IKEBANA DREAMING

You normally have to be bashed about a bit by life to see the point of daffodils.... Alain de Botton It's that time. Can we all agree? Life is bashing mos...

Let's continue the deconstruction of an arrangement from an earlier post that illustrates nageire, a style of arrangement featuring a tall vase and no kenzan...

Forsythia is uniquely suited to ikebana. Its long, meandering branches create an elegant line for shin or soe (main stems). The blazing color of its delicat...

I've been away awhile, and by that I mean from ikebana. It's been winter and in Central Oregon the flowers and flora burrow deep and slumber. Further, I was ...

Sogetsu Portland hosted The Radiance of Autumn, an ikebana exhibit at the Portland Japanese Garden on October 26-27. The show was a microcosm of the glorious...

Did you know you can purchase ikebana vases and accessories here at Ikebana Dreaming? Just click on the SHOP link above to find a great selection, from basic...

I've organized an Ikebana Meetup here in Bend, OR. If you live nearby, please join us! We gather once a month. Most members have had little or no experience ...

Ready for freestyle? You've finally figured out the difference between Soe and Shin. You've honed your mathematical skills, angling stems 75 degrees here and...

Perhaps you think Ikebana is only for the demur, gentle, artistic soul. Perhaps you picture a beautiful, young woman with long fingers, alabaster skin and fl...

Consider the Fortnight Lily, whose long, languid, Ikebana-friendly stems and leaves are shown in the horizontal arrangement below. Also known as African, Ja...

The kenzan, which literally means sword mountain, is one of the first tools you'll learn to use in Ikebana. It's typically introduced in Moribana arrangement...

Someone should write an ode to the Lisianthus. Sometimes called Eustoma or just Lizzy, it boasts an abundance of desirable qualities. Its color is so rich an...

Chabana (tea flowers) is the simple, sublime presentation of flowers for the Japanese tea ceremony. It differs from formal Ikebana in that flowers are not ar...

Ikebana is described as the art of arranging flowers, but it is more than the sum of its parts. Once, when asked about an arrangement, a student remarked cas...