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Unlock Your Ikebana Potential

Writer's picture: Ilse BeunenIlse Beunen

Updated: Jul 28, 2024

Have you ever felt stuck in your ikebana journey, searching for new ways to bring life to your arrangements? Let’s delve into Principle 49, a guiding light that can transform your creative process. This principle highlights the importance of line, color, and mass, paired with harmony, balance, movement, and a fresh approach.


"The 50 Principles of Sogetsu, including Principle 49, were developed by Sofu Teshigahara, the founder of the Sogetsu School.

These principles serve as guidelines for developing your ikebana art, encouraging creativity and innovation. While they are not the curriculum, they inspire ikebana artists to use any material and container to create arrangements."


Imagine pushing your creative boundaries, just as my advanced students have. By embracing the principle of a fresh approach, not only in creating ikebana but also in applying it to teaching, you can unlock new dimensions of artistry.



Playing with Lines Pushing Creativity
Playing with Lines in Ikebana

The Sogetsu curriculum is rich with the elements and principles of art, translated beautifully into the use of plant materials.


Ikebana arrangement with shapes
Ikebana arrangement with shapes

Consider how other art forms utilize these elements. For instance, over the past few months, we’ve been exploring lines and shapes. Imagine starting with simple doodles, either on paper or digitally, and evolving these into intricate compositions. These exercises can help you see lines not just as borders but as pathways that create movement and evoke emotion.


LINES IN MANGA INSPIRING IKEBANA | ADOBE STOCK IMAGE
LINES IN MANGA INSPIRING IKEBANA | ADOBE STOCK IMAGE

Think about the dynamic energy in manga and comics – how lines alone can convey motion and life. By applying similar techniques, you can infuse your ikebana with a sense of movement and vitality.


INSPIRED BY MANGA LINES
IKEBANA ARRANGEMENT INSPIRED BY MANGA LINES

This journey isn’t just about learning; it’s about seeing your ikebana from a fresh perspective. Your creative exploration, inspired by your studies and exercises, will breathe new life into your arrangements. The principles we study, like those found in old Sogetsu textbooks, can become your secret tools, transforming your artistic expressions.


Ikebana arrangements inspired by Manga Lines
Ikebana arrangements inspired by Manga Lines

Ready to get inspired? Dive into the collection of works from my students, and let their creativity spark your own.

Click below and Check out the Work by My Students

  • Exercise 1: Use straight and or curved lines to design a checkerboard pattern with unexpected movement. The intention is to understand how lines and shapes even in 2D can create movement. Click Here

  • Exercise 2: Movement is a very important principle in ikebana, but it is difficult to grasp. Study the way how Japanese Comics, also called Manga, express movement in 2D just with some lines. Make an arrangement inspired by Manga of your choice. Click Here

  • Exercise 3: Shapes are nothing else than closed lines. Let shapes inspire you to make an arrangement with paper, dry and fresh material. Click Here


Each piece showcases the power of lines and shapes, providing a wealth of ideas for your ikebana practice.


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