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Wafukai School of Ikebana
The School was established in 1912 by Wafu Teshigahara and originally called "The Japan Ikebana Academy." The founder's grandson Wafu Teshigahara, currently leads the School. The Wafu School of Ikebana has chapters throughout Japan and in many major countries, including the U.S. It has an active California chapter called the Wafukai Ikebana Society.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
On the Subject of the Essence of Wafu Ikebana: “Humans have a natural instinct to bring beautiful things into their personal surroundings and to strive to maintain the beauty for as long as possible. Gentle sensitivity that sustains flowers’ life, combined with the individual artist’s sense of beauty and knowledge of techniques to enhance natural beauty: That is ikebana.”
On the Subject of Ikebana in Recent Years:
“Our mission as Wafu ikebana artists is to arrange Nature’s precious plants and flowers in a manner to move those who view the resulting composition. Our objective is to convey a kind of cosmic peace to the viewers’ hearts, to reach them with a special kind of spiritual healing. We must not use living things as if they were spiritless and inanimate – that is, merely a can of house paint or a blob of some pigment. That unempathetic practice or, worse still, robbing them of their vital environment by depriving them of water does not achieve the higher power of ikebana: to unite our collective hearts. We humans gain in a transcendental way by respectfully interacting with Nature’s living things as they are in the field. Pure things require pure treatment. And the result is true art.”
On the Subject of Artistic Harmony:
“Wherever I am invited to demonstrate, I use only materials and containers that are selected for me by my hosts; I do not bring my own. The reason is that locally-available flowers and branches combined with containers from the collections of my hosts will work so naturally together for that particular location. My ultimate goal is intrinsic harmony among the local materials, container, and environment. Thus, I have never even considered bringing alien materials or containers from Japan. Of course, I do bring my own scissors!”
For more information see www.wafu-ikebana.org
Cited from © www.ikebanamontereybay.org/Wafu_Teshigahara.html
Teaching Schedule
Wafukai School of Ikebana
Kyoko Womer
Tel: (619) 435-1192
Seika Womer, Grand Master
Lessons: In Coronado home on Fridays 12noon - 6pm
Call for information.