MINDFUL beauty By Andrea Louise Thomas Photos Yanni
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Ikebana takes something beautiful and highlights that beauty. It’s an expression of life itself
rom her home studio in Mount Martha, Aileen Duke practices and teaches ikebana, the ancient Japanese art of flower arrangement. She’s been practising for 14 years and teaching for three, yet she feels she’s still a student because ikebana is constantly evolving. “Lifelong learning is something I have always embraced as an attitude towards life,” she says.
More than just pretty flower arrangements, ikebana is a practice based on the philosophies of harmony, minimalism, symbolism and meaning. Each element and each composition tells a story.
E ssence
26 | PENINSULA
March 2022
The three elements of ikebana are: line, colour and mass. The four principles are: fresh approach, movement, balance and harmony.
Ikebana originally came from China when Buddhist missionaries threw flower offerings to the Buddha. They then refined their gifts into arrangements. The Japanese adopted this tradition. The first ikebana school, Ikebono, was founded in Japan in the seventh century. The ikebana practiced today was popularised by a Shogun