Ikebana 2011: classical arrangements

I got my Shoden Ikebana diploma yesterday. It travelled to me all the way from Japan!!!  To celebrate the occasion here is a little collage of traditional ikebana arrangements from last year.  Unlike FREESTYLE arrangements, traditional ones follow a certain "formula".  The branches are separated in 3 groups: sky, man, and earth (shin, nagashi, uke).  The branches are then cut to specific lengths, manipulated (if possible), and arranged to represent an equilibrium of the main elements.  Although classical arrangements look quite "simple", it takes a lot of time to create one.

The number of branches used for a classical arrangement is always odd: 3 branches for the simplest one, 5, 7, 9 and so on.  By now I am quite comfortable with the 5-branch arrangements and looking forward to practicing more complex ones.

Montreal's IKEBANA INTERANTIONAL website
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