5 minute read
MADE IN CORONADO
Meditative art
Simple yet purposeful, ikebana more than just flowers in a vase
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By MARTINA SCHIMITSCHEK
The Japanese art of ikebana is a way of arranging flowers with simplicity and in harmony with nature. All elements are chosen and placed deliberately with the environment of the arrangement in mind. Deborah Warriner has been studying and practicing this art form since 1988 and is a master of ikebana.
She took her first class while living in Tokyo and continued studying when her husband’s business as an international banker took them to London.
She is a member of the Ichiyo School of Ikebana and Ikebana International. While most of her demonstrations have been online during the pandemic, Warriner is hoping to begin teaching ikebana in Coronado soon. She has kept connected with the global ikebana community through Zoom sessions and makes sure there’s always an arrangement in the house.
« Deborah Warriner's spring arrangement for the Japanese Friendship Garden Exhibition House in Balboa Park includes fasciated willow, pussy willow, foxtail asparagus, fatsia leaves, feverfew and pink stargazer lilies.
DEBORAH WARRINER PHOTO
JOE CROSS Deborah Warriner demonstrates her craft at an Ikebana International San Diego Chapter exhibition in Balboa Park.
DEBORAH WARRINER
Warriner, who lives in Coronado with her now-retired husband, Craig, took some time to talk about the centuries-old art form.
Q. You started ikebana in Tokyo. What drew you to it?
A. With the expat community in Tokyo, there’s an American club in Tokyo, and they offer culture classes, language classes, all kinds of things. I took a culture class and one of the events was an ikebana lesson. Something about it just clicked with me.
A friend who was also interested found a teacher that would come to her house. She organized a class of expat women, and we took lessons in our neighborhood, which was great.
That’s what got me started. Within two years I had become an instructor. I just really loved it.
Q. How would you describe ikebana?
A. It’s such a different way of approaching flowers. The literal translation is ‘the way of flowers,’ and it just changes your perspective on life. There’s a whole philosophical angle to it, and that’s what got to me. It’s almost a meditation exercise. The more you get into it, the more it becomes that for you. You start to see the world in a different way. It’s all about achieving balance through imbalance. It’s much more than sticking flowers in a vase.
Q. You are a member of the Ichiyo School. What differentiates one school from another?
A. At last count, there are about 2,000 schools of ikebana. They all developed from Ikenobo, the original school, which is about 550 years old. Originally from China, it was a way of making an offering to Buddha at temples.
There was a very formalized style of arranging that came from China at the beginning. From there it morphed. People would get slightly different ideas and start their own school. Over the course of the last 550 years, there have been all these slight variations. It’s hard to tell one school from another unless you’ve been in it for a fairly long time.
For me, the school picked me because it was convenient. I like the school because it’s one of the more modern schools, started in 1937.
Q. How do you go about creating an arrangement?
A. You think about nature, or you think about a theme before you start. There are four elements to any arrangement. One is the floral materials, usually it’s seasonal floral materials wherever you happen to
New Zealand flax, bird of paradise, hypericum and two containers were used for this arrangement.
DEBORAH WARRINER
DEBORAH WARRINER be located. The second is the container in which you put the materials. Then it’s the style of arrangement, which sometimes is dictated by the container. And the fourth element is the environment in which the arrangement is going to be placed. All those things have to be considered and are deliberate choices.
I just made an arrangement today for the Ikebana International San Diego Chapter spring exhibition, which they decided to do virtually this year. I had a container that my son had given me for Christmas that I really, really liked. Then I decided to use only materials from my yard rather than buying something. I had some azaleas that were in bloom and some African corn lilies that just started blooming. I used those and added some ferns. The idea was to do a spring arrangement, and I thought looking at what’s available in my yard is as seasonal as it gets. So that was my kickoff point.
Q. You are ranked as a master. What does that mean?
A. That’s kind of hard to define. Every school has its own rankings. It’s a matter of how much you do with the school, whether you’re teaching, demonstrating, exhibiting and traveling to give demonstrations for other chapters or attending world or regional conferences. It’s about being involved on a larger platform than
« Warriner used crocosmia, grevillea, photinia and lantana from her garden, plus dried kiwi vine in an Ichiyo-design container for this autumn arrangment.
DEBORAH WARRINER
A spring arrangment features New Zealand flax, gladiola leaves, gerbera daisies and dried kiwi vine.
just your own chapter.
There are two levels above me, and the highest level is grand master of the school. There’s only one for every school and the position is hereditary. I can’t become a grand master unless I start my own school.
Q. What do you love about Coronado?
A. I’ve been in so many parts of the world and I always come back to Coronado. There’s something about the connection between the people and the businesses and the sense of place and the sense of history. The more I’ve traveled, the more I realize Coronado, for a city its size, has amazing resources. It’s got the best library I’ve ever seen. Coronado just ticks all the boxes and yet it’s a comfortable, nice little community.
To learn more about Warriner and ikebana, visit her website at ichiyo-ikebanawarriner.mystrikingly.com. ■
