March 14th 2019
The Study Group met at ABK AOTS Dosokai for their March workshop. 16 members attended, still reeling under the shock of the sudden and untimely demise of our member Janaki, sensei and friend. A silent prayer was offered in her memory before the start of the demonstration and workshop.
The day's agenda was demonstrations by Sensei Prerana Mehta and Sensei Trishala Vaishnav. Both of them demonstrated two arrangements each. There were two themes - Emphasising 'Line' or Colour. Both of them demonstrated both these themes separately.
Sensei Prerana began with a composition to emphasise Line.
She started with the line of the brass container and the vertical line of the ceramic brown vase. The dry bougainvillea branches were very stark lines.
 | | "The single anthurium of course tells us that however empty and devoid life is of joy like the branches, still the colour red gives us hope and love. Life goes on with courage", she said as she completed her composition in brown. |
The theme of her second composition was Colour which she used in abundance. The colour of the vase and the base was olive. She used orange, yellow and white lilies, green chrysanthemums and a dash of Gypsofilia.
 | "I filled the vase with lemons and water to give the strength to the heavy look of flowers.
And of course the red pomegranate added a bit of bright colour", she said. |
Sensei Trishala preferred a colourful start to her demonstration. She used a translucent ceramic bowl as her vase.
The large green palms provided mass and colour and sandwiched the chrysanthemums of different colours.
 | The everlasting flowers complemented the designs on the vase and the Carnations provided
little dashes of colour to complete the composition. |
For her composition emphasising Line, sensei Trishala tried a novel interpretation using wire netting material which she placed in different dimensional planes. The green netting brought the colours of the vase alive, and were complemented by a touch of green asparagus fern.
 | | Statice and a tall anthurium completed the arrangement. |
 | | Bhuvana created a moribana composition emphasising colour. |
 | Chelvi used the beautiful curved lines of the cannonball branch along with the fruit
in a Japanese ceramic vase. 'Like the sun being the life source of the universe,
the branches here look toward the cannonball", she said. |
 | | Sensei Dalley created a composition in pink, complementing the colours of the flowers with the tray. |
 | Sensei Divya used cane for beautiful lines and garden leaves and
chrysthamums, in a ceramic container |
 | Jyotsna - Showing lines using Palm leaves, Carnation, Gypsofilia in a
crescent-shaped Fibreglass container |
 | Sensei Meenakshi displayed color - anthriums in a fibreglass container and
a few chrysanthemum plus asparagus fern. |
 | | Sensei Malathi created a colour composition emphasising white and blue. |
 | Mohan used umbrella palm for lines and kalanchoe flowers
added some colour. |
 | Sensei Molly used dry wild plant and alocasia leaf to show lines. Chinese cap flower and the
ceramic container complimented each other. |
Pushkala tried her hand at two compositions below in the same narrow container, one with jerboas, and the other with green lines of the Insuline plant.
 | | Roopa used orchids and gypsofilia in a fiber glass container |
 | | Satya emphasised the bold lines of the Strelitsia in a triangular Sogetsu vase. |
 | Shylaja experimented with a fusion of kiwi and jasmine vines to show lines along with a large chrysanthemum
in a metal container. |
The next meeting will be at Cholamandalam artist Village on April 9th.
February 14th 2019
Our February workshop was attended by Mrs Karen Uchiyama, the wife of the Consul General of Japan in Chennai. It was a pleasure and honour for the Study Group to welcome her for our meeting.
14 members were present for the workshop.
Chairperson Mrs Malathi Pandurang welcomed and introduced her, and we were happy to hear that she was also a Sogetsu practitioner!
 | | Chelvi presenting a bouquet |
She shared with us her experiences with working with different kinds of material, across the world and how the art has given her so many friends as well.
A bouquet of beautiful chrysanthemums seemed an appropriate way to welcome her!
 | Trishala handing her a hamper of jams and sauces from their
family factory |
It was then time for sensei Dalley's freestyle demonstration. Emphasizing naturalness and gaining inspiration from her beautiful garden, Dalley created three large compositions.
 | | The tree stump from her garden was the centrepiece in this tsubo pot. |
 | She complemented the browns of the vase and the tree trunk with Carnations, Asia Lily and
white Gyposfilia, with the Eranthimum leaves bringing a focal pointing the front. |
 | Her second piece was a floor arrangement with a very Japanese theme -
bamboo sticks forming a tripod stand, with bamboo leaves and rust coloured
chrysanthemums, matching beautifully with the brown nagiere vase. |
 | | Her third composition used material that she picked up on a recent trip to the hills. |
 | | This dramatic composition was once again in brown |
We got down to our own arrangements, and we were delighted that Ms Uchiyama readily agreed to also try her hand. She worked with the vase and materials from Malathi's garden!
