Arrangement in my New Basket

Delighted to use my new acquisition purchased in Beppu, Japan at Fukushima sensei‘s favourite basket shop. Attending a lesson with Sensei at her atelier I set about creating an arrangement with the material Sensei selected.

There are few tips we should adhere to when arranging in a basket – first if the inner water container is bamboo, never use cross bar fixture, and of course kenzans should not be used – direct fixing method only. Another point, never pick your arrangement by the handle always use two hands and lift holding the ‘belly’ of the basket.

A design point to always consider, show the space under the handle, this allows the viewer to enjoy the maker’s design and proportions of the basket. Take time to look at the handle on baskets because they often have interesting textures

The material in this arrangement is Japonica (Quince), Azalea with the leaves turning an autumn shade of pinky/mauve. Using only these two materials the arrangement was a little bare in the centre. To bulk it out I used Beauty Berry, which surprisingly picked up the colour in the Azalea and gave a dense area giving weight to the work.