The art of Ikebana

I recently attended an Ikebana (Japanese Flower Arranging) class with Shoto Ikebana in Mount Martha (Victoria). Aileen was fun, friendly, very informative and extremely patient as she taught us the fundamentals of Ikebana. It is quite a regimented artform, more so that I guess I realised and it was a little frustrating first time round, but also loads of fun. So these are my first three attempts at Ikebana, which of course, I had to do a little mini still life shoot in the studio…

Below are some more editorial styled images from behind the scenes of the class. I went with Desley (DesleyJane Pictures) and we made a day of it down on the Mornington Peninsula with brunch at Pier Street Kitchens, yummo, which we walked off with a wander along the pier and the beachfront under the glorious sunshine.

We created three very differently styled arrangements, using fresh flowers and leaves. Everything was supplied in the class, and we had plenty of choices as well. All those lovely floral scents and eucalyptus leaves as well. Made for a relaxing afternoon, followed by a sumptuous afternoon tea with coffee and a meat and cheese platter and fresh fruit and muffins, delicious.

If you are interested in trying this sort of flower art, give Aileen at Shoto.ikebana a call.