Given that it was Valentine's day, there was a lot of use of red by the members!
 | Bhuvana created a dramatic no-kenzan arrangement,
with jerberas, bleached branches in a wide black moribana
container. |
 | | Sathya brought movement into her elegant composition of roses in a Sogetsu freestyle vase |
 | | Sensei Meenu created a wide spreading form in a tall vase |
 | | And this beautiful and dramatic composition was done by Mrs Uchiyama, with a beautiful display of water and tight placement of jushis.. |
 | | Sensei Molly also had a Valentine theme |
 | | Chitra Thiagarajan created a tropical scene, with the berries of Sterculia foetida providing a mass, implemented by the lines of the branch and the colours of the heliconia. |
 | This beautiful minimalistic composition was by sensei Padma with the vine accentuating the
shape of the container. |
 | Chelvi conveyed the Valentine spirit, with a decoupage wine bottle and a basket of flowers,
complete with a heart! |
 | It was then time for fellowship, and Mrs Uchiyama had brought along this home-made basket
of delicious shortbread, to add to the chocolates and nuts which were on offer. |
We hope to see more of Mrs Uchiyama in our coming workshops, and hopefully even a demonstration!
Jan 22nd 2019
The Study Group met for its first workshop of 2019, and it was good to have sensei Padma demonstrate for the group. Thirteen members were present.
The theme was One kind of material. Either flowers or leaves or dry branches.
The first one was an all-flower arrangement. Sensei Padma used an iron container that she designed herself. Within it, she placed a small black ceramic container and not a coloured one, to keep the focus on the arrangement.The lines of the iron container signified pollution and all other negative influences in our lives.The white flowers she used to tell the viewer we want peace and a peaceful existence.
 | | A composition for peace with an aesthetic combination of white chrysanthemums and Gypsophilia. |
The second arrangement was titled "Medley" and was an all-leaf arrangement. With different colours, textures, the leaves seemed to symbolise an ideal world of humans - each different from one another, but harmonising beautifully.
 | | A beautiful, harmonious blend of leaves, and a lovely display of the inner surface of blue and the water. |
 | | Padma sensei with her arrangement |
 | | She ended her demonstration with this small all-flower composition |
After enjoying the artistic demonstration by Padma sensei, the members got down to their own compositions.
 | | Chitra Rajan created an all leaf composition - dried areca palms, cotton leaf, unknown shrub with flame colour leaves in a rush colour container |
 | | Sensei Divya was also all-leaf. |
 | | Kalpana's all-leaf played beautiful with texture and lines. |
 | | Bhuvana experimented with the fish-path style, with a good display of water between the two kenzans. |
 | | Sensei Trishala's all-lead arrangement had a lush, tropical feel to it. |
 | | Meenu sensei was one of the few to try an all-flower composition. |
 | Chitra Thiagarajan was the only one who decided to create an abstract composition, using
umbrella plant only. So her composition was also just a single material. |
 | | Pushkala also created an all-leaf composition, with a dramatic linear structure. |
 | | Prerana sensei created her arrangement with only Mitsumata branches. She explained that she used a white ceramic vase with a hint of leaves sketched on its surface. Used white Mitsumata sticks and randomly place 2 red and 3 black sticks in the vase to bring some dramatic colour. The idea of the arrangement is from confusion to clarity. Which the upward line depicts. |
 | Malathi sensei created an interesting arrangement, using
Cyperus alternifolia, twisted acalypha, lavender, and repeating the
form of the vase above. |
 | | Sensei Molly used curved branches of ficus, with very few leaves, to show the soft lines, in an Auroville ceramic container |
Jan 10th 2019 Sogetsu Study Group conducted an introductory session for Sogetsu Ikebana. Two batches of students who were at the inter college fest Saarang. More Pictures can be viewed here. More Recent Articles
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