September General Meeting – I.I. Portland Chapter 47

Chapter President, Heida Bruce opened the first General Meeting for 2018-2019 on September 24 and warmly welcomed our honored guests, Consul General of Japan Takashi Teraoka and Mrs. Junko Teraoka who extended heart-felt greetings to us all. Helen Chadsey, Membership Director, introduced three new members who were present: Cathy Hitchcock, Sue Johnson and Rieko Warrens. We also had the pleasure of having as our guests, Karen DiVilia, Ceci Cheong and Dorothy Moshofsky’s daughter, Paula .

The program was a teaching moment for everyone as each participating school presented “One Thing I Want to Share with You about My School” to describe their arrangements.

Michiko Kornhauser, Saga Goryu, began with a quote from the Japanese scholar, Tensin Okakura, 岡倉天心のお茶の本。

“Through happiness and sadness, flowers are our constant friends. We drink along with flowers, and

even dance together. At our wedding ceremony, we have flowers, and as we name our new child, we

have flowers with us. In fact, without flowers, we cannot even die.”

To complement her continued remarks about seasonal changes and lifelong learning through flowers, she presented her Heika style arrangement using a forsythia branch displaying its autumnal colors and the flower associated with the season, chrysanthemums.

Heida Bruce, Ikenobo School, used seasonal materials of a different vein — dried, ‘dead’ leaves and branches she collected from her yard — for a beautiful arrangement that invited close inspection to truly appreciate.

Carolyn Alters, Ohara-Portland, made a striking arrangement using sun flowers and twisted plant leaves to explain the concept of lateral planes.

Phyllis Danielson, Ohara – Seattle, surprised us all with her dainty hana mai arrangement. (Some of us are associate large arrangements with Phyllis.) She described recent interests in Ohara focusing on European ware — small ornate objects used as vases — as displayed by her arrangement.

Keiko Kodachi and Nana Bellerud, Sogetsu School, presented their combined arrangements, initially as examples of traditional and non-traditional styles. Then, by adding a stem and slightly changing the orientation of her containers, Mrs Kodachi’s arrangement suddenly became more abstract and contemporary. Then, to remind us that autumn equinox day was September 23, a national holiday in Japan, she placed a bright golden background behind their arrangements, and we suddenly viewed them by moonlight.

Everybody enjoyed the presentations and the lunch that followed. It was a pleasant start to our new year attended by 28 members and guests.

Click here to view the arrangements.

by Michiko Kornhauser and Julie Nakao