Inside Ikebana

Published in šŸ”—DamnMag.

Iā€™m here to tell you my spell-binding day captivated by the senior students and instructors of the Ohara School of Ikebanaā€™s Ottawa chapter is the closest Iā€™ve ever been to life inside a secret society.

Iā€™ll admit, my youthful perception of leisure and hobby clubs was rather narrow: retirees and housewives, finding community over tea and lady fingers. More specifically, arranging flowers with seniors just didnā€™t produce much intrigue. 

After spending a day with my local ikebana chapter, Iā€™m convinced the Japanese art of flower arranging is not your average leisure club, but instead, perhaps, one of the coolest clubs to which I am lucky to have access.

Ikebanaā€™s origins trace back hundreds of years, evolving through numerous schools and passed down through generations. In fact, the Ohara School is currently under the leadership of its founderā€™s great-great grandson.

Itā€™s a contemporary art combining theory and careful practice, a study of angles and movement, but also a lot of patience, some ruthless trimming, and (as I learned) the occasional power tool. Arrangements follow particular rules and techniques that can take years to master. Spending a day with masters of this art form was a privilege.

watercolour image of an ikebana arrangement
Helen Westington, Second Term Master. Materials: Japanese quince, driftwood. Westingtonā€™s design sits in a shallow dish of water, anchored by a piece of driftwood foraged to by her granddaughter from their cottage. The quince is from her backyard.

It began with a rather cryptic email with the subject ā€Fwd: A bunjin and driftwood experience.ā€ 

Hi Emily

This is where I was today, itā€™s about an hourā€™s drive from my house ā€¦ so itā€™s a little trek.

If you would like to come, ignore all the instructions in this email and just call me, this is just for your information. If you have the time, itā€™s worth the trip ā€“ itā€™s so pretty.

W

There was no address, only a date and some instructions about flowers, which I didnā€™t understand. 

ā€œWā€ is Wendy Batson, President of the Ohara Ikebana Schoolā€™s Ottawa chapter. She is also an old-friend of my late god-mother, who for over 20 years taught at the Ohara School. Occasionally, as a child, I would be brought along to a workshop, or an exhibition. As a young adult I would be asked if I was interested to join, but arranging flowers seemed boring to 20-something me. After losing my god-mum to cancer several years ago, nearly-40 me decided it was time to call Batson to learn more about why ikebana inspired my god-mum for so many years.

In her charming Trinidadian accent, Batson explains the get-together will be a type of workshop to create arrangements for a virtual exhibition in connection with the Japanese Embassy to Canada. Before we hang up, she tells me Iā€™ll receive more information soon.

A few weeks go by, no follow-ups. So I email to ask. Batson replies, sounding rather like a secret intelligence officer:

I have not forgotten about you, it is happening and we are expecting you.

We received another message. Will send it to you with directions. Looking forward to seeing you. 

W

Sure enough, the address arrives in another messageā€“an email from a woman named Marie-Eve Coupalā€“with another cryptic message:  

Come for 9:30-10:00 am

Bring your lunch and stay all day

Many possibilities. Your choice. Create all you want. ā€¦

I was in. 

Ikebana flower arrangement
Iris Waung, Third Term Master. Materials: Cymbidium orchids, monstera leaves and driftwood. Extraordinarily simple and yet so full of drama. Waung hides the mechanics of the arrangement, water tubes, inside and behind the driftwood.ā€œThe materials are simple and large, to catch the eye. You have an image in your head, and you see what materials you have,ā€ she says.

Following the directions, I wound my way down a long private driveway, on a bluff overlooking the Ottawa river. There, towering over a wide expanse of sun-speckled water, sailboats gliding by, was Coupalā€™s ultra modern ā€œcottage.ā€ An architectural marvel, the home sits on the footprint of a former rail line hugging the cliffside. It is a magical spot for a day of flower arranging, in fact, the building site was discovered by Coupal while foraging driftwood for her ikebana pieces.

Today, Coupalā€™s impressive driftwood collectionā€“logs washed onto the riverbanks below, then hiked up to the cottage by friends and family over the yearsā€“will be the base for much of the dayā€™s arrangements. 

Marie-Eve Coupal, a Second Term Master, hard at work on her ikebana arrangement.

By the time I arrive, the group is already busy at work. In the shade of this opulent clubhouse-for-the-day, six women, ranging in age from 60-88, are getting their workstations set up. Clippers, buckets of flowers, vases, wires, nails, hammers, kenzans, and a cordless drill or two are some of their tools of the trade. 

Batson is doing rounds, checking in on the othersā€™ work. In between, she is on day two of working away at her six-foot-tall arrangement. Sheā€™ll finish it before the dayā€™s end, and, after a photographer snaps photos, sheā€™ll turn to me and say: ā€œI probably would have used my pink lilies and used the yellow with it, I think that would have been cool as wellā€“Iā€™ll pull it apart and try it actually,ā€ and go back to work. A member for over 40 years, Batson says: ā€œYou never stop, the thing gets into your blood, and you donā€™t have a choice.ā€

Ikebana flower arrangement
Wendy Batson Second Term Master. Materials: Driftwood, pine, hosta leaves, alstroemeria and wild sunflowers. This human-sized arrangement is a scaled up ā€œrising fromā€ Hana-isho (Tateru-katachi).  The degree and angle of the branches is the same in all hana-isho iterations. A frame of driftwood is used in place of a typical vase.

