Ikebana is the art of Japanese flower arrangement. It embodies simplicity and sophistication, and practitioners focus on everything from the arrangement's colors, lines, forms, and angles to bring together a balanced piece. The art form has a history that reaches back thousands of years and has its roots in the practices of the Shinto and Buddhist religions. Through poetry and use in worship, certain flowers over time developed strong symbolic meanings and associations with certain seasons. These aesthetics and philosophies would then develop into the many schools of Ikebana by the fifteenth century.
Today, Ikebana is viewed as a comprehensive and highly spiritual art. It is rich in seasonal qualities, changing as seasons come and go, and accutely specific. Practitioners trim, shape, color and measure to reach their intended look. Even the space between flowers is regarded as an aesthetic feature.
Much of modern Ikebana is influenced by the Moribana style of flower arrangement. This focuses on using 3 stems as a base for the piece. We will loosely follow this school in our program.
In this program, you will use in-season flowers and foliage to create beautiful flower arrangements in the basic techniques of Japanese Ikebana. Before you begin, our licensed Ikebana instructor will tell you all about the history of this elegant art, and explain how to use its various utensils. As you create, you will learn all about the different styles and schools found in Japanese flower arrangement, and try out some of the methods yourself. Our expert teacher will then instruct you on the methods you can use to improve your arrangements.
The flowers used in Japanese flower arrangement are specific to the season and will also vary on availability. However, flowers commonly found in ikebana include: bamboo (year round), narcissus and Japanese Iris (Spring), cow lily (Summer) and chrysanthemum (Fall).