Chicago Chapter Ikenobo

These stills are from the second day of our performance piece, "Enso". The first day was creation, the second destruction and rebirth. The two pieces had music based on sounds from the Japanese tea ceremony, post-modern dance with butoh influence, modern origami, and video based on seasonal imagery. The entire performance was done within a large multi-piece ikebana arrangement on the stage floor.

The first children's ikebana workshop held in December. They made a home with flowers for the field mouse.

A successful fundraiser for the Japanese Arts Foundation with kintsugi, butoh, chado, origami, shodo and ikebana. Special thanks to Hunter Lewis for assisting in the creation of these pieces. The event was held at the International Museum of Surgical Science.

After a three year COVID hiatus, the chapter held its annual show at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It was good to be back.

Great pictures from our recent class on moribana.

Some beautiful rikka work by my students. They made the transition from creating pieces with three main elements to rikka, which has none main elements, with skill.

Beautiful work by some great students Today's study was the classic "Seven Grass" arrangement made of kudzu, patrinia, miscanthus, thoroughwort, dianthus, bell flower, brush clover,. The only shoka form with more than three materials. We made three substitutions due to the Midwest climate.

Great class yesterday on naturalistic jiyuka. Spirea, wax flower and protea.

First four months of new Rikka class completed . Variations of sugushin rikka using classical techniques.

A highly difficult form, nijuike, created circa 1750. A student's work.

A great day of classes. We discussed everything from Aristotle to Shinran to Warhol.

An installation at the Chicago Botanic Garden before the pandemic, "Mondrian Revisited"