The Art of Flowers

Last week Rosie and I went with friends to see a floral arrangement exhibit. Ikebana, or the art of flower arrangement, has been practiced in Japan for hundreds of years and the symmetry, balance, and beauty of these creations are simply breathtaking.  I would love to take some classes in the future, but since I barely have enough time in the day as it is, that will have to wait.

The exhibit we saw was actually a modern style called kanenryu (閑渕流) that is characterized by an avant garde use of materials and sort of gaudy, ostentatious colours and designs. Well, over the top for Japan which is still fairly subtle, most of the time. This form of ikebana originated in our city of Fukuyama in the early 1940's and there are a couple of local schools that teach it. Here are some of the works of local artists and students: 

Some of the pieces were massive, like this over two meter tall wood, grass, and moss arrangement that reminded me of some magical forest ogre.

And my least favourite by far: 

I came to the conclusion that I enjoy the simpler, traditional ikebana styles more than these but even still there were many extremely beautiful pieces.