Ikebana is the Art of Japanese flower arrangement consisting of many schools and styles. These schools have their own names and rules for their particular aesthetic. For most students of Ikebana, the art is a life long study and meditation. During the creation of the display a quiet calm dominates. It is the hope of the practitioner to create the arrangement during that special moment when the plant material is cut from the Earth and still contains that spark of life. To catch that window between life and death and work within that narrow space is a goal like no other. That special time makes it possible to join with the life in the material, if only for a fleeting moment and by extension find a connection with the life of the universe.
Arrangements contain both live plants and tree materials. The character of the display changes throughout the four seasons as the locally available materials are governed by season. This point is less true in the jet age but still striven for among the very serious. Ancient traditions such as the oldest school, Ikenobo, placed flowers in the Tokonoma (alcove) contained within the design of the Japanese home. Most of the time these arrangements have but a single viewing position right in the front are conscious of the space.
Of course practitioners are often called upon to arrange for corporations and large hotels as well as museums but great care is taken to insure the best result and as such water and flowers must be changed often in the short life of the live materials.
Most of the arrangements on display in this gallery are primarily from the Ikenobo school and are created by Yoshie Takahashi. Arrangements have been created at workshops around the United States and in Kyoto, Japan Many of the containers are created by Marc Isaacs, but certainly not all of them. Visit often, we are always adding to this gallery as the seasons change.
Arrangements contain both live plants and tree materials. The character of the display changes throughout the four seasons as the locally available materials are governed by season. This point is less true in the jet age but still striven for among the very serious. Ancient traditions such as the oldest school, Ikenobo, placed flowers in the Tokonoma (alcove) contained within the design of the Japanese home. Most of the time these arrangements have but a single viewing position right in the front are conscious of the space.
Of course practitioners are often called upon to arrange for corporations and large hotels as well as museums but great care is taken to insure the best result and as such water and flowers must be changed often in the short life of the live materials.
Most of the arrangements on display in this gallery are primarily from the Ikenobo school and are created by Yoshie Takahashi. Arrangements have been created at workshops around the United States and in Kyoto, Japan Many of the containers are created by Marc Isaacs, but certainly not all of them. Visit often, we are always adding to this gallery as the seasons change.