Ohara – Carolyn Alter reports that she attended the Ohara School Workshop in Seattle on April 10-11. An Ohara School Grand Master, Ingrid Luders, from Ohio, conducted the workshop covering the new style, hana kanade, as well as rimpa and bunjin style arrangements in her teaching. Phyllis Danielson, as President of the Seattle Chapter, helped coordinate the details, gather materials, etc. “The entire Seattle chapter did a wonderful job sponsoring the program.”

In March, the Ohara School (1895-) celebrated its 120th anniversary with a large exhibition at the Takashimaya Department Store (1831-) in Tokyo. A special book has been published to commemorate this milestone, To purchase a copy for $100, please contact Carolyn Alter asap to meet the April 30 deadline..

Saga Goryu

April in Portland had several events by various guilds.  Saga Goryu created an arrangement for  the ‘Gathering of the Guilds’ event (April 24-26) at the Glass Guild Gallery and for the Oregon Potters Association Ceramic Show (April 31-May 3) at the booths of  potters, Ken Pincus and Motoko Hori.

David Komeiji also reports that Saga Goryu participated in the week-long Open Pavilion event at the Japanese Garden in February.  In addition to installing arrangments during the week, on Feb 18, they conducted an all day workshop.  The workshop attendees spent the morning learning about the conceptual similarities between a  Japanese Garden and Ikebana, with a guided tour of the Garden and a demonstration of  Ikebana.  The aftenooon session was spent doing a hands-on ikebana lesson.  The attendees created moribana arrangments in custom vases designed for the workshop by potter, Chris Baskin.

On April 26, Saga Goryu was invited to do an Ikebana demonstration at the Oregon Buddhist Temple, as part of the program for their ‘Sushi and Salmon Festival.”  The audience was taken on a journey through Oregon with a narrative describing the varying styles of ikebana, including a Heika showing of the abundance of flowers available in the Portland area, a Seika reflecting the beauty of the Columbia Gorge, and a Moribana and Shogonka arrangements with materials representing the Willamette Valley and Eastern Oregon.