Over the summer I began studying Japanese flower arranging. I have been reading books and watching numerous tutorials in an effort to refine my own understanding of composition.
I have always admired Japanese art and I think that Ikebana might be the ultimate expression of nature’s beauty. It definitely seems like a logical evolution in my own photographic work that is focused on botanicals.
I recently took the plunge and purchased tools to be able to practice flower arranging in my studio. I have had the flower scissors and kenzans for a few weeks but I have been too busy to use them. Yesterday was the first attempt to start playing with the ideas of simplicity and line. I had done a still life for a platinum print last week and this branch was laying on a tabletop set. It had been standing upright just a few days before but was now bent into a graceful curve. Although it was dead it was beautiful to the point of moving me to photograph it. I ended up spending two hours studying this one branch. I would make a photograph and then study the photograph and think about what I could cut away to give more emphasis to the line. Each time I made a photograph I would meditate on it and then make another small cut to prune away excess.
I think this was a useful exercise and I look forward to beginning to put full arrangements together.
