Rikka arrangements by students (2)

Here are other Rikka arrangements made by students taking the Introductory Rikka Workshop for First Timers (Beginners), Rikka Step by Step 1-2. Students had completed Rikka Step by Step 1-1 before.

Students learned the engineering of how to construct Rikka in a quick and correct way.

The materials for this Rikka were a little more difficult to deal with than the ones for Rikka Step by Step 1-1, but everyone handled each stem very well.
Some students were reluctant in the beginning to learn Rikka, but now they say it is easy to learn Rikka through Kazuko’s “engineering” method.

By JoAnn:

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Rikka arrangements by students

These are Rikka arrangements made by students taking the Introductory Rikka Workshop for First Timers (Beginners), Rikka Step by Step 1-1. The same introductory workshop was held twice in September, 2012. This class was the third one, and the last Introductory workshop untill the year 2015.

By Francine:

By Althea:

Furoshiki : Japanese Art of Wrapping

Furoshiki is a Japanese wrapping cloth, about the size of a bandana or a scarf (a larger sizes are also available, though).

It is used to wrap goods or shopping items. Because it is re-usable, it is economical. And, there’re many colors and print patterns to choose from.

Kazuko teaches how to use Furoshiki to wrap things, like a box, a flat squarebox,

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Ikebana Flower Arrangement Demonstration at Japan Day at CU

Kazuko made a Ikebana Flower Arrangement demonstration in front of about 50 CU students and other visitors at Japan Day at CU, organized by the Japanese Student Association & Cultural Events Board. This year, the event was held on March 10, 2013 at Glenn Miller Ballroom. She has been asked to provide Ikebana classes or demonstration for the last several years.

Soprry, I didn’t take any pictures at the actual event.

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Doll Festival at Simpson United Methodist Church

Kazuko proviede her collection of Hina Ningyou (Hina Doll) to be displayed at an annual Doll Festival at Simpson United Methodist Church in Arvada.

This style, Kyoto-style Goten Kazari Bina, of dolls for Girls Day (March 3) was very popular in Meiji, Taisho and early Showa era. But, it was discontinued in 1960s. She had a similar set when she was a child, but lost it. She recently acquired this particular set through auctions.

It has the background stage of Royal Palace, the Hall for State Ceremonies (Shishin-den), with 15 dolls with various music and ceremonial instruments.

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Narcissus Shoka

4504We practiced two-stem Japanese Narcissus Shoka = “Denka” arrangement on February 5, 2013, by using common Paperwhite Narcissus.

Unlike Japanese Narcissus, which is very hard to get here in Colorado at this time of the year, Paperwhite has a lot shorter and softer leaves. So, we were able to make only a very small arrangement, about one-foot tall. It was just a practice to maintain HAKAMA (white seath at the bottom) to show Narcissus’ Shussho (original character).

Students enjoyed a bit time-consuming process of this “Denka.”

Please click “Continue reading ->” below for more pictures.

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A Flower Arrangement dedicated to Young Victims in Newtown CT

In our December 18 regular class, my students made a special flower arrangement dedicated to the young victimes of Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The arrangement was designed by me, Kazuko Kozai.

The Eucalyptus leaves show the shape of two hands cupped together, the Pink Carnations at the lower base position indicate young victims, and the Freesia in the center vertically reaching the victims prayer to the heaven.

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15th-Century-style Sunamono Rikka arrangement made for inaugural meeting of North American Japanese Garden Association

The inaugural meeting of North American Japanese Garden Association (NAJGA) was held on October 12-14, 2012 in Denver.

NAJGA asked the Ikebana International Chaper 66 (Denver Chapter) for flower arrangements at the dinner ceremony.
As a member of the Ikebana International Chaper 66, Kazuko made this 15th-Century-style Sunamono Rikka arrangement. This is not a Bonsai! The pine tree consists of branches cut from lodgepole pines by Kazuko’s student, Bill Stufflebeem, from his land in the Colorado mountains. They are cut and assembled to look like a natural beauty of the tree, with screws and hidden nails.
It took about two days to prepare and build this arrangement, with a table saw for a sharp straight cut of the main trunk, an electric saw, an electric drill, an electric screw driver, and other power tools.

Kazuko does the final adjustment on site.

to see more pictures, click “Continue reading ->” below ….
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