Ceramics and Pottery Arts and Resources

 

 

Professor Masafumi – Ikenobo Isivata school

 

 

Floral arrangement by Junko Toshima — Flickr – AndyAtzert

 

 

Between the spaces – the Tao of Ikebana

 

‭When it comes to Ikebana, I prefer the simpler styles like the early Kuge or Shoka that only employ up to three botanical elements mixed with a lot of space and minimalism. If I can feel the spaces breathing, I’m more content with what I see. This usually occurs with the more simple arrangements. Ikebana is a meditative genre and the spaces are where the yin and yang merge, to create a balance. Just like in meditation, the space between the inhaling and exhaling breaths is a focal point to connect with inner harmony.
The Zen artists approached their sumi-e brushwork art by first contemplating the inherent nature of the aesthetic object and understanding its inner qualities before executing any brush strokes. Ideally its eternal nature could be expressed with purity, spontaneity and an economy of strokes. Similarly, most ikebana arrangements aspire to presenting the design elements with a sublime simplicity and harmony.

 

Flickriver–Otomodachi Ikebana

 

‭Some skillful ikebanists can create busy pieces with less spaces that still maintain balance and graceful expression, but this is more challenging, because extra importance is loaded onto the overall form and composition to realize any transcendental qualities. It’s worth keeping in mind that a lot of movement in a floral design can build an underlying stillness that exists by virtue of counterpoint.

‭Flowers seem to respond to tasteful arrangements and have their beauty enhanced in the process. The choice of the display vessel is of importance and can influence the direction of the design. A heavier, more horizontally inclined vessel of warmer colours will be more yang in nature. A grounded yang vessel will allow a greater yin expansiveness of the flowers and design. If the vessel is overwhelmed by too many vertical (yin) flowers, the top heavy design leads to loss of harmony. Horizontal lines and curvature and even diagonal lines within the design, help to ground a piece.

In the philosophy of Ikebana it was emphasized that the cultivation of a transcendent feeling while creating ikebana would be absorbed by the flowers and design and later reflected through the art. The Taoists alluded to this with the statement ‘Keep the fire beneath the cauldron’. What this meant was to avoid being too hyper cerebral when creating a piece. Cultivate awareness from your tan tien (navel), which translates as “elixir field”, rather then from the mid brain. Grounded, relaxed awareness can be attained more easily with this practice, which allows spaces in your mind to manifest, that give more room for inspiration to surface and in some instances create beyond the limitations of coherent logic. ‬Even in the planning stages, if a sketch is made, this was also encouraged.
I have assembled a diverse assortment of pieces that represent the ikebana aesthetic and some vessels that would be a natural fit for the refined ikebana arts.

 

Rikka Shimputai –  Professor Masafumi, Ikenobo Ishiwata

The Rikka form originated from the Ikebano school of flower arranging in the 15th century

 

 

Toshiro Kawase

 

 

 

Green glaze modernist ceramic vase

 

 

Vase by Catherine White – Omen AZen Calendar 2013

Photo – Warren Frederick

 

 

 

Elegant Ikebana

julia-kepeslapkuldo.bloglap.hu

 

 

Estelle Martin ceramic vessel

 

 

Ikebana display at Professor Keiko Takano workshop

 

 

Early Bottle Form – Joanna Constantinidis

1970

 

 

Ikebana cherry blossom

 

 

Matsudo Sato

 

 

 

Keiko Takano ikebana

2015

 

 

‘Kokedama’ — Japanese moss ball

 

 

 

Freestyle Ikebana (Jiyuka) by Nadezhda Kuznetsova

 

 

 

‘Infinite’ ikebana

ecoledupaysage.com

 

 

 

 

Isamu Noguchi ‘s ‘Lonely Tower’ – Shigaraki stoneware with thin ash glaze made in 1952 – with ikebana by Teshigahara Sofu

 

 

Display from Pat’s Ikebana

 

 

 

 

Keiko Takano

 

 

 

Ruth Duckworth

 

 

 

 

Elena Dendova – bold contemporary ikebana

 

 

Ikebana ring vase – SookjaeArt-etsy

 

 

Stig Lindberg; Glazed Stoneware Vase for Gustavsberg

1960s

 

 

Ikebana Jiyuka

 

 

Toshiro Kawase simple ikebana

 

 

 

Ikebana Rikka Shimputai – Charlene Ho

 

 

 

Ashraf Hanna contemporary carved vessel

 

 

 

 

Shoka Shimputai ikebana

 

 

Catherine White – winter solstice 2014

 

 

 

Ikebana arrangment –  Ekaterina Minina

 

 

Yasuhisa Kohyama ceramic vase

 

 

 

Yoko Komae ceramic bottle

 

 

 

Catherine White – summer solstice 2014

 

 

 

Catherine White creates collages combining hand-drawn images, seasonal garden plants, and other materials, as a method for interpreting nature. These are assembled and captured on a flat screen scanner.

 

 

 

 

Tania Rollond

 

 

 

Shoka Shofutai by Tatyana Lohova – 2015

 

 

 

Toshiro Kawase

 

 

 

 

Shoka Shimputai by Ekaterina Minina

 

 

 

Jiyuka ikebana

 

 

 

Steel grass, Allium purple rain, Azalée —Thai Mai Van

 

 

 

 

Ikebana arrangement by jajasavage on Flickr

 

 

 

Floral Japonesa  –  Celso Yamachita

 

 

 

Atsum Izumi tri footed contemporary ceramic vessel

 

 

 

Becky’s ikebana art arrangement

hoto2-Flickr

 

 

 

Black lily and wild cherry tree flowers ikebana – Toshiro Kawase

 

 

 

Catherine White

 

Ishii Naoto ikebana

 

 

 

5th century Jomon Ware pot with ikebana display

 

 

 

Ikebana arrangement – Carolyn Lewis, Pinterest

 

 

 

Summer solstice 2015 – Catherine White

 

 

 

 

Rikka Shimputai with professor Ikenobo Ishiwata Masafumi.

 

 

 

 

Ikebana exhibition of the Ikenobo school, Kyoto

photo – Stephanie Giraud

 

 

 

‘Haiku’ – Cynthia Decker

 

 

 

Persimmon tree bonsai

 

 

 

Atshushi ikebana

 

 

 

 

Odette Nguyen

 

 

 

Ikebana by Jeroen Vermaas

jeroenvermaas Flickr

 

 

Ikebana @ Sogetsu di Pasqua

 

 

 

Contemporary ikebana – Master Baiko

 

 

Two Maiko (Apprentice Geisha) seated next to a bamboo vase with a Chrysanthemum Ikebana arrangement

nordic-lotus.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Zhang Zhengyu

 

 

 

Toshiro Kawase

 

 

 

‘Tulip with Anthurium’ – Horst P. Horst

Oyster Bay NY 1989

 

 

 

Ikebana flower art by Mario Hirama

 

Sogetsu Ikebana

 

 

 

Japanese Wooden Karaki Flower vase stand

 

 

 

Bonsai – Colonel Lao Tsu