On The Design Boat: April 2016

Wednesday 27 April 2016

'THE WAY OF FLOWERS'

Text: Hina Nitesh

Flower arrangements have always fascinated me so today like the title says, this post is going to be about flowers.

Image: www.jeremywhiteceramics.co.uk

Its actually about one particular kind of flower arrangement - Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement. Ike means to arrange and bana means flower. There is another term for this art - Kadu or 'the way of flowers'.

Image: www.bloomersfloristwilmington.blogspot.in

Ikebana is a disciplined art form with rules that govern the ways an arrangement can be executed. It is about minimalism expressed with natural blooms. While flower arrangements are generally just about flowers, Ikebana is also about the stem, the leaves and the vase.

Image: www.pinterest.com

The basic philosophy is that the arrangement should be simple and should look natural.

Image: nordic-lotusblogspo.tcom

Depending on the way the flowers are used and the vase they are used is, there are different styles of arrangements. The common one are -

Rikka or standing flowers

Seikaor Shoka or living flowers

Nageire or flung flowers

Moribana or piled up flowers

The first three are created in bowl shaped vases while the fourth one is created in a dish like container.

Image: www.indulgy.com

The Ikebana arrangement is more than just a floral decoration. It brings the practitioner close to nature. The artist has to make the whole thing beautiful through the shapes, color and form of the elements used. The aim is to connect with nature and the flowers and other elements used for the arrangement are a reflection of the changing season

Image: www.orchidsandikebana.blogspot.in

The effort is not to bring the best of the blooms inside the house but to give a glimpse of what the nature outside has to offer. This is why flowerless branches and single flowers also get prominence in the arrangement.

Image : www.pinterest.com

The end result is an attractive piece that also has a certain calm about it. The maker must be treating this creative process with a sense of spirituality about it which gets reflected in the final pieces.

Leaving you with some interesting arrangements...