Friday 31 December 2010

A Ship of Good Fortune


Dried straws, Lisianthus and an Aspidistra leaf.

In classical ikebana the boat arrangements form a category of their own. There are ships lying in the port, ships coming in, ships going out, and ships in storm. A treasure ship coming in is a symbolic wish for all the good things in life. In addition to being related to the potential dangers of being out in a boat, ships are also metaphors of the voyage of life.

Pine and Freesia.

I'm posting two boat arrangement as a New Years greeting. The first is a modern interpretation of a ship resting on calm water in the port after a long trip. The other has more of a classical Seika form and represents a ship going home, bringing treasures from far away. Since this is a winter arrangement I've used very little materials.

Ikebana arrangements for New Years are usually not boat arrangements. As all seasonal ikebana they have their own flowers with symbolic meaning. Still - what can be more appropriate for New Years than an arrangement that carries all our wishes for a good year to come.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

beautiful work!!

nordic lotus said...

Thanks Malu! I'm glad you like them. Best wishes for 2011 - I'm looking forward to many beautiful ceramic pieces.

TRENDBUBBLES said...

What a beautiful blog! I like your style and use of color.

nordic lotus said...

Thanks ARTBUBBLES, I appreciate your comment. I like your blog as well - interesting stuff.

Kathryn Costa said...

These are stunning. I love the many meanings and metaphors. Thank you for sharing your arrangements with us.

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