Plenty of experiences

There wasn't much differing information on Ikebana in the wast world of internet, so I had relatively easy time to comprehend its core thought and meaning. To me, Ikebana means thought given a form in art, with flowers to be exact. It differs from art given thought. You have this feeling, and as you make it a clear thought and start thinking about it, give it a form, you get it out and put it visible for everyone. It doesn't mean everyone will get the message exactly the way you made it to be, but that's always a part of art in general. 


Well, now that everything has been said and done, it was a rather pleasant experience. Doing my research on the subject and then putting it in practice in class with the rest of our little study group was rather fun. We had a small bunch of different flowers that I had gotten from my mother the day before. Even though the flowers were a bit wilted and the rest of our ornaments for the Ikebana we were about to do was collected from around the school grounds, it turned out pretty well for everyone. I was inspired to make art with flowers all while giving thought for the affection and resilience that my mother had given through her life.

Plenty of schools

As usual with Japanese culture (in my opinion), there's also many differing schools on making Ikebana.

Ikenobo - The oldest school which is based on having "The Three Elements" within the Ikebana.

Rikka - Used exactly nine elements within the arrangement. Very formal and precise. If I recall correctly it was used by the "royalty" of the time and learning to make it was one of the norms back then.

Nageire - Relaxation and freedom as the core, this was once a must to learn for every "sophisticated" woman.

Shoka - Bringing together Ikenobo and Rikka, Shoka is precise but allows the maker more freedom over the material and it's use. The thought of "The Three Elements" shows slightly through with the rule of having three branches as a must in the arrangement. The branches symbol "Human, Sky and Earth"

Ohara (aka. Moribana) - Common traits for this is western heavy flowers and a shallow holder. I take it that as the western culture started to appeal more to the Japanese artists, the curiosity to use flowers from another region seemed interesting.

Sogetsu - The natural conclusion of every art form eventually in my opinion. Sogetsu is all about absolute freedom and the downfall of old rules and practices.

Plenty of information

The conclusion of my research and what I found out about Ikebana, also how I comprehended the information.

Ikebana is an art form which uses flowers as the main "tool" or "ingredient". It begun at Japanese buddhist temples, where monks made the first "Ikebana" as sacrificial flower-arrangements. The basic idea was to bring humanity and nature together in harmony.

The philosophy was to be faithful to the "soul" of the material which was being currently used. The maker also had to give the arrangement a natural feeling. Artistic taste and empathy for the material had to be used in order to find the deeper meaning and vision within the material. The ways of the old also mentioned a right way to breathe while making Ikebana, in order to achieve a link between the artist and the art.