was held at the Amethyst .  It was a freestyle workshop.  Many of the arrangements were done in the Amethyst's glass vases and basket containers, and the members left the arrangements behind for display at the flower shop.  The use of oasis in flat containers was a challenge to the flower artists, as we usually use kenzans, and a lot of its surface had to be covered with materials. That was a learning experience too. Sitalaksmi brought a new white jar shaped ceramic vase with an interesting design on its surface.  As usual, it was wonderful to see the members' enthusiam and interest to be working with flowers. -  Malathi

November 2011 Sogetsu Study Group workshop Sorry for the late report - it is a couple of months overdue, but the holiday festivities delayed the putting together of the report! As we look at Ikebana increasingly as an art form, we decided that it was time to understand and study other related concepts to enhance our compostions.  So, the workshop was dedicated to very simple aspects pf photographing Ikebana, and the elements to be taken care of. All of usare at the moment comfortable with point-and-shoot automatics, and/or our phone cameras.  So, this was not about shutterspeed and aperture so much as about light, background and composition. Here are some of the experiments of the study group members. Chitra used the plain white wall as background and experimented with square vs round placemats and the effect it has on the composition.  The photograph was taken with a flash, and this has thrown dark corners at the extremities of the picture. Prerana work...