We were delighted to welcome Mrs. Ruriko Kojima, President of London Ohara England Chapter. This was the first time she has demonstrated for II and her demonstration was much enjoyed and good fun.
The theme was “Early Spring” basic to landscape in Ohara style. Ruriko first demonstrated two basic Ohara styles which a beginner should learn as an Ohara student.
The first was the simplest style with pussy willow and tulips. The second showed more of a slanting style, with stems rising upwards to reflect their beauty and freshness
Then we had two moribana arrangements, a style at the heart of the ohara school as this was first originated by the founder over 100 years ago to represent landscape in miniature .
Materials used were plum and narcissus with moss brought specially back from Japan. The arrangement covered 2/3’s of the water to signify Spring
This was inspired by coastal scenery and used a few red berries of yabukopi as contrast.
The last landscape was an exquisite arrangement based on the ancient art of rimpa and always uses a fan shaped container
Finally ‘Hanamai’ ie dancing flowers style consisting of two simple adjacent arrangements, using any container style, positioned so that they crossed and could be appreciated from all angles