The Nippon Club Art Exhibition

一天，老師問我有沒有興趣替日本會的藝術展覽插花。老師叫到，當然覺得很榮幸了！結果，上星期二的下午，告了幾個鐘頭的假，到日本會幫手。在老師指導下，弄出以下作品：

以下是老師的master piece（厲害吧！）:

展覽由04/09/2008至04/15/2008於紐約日本會的Nippon Gallery。

日本花道──自由花

自由花對於我來說很困難，一向習慣從規導矩，不習慣天馬行空。自由花（jiyuka）沒有分真（shin）、副（soe）、體（tai）。自由花講求概念和構圖，每一個作品後面都有個故事。雖然自由花顧名思義是自由創作，但深度依然很重要，焦點也很重要。它的構想包括：自然式、圖案結構例如線條或圓形、抽象式等等。未學基本功以前，很容易把自由花當成花卉設計，可是花卉設計注重對稱而自由花則不需要對稱。


Ikebana – Jiyuka

To me, jiyuka is very difficult. I am used to rules. It is hard to create something without boundaries. There is no shin, soe, tai in jiyuka. Jiyuka stresses on concepts and shapes. Each arrangement has a story. Jiyu means freedom in Japanese. Even with its free form, depth and focus is still important. The concepts include: nature, shapes and forms such as lines and circles, abstract, etc. Before learning the basics, one might mix up jiyuka with floral design. Floral design looks for symmetry, but jiyuka does not.

自由花──「整容前」

這是自然式。構想是大風吹，高的兩朵黃花爭相躲避，又肥又矮的一朵黃花墮後，太過肥胖走不動。


Jiyuka – Before

This is the natural kind. The concept is wind. The two tall yellow flowers are running away from the wind. The fat and short one is trailing behind because it is fat.

自由花──「整容後」

老師說我的滿天星很害羞，滿天星應該四處伸展，挺起胸膛自信地告訴人家：「我很漂亮！」另外，高的兩朵黃花頭向下顯得喪氣，應該昂首面對大風。


Jiyuka – After

Teacher said that my baby breath is too shy. Baby breath should be extending and proudly tell others, “I am pretty!” Moreover, the two tall yellow flowers are facing down. They look discouraged. They should have their heads up bravely face the wind.

Happy Sunflowers

This is one of the five additional arrangements I made after class using the leftover flowers. There is one in the kitchen, one on top of the wine rack, one on the coffee table, one in the bathroom, and one on the nightstand.

Moribana – Before

The big branch with dark leaves is shin. The eucalyptus looking branch is soe. The yellow flowers are tai. I was staring at this arrangement for a long time because I felt that shin, soe, and tai were so apparent. I also felt that something was missing in the middle. It seemed empty. However, I like the simplicity and the tranquil feel.

Moribana – After

A rather fuzzy picture…

My teacher thought my arrangement was fine before, but she put an extra branch with dark leaves on the right because I told her I felt that it lacked something. It lacked continuation. Then, the hardest part came – trimming the leaves. I am not brave enough to cut. I do not know what to cut to make the arrangement look better. I feel that if I cut the wrong ones, I cannot go back. It is just like spilled water. I am too risk averse.

Important lesson from my teacher: if I am not brave enough to make mistakes, I will never learn!

I guess life is the same way?

日本花道──盛花

上過今學期第一堂的生花(Ikebana)，一如過往，老師為了教新學員，第一課總是教盛花(moribana)。據老師說，盛花是生花的基本，字面意思是堆積，可以學真(shin)、副(soe)、體(tai)的概念，除了角度、長度、跟約略的擺放位置外，不必受太多限制。圖為老師的示範。

盛花──「整容前」

我記得老師說過，花的數目需要單數。高的藍色花是真，第二高的紅色花是副，短的藍色花是體，因為盛花講求深度，所以放一朵橙色花在後面，增加深度，整個擺設又順序感，然後由黃色花蕾和羊齒科葉作為襯托。

盛花──「整容後」

老師把花拉開一點，增加空間，然後把一枝羊齒葉放在高處，作為下面的大羊齒葉的連結。總括來說，老師今次沒有怎樣移動我的作品，看來她與我的想法差不多，我十分高興！

一隻有輪的蛋

Pivo

今天看到報導，日產汽車廠有部概念車叫Pivo ，它的三人座位車廂可以360 度轉，從而省卻倒後行的麻煩。初時，我很興奮，滿以為這部車可以解決平行泊車的問題，在仔細閱讀，才發現它只解決了一般停車場向前向後的泊車問題，它並未能夠把四個輪90 度轉，把車子打橫泊入街邊的車位，頓然有些失望。