The ladies work quickly and collaboratively. Their delicate works of art need to be photographed before elements get blown out of position or wilt in the rising temperatures and increasing wind. Thereā€™s a lot of talking to the flowers, coaxing them to ā€œplease stayā€ā€“and more than just the occasional swear word. I learn they are creating arrangements in the Bunjin style today.

When creating a bunjin arrangement in a vase, students use containers that would be considered in a Chinese style, to reflect the origins of bunjin. Inspired by Chinese and Japanese paintings, these arrangements typically display larger flowers, and use only three or four materials. ā€œThe main characteristics are bold, simple, and eye-catching.ā€ says Iris Waung. ā€œItā€™s a freestyle, thereā€™s not many rules, like the other styles. You kind of eye it by your own experience,ā€ she says.

A member since her child was a baby, Waung tells me her initial interest was to take some for herself. She was also influenced by her own motherā€™s interest in ikebana: ā€œWe were in Taiwan and my mother really enjoyed the look of it, very simpleā€¦ My mother used to take some courses, and she took some pictures, and I really liked them. So I found this club, these classes, and now Iā€™m a teacher.ā€

ā€œIt started with the container,ā€ says Lyne Whyte, of her bunjin design. ā€œIt was a find of mine in a thrift shop that I couldnā€™t resist. Itā€™s sort of a traditional bunjin container.ā€ Whyte started her ikebana studies about 25 years ago, she says, ā€œand then with having children and having a job I wasnā€™t able to continue. I always said: ā€˜OK, when I retire, Iā€™m going to do ikebana.ā€™ So thatā€™s what I did!ā€

Ikebana flower arrangement
Lyn Whyte, Advanced student. Materials: Asiatic lilies, castor bean leaves and driftwood. Using a tall vase, large castor bean leaves jetting out to the side are contradicted with the twisting driftwood reaching upwards. Although asymmetric, the arrangement feels balanced. ā€œYour eye is carried from the front, through to the back, then you see the handles, and the scene on the vase,ā€ says Whyte. ā€œAt some points when youā€™re designing youā€™ll think ā€˜Do I even need flowers?ā€™ā€

Lunchtime, announces Coupal. The group takes a break, albeit reluctantlyā€“like kids having too much fun at recess. Coupal serves French wine, cheese, espressos, and more.

Everyone has brought something.

Kyoko Kosaki passes around home-made rice cakes. At 88, she is the oldest of the group. ā€œAnywhere I go Iā€™m the oldestā€“and the loudest,ā€ she laughs. Kosaki has been a member of this ikebana chapter for more than 20 years; however, she started her ikebana education at another school, in Japan. Born in Hokkaido, she moved to Canada in 1967 from Tokyo, and taught Canadian diplomats and others Japanese. ā€œIt makes me young because I go with these people,ā€ she tells me over lunch describing her ikebana friendships. ā€œYou never get old if youā€™re busy.ā€ 

Ikebana flower arrangement
Kyoko Kosaki, Third Term Master. Materials. Driftwood, monstera, cymbidium orchid. Although only three materials were used, the size and height create impressive shapes. The scale of the orchids brings a sense of cohesion to this piece. ā€œIā€™m very small, and the oldest of the members,ā€ says Kosaki. ā€œI always like to use simple, and not necessarily big [materials]. But [the arrangement is] like myself: Iā€™m small but Iā€™m loud.ā€

ā€œIn Japan, we say itā€™s good luck to eat the last piece,ā€ she says, trying to sell someone on the remaining cake. 

ā€œOK, Iā€™ll be the old maid,ā€ replies Batson. 

Sure, my local chapter of the Ohara School of Ikebana is ageing, with fewer younger members enrolling. But just like any hobby, the demographic skews to those with extended leisure time. This doesnā€™t mean you need an abundance of leisure time to practice ikebana. 

As many women in the group exemplify, you can start at any age, and come back to it at any point in life. In a way, this mirrors ikebana itself, which uses plant and flower material in different life stages. Ikebana often explores opposites and the beauty of asymmetry, playing with place, lines, form, and phases of plant life. Presence vs. absence, and life vs. death, are just some common themes. Ikebana can be a life-long pursuit that waits for you, whichā€“in an age where everything moves faster than what feels humanly possible to keep up withā€“is rare.

Ikebana flower arrangement
Mitsuko Kawasaki, Second Term Master. Materials: Fasciated willow (a willow that has twisted due to a virus), cimicifuga, blood grass. This piece curves and flows. The curve of the vertical subject branch flows into the white flowers (cut from Marie-Eveā€™s garden).

Of course, the Ohara School of Ikebana is not a secret society, the organization has over a million members all over the world and the school encourages the practice far and wide. 

But Iā€™m convinced this chapter of the school may be the best-kept secret for those of any age looking for a community steeped in tradition, careful study and practice, deep friendships, a few powertools, and just a hint of something magical.