Saturday 11 September 2010

Earthy Colours

Summer is over and I'm taking up my ikebana studies again. Early autumn with clear air, a lot of moist, and if you are lucky - bright autumn sun. In ikebana autumn arrangements are meant to bring out the thoughtfulness and the beauty of sadness.

The trees have only just started getting their red and yellow colours so it's a bit early for poetry about falling leaves. Even so, and so that I don't forget, I'm posting an autumn poem by the great Chinese poet Li Bai. Enjoy it now or save it for later:

The autumn air is clear,
The autumn moon is bright.
Fallen leaves gather and scatter,
the jackdaw perches and starts anew.
We think of each other- when will we meet?
This hour, this night, my feelings are hard.

Sunflower, Daylily leaves and dried Tansy in a yellow vase.

Autumn is also about the energy of colours. Yellow brings joy and optimism. Brown brings safety and grounding. In these two arrangements the starting point is the colour of the container, reinforced by the plant materials. The container is always as important as the flowers in ikebana. Focusing on the colour of the container is one of the lessons taught by the Sogetsu school to help creating a harmonious arrangement.

Sunflower, dried Tansy and Daylily leaves in a brownish ceramic container.

3 comments:

Pepita said...

Los dos trabajos son bonitos, la combinación de colores tambíen, el segundo me ha llamado más la atención.

nordic lotus said...

Gracias por tomarse el tiempo para comentar Pepita. Agradezco sus opiniones. La forma de la segunda es más inusual.

Venkimayyu said...

A bbbiiiiiggg WOW!!!! Thats it :) And what a lovely unusual Vase!!!

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