How to Create Ikebana-Inspired Floral Arrangements

How to Create Ikebana-Inspired Floral Arrangements

I love mindful floral design practices. One that I particularly enjoy teaching is the delicate, intentional, and meditative design practice of Ikebana-inspired floral arranging, which I have had the pleasure of teaching to groups several times now, including recently to a group of flower growers seeking accessible design techniques to play with using their extra blooms. In reviewing my lesson plans for these workshops, I decided to provide here on the Journal the guidance I share with my student designers so that you too can explore and apply them to your creative practice.

 

Ikebana-inspired arranging is a style that draws from formal Japanese floral design techniques, and one that can empower floral artists at any level to craft something magical with a lighter amount of flowers. My two favorite things about Ikebana-inspired floral arranging, in fact, are that it renders magical designs that seem to somehow defy gravity and that it is accessible to all floral artists of all levels of experience.

 

 

Here are my lesson plans and points of guidance for when I am teaching Ikebana-inspired floral arranging, including what you need, how to prepare, choosing a vessel, setting up your mechanics, and the design process:

 

SUPPLIES YOU NEED: 

  • Floral vessel (ex: a low 6-8” ceramic bowl with a flat bottom)
  • Floral pin frog (aka: Kenzan)
  • Floral putty 
  • Chicken wire
  • Wire cutters 
  • Floral tape
  • Lazy susan
  • Seasonal fresh cut flowers (10-20 stems)
    • These can be all one variety or a mixture of varieties for different styles

 

PREPARE YOUR SPACE

  • Clear a table so you have a blank page and peaceful space to create.
  • Set out your lazy Susan, vessel, mechanics, clippers, and flowers so that everything you need is situated and within reach.

 

PREPARE YOUR BODY

  • Stretch. Reach your arms overhead, gently roll your wrists and shoulders and neck, touch your toes, and just take a moment to warm up your body.
  • Healthy nutrition and hydration help everything. Don't deny your body what it needs, and don't design hungry or dehydrated. Optimize conditions for your body an creative instrument the way you optimize conditions for your flowers. 
  • Take a few deep centering breaths to arrive into the present moment, to feel refreshed and alert, and to calm and focus your body for creativity.

 

PREPARE YOUR STEMS

  • Remove lower foliage (nothing in the water)
  • Give stems a fresh cut (45° angle for woody stems)
  • Place freshly cut flowers into fresh water
  • Allow stems time to hydrate in a cool room before design

 

ADVICE ON CHOOSING A VESSEL

  • Taller, more narrow vessels will be easiest for design practice
  • Lower, more shallow vessels will be more challenging but give you a lot more creative freedom with overall shapes in your design work
  • With a tall, narrow-mouthed vessel, no extra mechanics are necessary. Design in a spiral to allow for an open canopy.
  • With a tall, wide-mouthed vessel, use a lattice of clear tape.
  • With a low dish, bowl, or pedestal, use a floral pin frog or chicken wire mechanics.
  • Ikebana-inspired arrangements work best with lower dishes, bowls, or pedestals where the floral pin frog can be mounted in the bottom.

 

 

PREPARE YOUR MECHANICS

  • Make sure your vessel is dry before you begin
  • Lay a thin layer of floral putty across the base of the pin frog.
  • Mount your pin frog by placing it in the base of the vessel and pressing down firmly with gloves or the pointed end of a junky pair of old clippers.
  • Twist gently as you press down to secure the pin frog.
  • If using chicken wire, create a small pillow that holds together (hook the ends together to ensure it won’t crack open), and secure the pillow to the bowl with 1-2 strips of tape.
  • (If you are using a tape lattice, instead of chicken wire or a pin frog, create a simple crosshatch of tape strips with room for multiple stems between them. This works best with a taller, more narrow vessel.)

 

BEGIN YOUR DESIGN

  • Proceed slowly and intentionally. Space is limited, so take your time. This is a meditative design method.
  • Start low and expand upward and outward.
  • Place stems in the center of your pin frog first and work outward. Make sure to place your stems firmly so they are secure on or among the pins. Also place your stems on the pins at an angle so that they appear to be naturally growing from the center of the vessel, rather than awkwardly sprouting straight up.
  • Think about a lower level (earth), a middle level (life on earth), and a higher level (the heavens / sky) as a design model as you place your stems, using those three “realms” as guidance for the heights and stem lengths to use.
  • Mind the angles by which you place your flowers. Use the way things grow in nature as a guide. All flower heads are seeking their place in the sun.
  • Pay attention to the impact of the ways your flowers “face” to keep energy moving back into and through the arrangement.
  • Keep in mind the impact and importance of negative space.
  • Allow this to be an exploration of the feeling of “harmony.”

 

BUILD YOUR DESIGN

  • Turn your arrangement as you design to consider it from all angles.
  • Feel your way along, and trust yourself.
  • When you feel stuck, ask yourself this question: “What does this need to feel better?” You always know the answer.
  • Remember to breathe. I always teach my student designers to remind ourselves: "If you can breathe, your flowers can breathe."

 

 

EDIT AND COMPLETE YOUR DESIGN

  • Take a break to step away and refresh yourself after the focused practice. You will always see your arrangement with new and more appreciative eyes after taking a break from it.
  • Frame up your arrangement in your phone camera to get feedback on what final touches it might need.
  • If things feel too heavy or tight, take a few things away.
  • Check to make sure your mechanics are covered (for wire and tape — the pin frog is beautiful and meant to be seen)
  • Turn the arrangement to make sure it has points of interest and feels complete and balanced from all angles.

 

PHOTOGRAPH YOUR DESIGN

  • Play with natural light, from indirect to direct, for different effects.
  • Consider backdrops and locations that give space and simplicity so your flowers can become the focus and shine.
  • Play with macro detail shots as well as full shots with negative space.

 

SHARE YOUR DESIGN

  • Style your arrangement on a table or counter where you can enjoy it. 
  • Invite friends over and use it as a centerpiece on your gathering table!

 

I hope this holistic guidance gives you inspiration and support for your next design explorations and creative sessions in your floral practice. Happy creating! And if you'd like to gain more guidance, enjoy visual tutorials, and receive personalized support, join me in the Poetry of Flowers, my online holistic floral design courses and membership, to enrich and advance your floristry practice.

 

Keep blooming,

 

XX 

 

 

 

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