Saturday 23 March 2013

Princess Spring - Suddenly and at Full Speed


Nageire, Abstract freestyle, Untraditional materials.
Bicycle tube, Anthuirium, bleached Brussels sprouts stalks, pine.

Last weekend some of my ikebana colleges in Oslo were exhibiting at the yearly Hanami Family Day. I had planned to be there as well, but unfortunately I got sick and had to cancel. Sine I had already started planning I decided to make an arrangement at home inspired by spring and cherry blossoms.

The titel of this arrangement is "Princess Spring came suddenly and at full speed". According to a Japanese folk tale the Flower Princess was thrown out of heaven by her jealous sister. She landed on Mount Fuji, and in that moment the Cherry blossoms opened. A princess falling out of heaven at full speed - that calls for a modern ikebana arrangement. I've used bicycle tube as a material reminding me of spring. In my childhood, taking the bike out after the winter and filling new air in the tubes was the very start of spring. The warming sun always came suddenly and kind of unexpected, melting the snow and luring the spring flowers up of the frozen ground.

Suddenly,
at full speed
- Princess Spring!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great use of the unusual material - the tubing really makes it interesting. I'm so excited we JUST booked our hotel to go to DC for the Cherry Blossom season. I'll be sure to post lots of photos.

Your arrangements always inspire me to collect some materials and play. Thank you!

nordic lotus said...

Thanks Kathryn for taking time to comment. I'm definitely going to do some more works with bike tubes. Best wishes for your trip to DC and the Cherry trees. I'll look out for the photos.

Unknown said...

love the explanation for your arrangement. it makes it that much more meaningful to the onlooker, and i appreciate it! beautiful work!

for me, spring is daffodils. when i was growing up, we lived next to my great-grandmother's house in the middle of the woods. there was a circle drive between our houses, and in the spring, the circle was covered with daffodils and other spring flowers. when i started to see the flowers bloom, i knew spring was here and all the other flowers and bushed would begin to bloom. i love daffodils, and everytime i see one, it makes me think of my sweet great-grandmother.

this past weekend, the cherry blossoms in tokyo were at their peak. where i live, we are usually a month behind. so i guess i can start planning my hanami party for the middle of april -- a little early this year.

thanks for a great post!

nordic lotus said...

Thanks Stephen for sharing your spring memories. I experienced the cherry blossoms in Tokyo last year and it was great. Hope to be back one day. Not only experiencing, but also waiting for spring is an intense thing. Good luck planning your hanami party.

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