可能再過幾年，工程師會想到法子，令平行泊車容易一點吧。又可能有一天，有人用Quantum Physics發明一個儀器，像星空奇遇記(Star Trek)中的份子分解轉移一樣，把人從地方A，beam 到地方B，那麼，汽車公司、飛機公司都要關門大吉了，那就不用捱貴汽油啦。

Leftover Flowers

A doctor donated all the flowers from her wedding to her floor in the hospital. It was such a nice gesture! I was told that there were a lot of gorgeous flowers. The doctor must have spent a fortune on them. After the volunteers delivered the center pieces to the patients, other visitors, employees and nurses came down to see if there was anything left. They took whatever they wanted. Only white flowers were left. When I arrived at the front desk, there were a pile of leftover flowers on my desk, very messy.

My heart sank while staring at the mess.

I thought, “How inconsiderate to leave a mess behind! What a waste!”

I have a soft spot for flowers. I decided to pick out the good flowers and started to make an arrangement using the leftovers. I usually do not make Western floral arrangements. To my surprise, it turned out okay. Other visitors and staff gave me lots of compliments. One visitor asked me if the arrangement was for sale. The other security guard said he wish he could give it to his wife. An old lady thought that it was professionally done. Then, there came the spoiled brat…

This around 7-year old girl came over with her family after visiting her grandfather. They took some flowers before their visit, but she wanted more. There were still some leftover flowers that I had not used. Her mother asked if her daughter could take a stem. Of course! Flowers are to cheer up people. The little girl started picking the flowers.

She whined to her mother, “but these roses do not have stems…”

She started staring at the new arrangement…

Her mother asked, “Could we take a rose from this arrangement?”

I said, “Sure.”

Nope. Not only did the little girl take a rose, she started pulling the arrangement apart! My heart started to ache again. Ouch, ouch! Her mother tried to stop her.

She apologized to me, “We just do not want her to cry for an hour on the way home.”

I absolutely cannot tolerate whiney spoiled kids... My imaginary foot was already in this little girl’s behind while they were walking away from the front desk. If I were pulling that sort of act with my own parents as a little kid, I would have been yelled at a long time ago!

Anyway, I rearranged the salvaged piece. The picture above is the finished product.

功力

今天的插花班是夏天的最後一課，學的是池坊派的生花新風體（Shoka Shinputai）。生花新風體在七十年代形成，它與起源於明治時代後期的生花正風體（Shoka Shofutai）不同。正風體由真（shin）、副（soe）、體（tai）組成，講究花的放法，很多規矩。新風體由主（shu）、用（yo）、補（ashirai）組成，沒有正風體那麼多限制，比較現代一點。兩者都著重枝條重水平面伸出，可是概念上有異。

每次上課都覺得老師很厲害，頓然感到自己很渺小。上課時，我很專心地插花，可是，瞪住自己的作品，老是覺得欠了甚麼似的。每當老師走過來審查時，她不會把我的枝條通通拔光，可是她總會改這改那，給她碰過後截然不同，內心很佩服她呢，不知道何時才能有她的功力。我把我的作品稱為「整容前」和「整容後」：

「整容前」

本來的想法：以綠色大葉為主，藍色花球為用，紫色小花球為補，我覺得小花球就像有大樹遮蔭一樣逍遙自在。可是，老師認為紫色小花球不夠力去襯托綠色葉和藍色花‧‧‧

「整容後」

老師加了另一簇藍色花在後面，增加深度，然後用含苞待放的粉紅色百合花代替紫色小花球，把大葉捲一捲，嘩啦！好看多了。

Ikebana – Shoka

One thing that I love about ikebana is that I can express my feelings. There are a lot of rules in ikebana. The length of each stem matters. The challenging part is to be able to express myself within a set of rules. This is a three specie shoka （生花）.

As stated in the whiteboard, there is only a certain area of the kenzan （劍山）to place the stems. Theoretically, when you face the front of the arrangement, you should only see stems coming out from one point in the center creating the in （陰）and the yo（陽）spaces. The tall branch of white mini gladiolas, the purple round shape flower, and the leaves on the right together constitute the shin （真）. The leaves on the left are soe （副）. The space on the left, where the soe is, is yo (or the sunny side). The shorter white gladiolas in the front are tai （体）. The space on the right, where the tai is, is in (or the shady side).

The white flowers and green leaves represent elegance and tranquility. There is also the occasional excitement in life signified by the purple round flower.

2005 New England Flower Show (Rainy Boots)

These rainy boots cheer me up. It is finally spring!

2005 New England Flower Show (Dress)

This is one of the most elegant floral designs among this year's exhibits.