Ichiyo Ikebana at Buffalo Bonsai Society Annual Show
Every year the Buffalo Bonsai Society has an annual exhibition the first weekend in June. Unfortunately, due to COVID the last few years, this tradition was interrupted. But due to the improvement in the pandemic, it was possible to start this tradition again.
In the past, the Buffalo Bonsai Society used to have their annual exhibition at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. At these exhibitions, the society has a beautiful display of its member’s bonsai with background and table white cloth draping which highlights the beauty of their bonsai.
Starting several years ago, the society invited me to participate in displaying ikebana and giving demonstrations. That tradition continued again this year.
This year, the exhibition was held at the Busy Beaver Lawn and Garden center in Hamburg, NY. Unfortunately, their display space was smaller than what they have had in the past, but nonetheless, the exhibition was well attended this year with many people enjoying the years of careful cultivation of these miniature trees.
Even though the exhibition’s display area was smaller than usual, it was also still possible to offer the art of ikebana to the public through a few arrangements arranged on the center’s product display tables which they cleared for us.
The first arrangement with the yellow mums above is known as the moribana upright arrangement. This arrangement is the first arrangement that a student in the Ichiyo School of Ikebana learns how to make.
The simple beauty of the moribana upright shows that one doesn’t need a lot of floral material to make a serenely attractive arrangement. This arrangement only has three green myrtle stems and three mum flowers.
The arrangement above with the large curving aspidistra leaves and the purple Fuji mums is one of the arrangements that a beginning student makes in their second lesson book. Again, this arrangement only has three main green stems and three flowers though they are arranged differently than in the moribana upright. It also has limonium to help fill in the central spaces in the arrangement to bring the elements together into a soothing whole.
The arrangement to the left with the blue flat oval container (suiban) is known as the group contrast arrangement.
One group of materials is the straight-line liatris flowers with the purple tops. The second group of materials are the curving stems of the Italian Ruscus plant. And of course the third group is the flower group with the bright orange Gerbera flowers. Here all three of the groups are brought together into a harmonious whole. This arrangement is also made while the Ichiyo School of Ikebana student is working on his or her second lesson book. This arrangement was made during the demonstration on Saturday. The audience was able to see how specifically the arrangement was made.
The last arrangement made for this bonsai and ikebana exhibition was made during Sunday’s demonstration. It is called the group contrast arrangement. It is made by the student when he or she is working on their third lesson book. In the far left arrangement, one can see the contrast between the tall, straight-line acacia knife blade plant stems and the rounded and flowing aspidistra leaves. To bring the two contrasting elements together, the pink carnations were added. During the demonstration the audience was brought into making the arrangement along with me showing how easy and natural it is for people to make and appreciate beautiful kebana.
Even though the materials used in these arrangements were bought at a wholesale florist in the area, ikebana can be made with materials one finds in an open field. In the upcoming posts, I’ll cover seasonal ikebana. Until then, please send any questions through the contact page. It is a rare opportunity to learn this amazing art. There are only two Ikebana International chapters in the state of New York. One is in New York city and one is in Rochester, NY. If you don’t feel that this rare opportunity in the art of Japanese flower arranging is right for you, maybe we’ll see you next year at the next annual Buffalo Bonsai Society’s annual exhibition.