Born In The Rain - Ikebana Design

Sogetsu Ikebana is a floral arranging art popular worldwide. For now Ikebana art has become modern and based on the main principles of design. At our Ikebana class we learn the floral and overall design related things together with the classical Ikebana rules.
I thank our teacher Alexandra Kudryshova for sharing the passion and gifts with us, and for letting us to create and do magic with flowers.

Task #1 - Expression

What do you express with your floral composition? It can be a feeling, a thought, and a status. You can explain with the flowers yourself, your inner world or a global thing.

At the lesson we got a task to express a rain. 

Most of us connect flowers with joy and rain with melancholy. So to our group the task looked "unexciting" and bit difficult as well. As for me, I like rain. I like the sound and scent of rain, I look more attractive in raining weather :) As for feeling, I can feel a joy and sadness at the same time, and have them changed fast. So the rain is a time to have a fan to myself. 

This is what our teacher has expressed about the rain. A long Iris leaf makes a curvy line. It comes out of a round ceramic vase. The tip of the leaf point to a cup of water. The teacher has also added a tear on the leaf's tip to stress the rain related theme. 

The rain themed Ikebana composition

This is what I see about raining. I called the arrangement "Born In The Rain". Curved and deformed stems of Allium (decorative onion) explain that the plant was raised in an uncomfortable environment. There a crying stem was added to stress the rain theme. 

Task #2 - Placing

The next task was to find a place in the room for your Ikebana arrangement. We placed them on a floor, on desks, on a window. As we engaged a meeting room in an office center for our classes, there were fire-safe and electrical things in the walls. I found that my arrangement fits well this kind of boxes. The floral arrangement brings a harmony to the corner. Ikebana can be a part of the technical equipment.

This is how the Ikebana arrangement suits the office interior.

Task #3 - Usage of materials and sources

This is the main principle of Ikebana art - using the local seasonal plants, using the available sources. In other words use what you have right now. And make it look beautiful. 

Studying the Ikebana art helps me to accept the life as it is. Of course it makes me skillful in designing too. See how Ikebana skills allow me to decorate events:

Anniversary Event Of a Factory producing drinks and beer

Floral And Vegetable Designs For The Day Of Agriculture