Sunday, January 27, 2008

"Natural" Narcissus

The above photo is the arrangement that my sensei had on display at an Ikebana exhibit at the Daimaru Museum in Kyoto. I thought it was very beautiful; both simple and elegant.

Normally, the methods used to create traditional Enshu-school ikebana arrangements with narcissus (like this one) are not shared with beginners. But, my sensei says I am "special" so I was let in on the secrets!

The arrangement looks fairly natural, but it is not... at all. :)

First, you rub and soften the base of the narcissus, called the hakama. Then, you pull out the flower stem and the leaves - essentially removing the hakama.

Then, you snake a thin metal wire through the widest part of each of the leaves. You follow the lines of the xylem and phloem in the vascular tissue of the leaves to the very end. I felt like a skillful surgeon because I was able to insert the wires easily without having the wire emerge randomly from the center of the plant. It was quite fun!

Afterwards, it was amazing to look at the leaf and take note of the normal and natural appearance. A tiny dot on the bottom was the only visual evidence of the wire. Neat.

After all the wires are inserted, you reassemble the bundle of leaves and flowers. You can stick everything together nicely using the "glue" that comes out of the flower stem when you cut it.

Then, you place the hakama back over the set. You repeat this process for each bundle adjusting the heights to suit their purpose and location. With all the leaves wired, you are able to create the exact curves and angles that you desire.

In my arrangement, I had five elements: the ushiro-zoe, shin, mae-zoe/uchi-do, tome and the gyo. They represented the moon, heaven, stars, the earth and man respectively.

As a special bonus, I discovered that narcissus have a lovely fragrance. Elegant, beautiful, nicely scented and fun to arrange? I've found my new ikebana favorite... hands down!

2 comments:

Evelyn said...

I didn't know ikebana involved wires and such direct alteration of the plant's shape. Interesting.

Paradox13VA said...

And the results are really beautiful.

- Natalie's Dad