The Embrace

It's always amazing what one can do with old vines found during a walk in the forest. Of course, there is considerable manipulation of the material before it expresses what you want. The founder of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana, Sofu Teshigahara, said, "Capturing nature means making nature into something of your own....one takes a piece of nature and adds something that was not there. This is what creation in Ikebana means."

Ikebana Scavengers

Ikebana artists are a bit like scavengers, always on the lookout for unusual shapes and textures.




A gnarled old vine from an abandoned vineyard in the Provence is starkly juxtaposed with delicate camellia blossoms.



In this work, rusted iron tractor parts make an excellent support for a fragile cluster of narcissus and calla leaves.



The bark of eucalyptus provides unusual shapes, colors and textures to this creation.