Even my husband, who is generally not aware of subtle changes in his surroundings, knows that just a bunch of flowers will change the atmosphere in a room and even large places. Fresh flowers not only add colour and vibrancy but also change people’s heart, bringing smile to their faces and a feeling of ‘joie de vivre’. If a vase full of flowers can liven up a room, then imagine how much more the impact could be if they are arranged with a theme through a learnt discipline.
The other day I went to my favourite flower stall in Ealing, West London. Because it was the afternoon by the time I could get there, the choices were limited to Tulips and a few ready wrapped bunches of mixed flowers. A particular bunch caught my attention because this collection contained nearly all dusty pink colours of different flowers; Alstroemeria, Rose, Antirrhinum etc. They struck me as pretty and I felt that I could use them for my compositions based on the teachings of Ikebana, the art of Japanese flower arrangements.
The philosophy of Ikebana is to observe and bring out the individual inherent beauty of flowers and greeneries. So, instead of placing a collection of flowers with leaves together in a vase, I always think how I can bring out the individual aspect of each item in a bunch to form an Ikebana composition. In my mind a theme started to immerge that required additional foliage. I am fortunate that a friend of mine, who lives close by in West London, has a very large garden and allowed me to take some Forsythia for the composition in my mind. Here are the arrangements I created this time.
