HONORING PRINCIPLES AND CHANGE IN ARRANGEMENT OF FLOWERS

In celebration of Ikebana International New York’s 50th and Sogetsu School’s 80th anniversaries, more than 300 people gathered at Columbia University on Wednesday for a luncheon and demonstration by Master Instructor Toshiyuki Ohki, Sogetsu School, Tokyo. Thursday some of my classmates attended a class with Mr. Ohki. Friday we gathered in our usual place to arrange flowers, drink tea and share conversation.

I was struck by the message of change my colleagues had heard from Mr. Ohki from the Sogetsu School in Tokyo. I had seen something of this at the Columbia event, too. “Blooming Flowers for Tomorrow—Sogetsu Renaissance” was the title of materials handed out. “Lithe sensitivity plus plants adapts freely to the changing time and environment,” was the (translated) message. The message was amplified with thirteen pictures of knock-your-socks off arrangement/installations, proof positive Sogetsu Ikebana “completes today’s diverse spaces with the beauty of vegetation.”

At the CAM conference speaker David Zach challenged us to think about and make distinctions between fads, trends and principles. “Play with fads,” he said. “Work with trends and live by principles.”

Fads come and go. They can be fun. They can “rock the boat.” Trends, on the other hand, are longer lasting. And principles? They don’t change. To know how to interact with each requires one identify them correctly.

We need to know what our principles are—and the trends and fads, too. I was a little surprised to find myself sharing this idea in the flower class! But there it was, and the Japanese woman was nodding her head in agreement.

It was as if a fresh breeze had blown in on my arrangement yesterday. It took two tries. With the first, I had no mass and used more flowers. In the second try, I created mass with the leaves of the tulips, provided a long, dramatic line with two branches (one cherry and the other scotch broom, both greatly pruned) that reinforced the vertical of the vase, reduced the number of tulips and thinned out the baby’s breath so it was congruent with its name.

The principles? Mass, line and color.