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Friday, February 27, 2009

Ikebana

I love my job. Can I say that again? I LOVE MY JOB. I get to write about so many fun and interesting things. One recent topic was ikebana, always defined as "the ancient art of Japanese flower-arranging." That doesn't begin to cover it but truth is, ikebana is very hard to describe. When you're watching someone put together an arrangement in this way, you think you get it but then ... and that mysterious quality is part of its appeal. Certainly ikebana is about discipline and simplicity, not something we humans know too much about! It's very minimalist, and it celebrates parts of a plant or flower that Americans, especially, often overlook. Spaces between stems are important, for example. Heck, how many traditional Western arrangements even have spaces between stems? So-called "defects" - insect damage, holes, dessication - are considered interesting, not cause for rejection. I don't know, maybe this explains why ikebana so fascinates. Practitioners say it's a soothing art, therapeutic for the concentration and silence it requires and, in the end, for its singular definition of beauty. Fascinating.  This is part of the flower show exhibit of Ikebana International's Philadelphia chapter. Ciao! 
Posted by virginia smith @ 6:07 PM  Permalink | Post a comment
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About Virginia A. Smith
Ginny Smith, a Philadelphia native, worked as a reporter at newspapers in New York, Connecticut and Ohio – with six short months at the end of the Bulletin tossed in – before returning to Philadelphia in 1985 to join the Inquirer. Her favorite beats here have included Center City, roving around Pennsylvania (and getting paid for it!) and alternative medicine. She’s also been City Editor and Pennsylvania Editor. Ginny has been happily writing – and learning - about gardening fulltime since 2006. She’s won two silver medals of achievement from the national Garden Writers Association and in 2011, Bartram’s Garden honored her with its Green Exemplar award for her stories about “the region’s deeply rooted horticultural history, cultural attractions and bountiful gardens.”
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