Past CGCI President Bob Gordon's Series of Articles on Flower Arranging.....

Part One:
Ikebana, Continental  and Western Design
by Robert Gordon, AIFD

Are you inhibited by floral design? Does it seem much too complicated for you to try? Have you said, ``I don't have the talent to arrange flowers." If the answer to any of these questions is ``yes," then I want to differ with you. As a result of many years of teaching floral design, I am convinced anyone can be taught to make acceptable arrangements. You may never be a blue ribbon designer or give a floral design programs, but YOU can be taught to make floral designs you and your friends and family will enjoy.

   The use of flowers has been part of the culture of man from the beginning of recorded history. Floral design as an art form is just beginning to come of age. To date, it has not been recorded in a comprehensive way. There are specific instances of recording, such as in the schools of Ikebana, but as a general subject as it pertains to the culture of the world, documentation has not yet happened. The first step to learning to arrange flowers is to take the time to sort out what is available in styles, plant materials, etc. and find where the differences lie. You need to move towards uncomplicating what most people deal with in a complicated manner. Taking the time to sort through will make flower arranging much simpler and a whole lot more fun.

   The world enjoys three basic styles of floral design, all of which have developed into art forms. They are Ikebana, Continental and Western. Generally speaking, you can categorize them as follows; Ikebana has its roots in the orient and is based on line, form and sparseness of materials. Much of Ikebana has the silhouette of an asymmetrical triangle. Continental has it's roots in Europe and is the exact opposite of Ikebana. It is a mixture of many kinds of material, many colors and many textures without obvious line. Its silhouette is circular. Western is a combination of the two, adopting the line and form of Ikebana and the Continental use of more materials. The United States became the melting pot of floral design as it did many other things. It is good to note that Western emerged into being in the mid-1940's whereas the other two have been recorded for centuries.    As Americans, we liked the art of Ikebana and the abundance of continental. From the commercial floral design standpoint, we are interested in the American way (the quickest, easiest way to accomplish the best results) to still end up with an artistically acceptable design.    In Ikebana, we hear the terms shin, soe and tai, sometime called heaven, man and earth. These lines are often curved and complicated, but most of all they are time consuming. Therefore, in Western style, we adopted the primary, secondary and tertiary of straight lines. The feeling of Do (Ikebana) or focal point was also appealing. To avoid interruption in rhythm, all stems must radiate from the focal point to the lip or the top of the container instead of above the lip as they do in Ikebana – the container in Western is no linger an integral part of the design as it is in Ikebana. Making the lines straight, and moving the focal point, made the construction of the design much simpler and therefore faster. Westerners also liked the abundant look of Continental but not the mixture of so many materials, so we adopted using more numbers but not such a variety. Most Western design is done with one or two kinds of material and most certainly not more than four. We can create an asymmetrical background (silhouette) using primary, secondary and tertiary lines of 10 or 12 flowers of the same kind and color (perhaps pink gladiolus). Across that pink background, we can place a contrasting flower (perhaps red carnations) in a diagonal line.  We can finish the design with a filler flower or foliage. In this way, we can get both the artistry of Ikebana and the abundance of Continental in a quick and easy construction.

   When you are going to create a floral design, one of your first decisions is, ``Shall I do Ikebana, Continental or Western?" Asking yourself this question is a great help in the creative process and achieving good results.

Part Two:
Three Categories of Designers

You will recall that in the last issue of Golden Gardens we discussed the three major styles of design occurring in the world today: Ikebana from the Orient, Continental from Europe, and Western from the Western Hemisphere (more specifically in the United States.) You may want to review the differences in these three styles before going on with this article. Western Design is also divided into three categories:

1. The Professional Designer - To explain this category you need to remind yourself of the three factors that make a person a professional. They are education, development of skills to the point the public is willing to pay for them, and ethics. For the most part, you would probably think of the designer in the flower shop filling this category. Commercial florists certainly a make up the majority of professionals, but there are other professional designers. Some examples are:

a. teachers on the high school, junior college and university level,
b. floral photographers who do their own designs or photography stylists who create designs to be photographed such as greeting cards, shelter magazines, catalogues etc.
c. floral design consultants who create marketing and advertising pieces or design booths for floral trade shows,
d. lecturer-demonstrators who are present programs for clubs and organizations all over the world.

2. The Hobbyist - The person who make take a class or two but is only interested in doing acceptable arrangements for their own use. Those who want to cut a few flowers from the garden or buy a few at Farmer's Market or elsewhere and be able to arrange them to fill a wonderful need in their own decor.

3. The Garden Club Designer is one who may take extensive training in a variety of ways such as the great NGC Flower Show School programs to become a judge. Designing is a major part of their being and it is an ongoing lifetime process.

What are the major differences and similarities of these three categories? The professional is always fighting the clock - everything they do is on a time frame. The bride does not want her flowers an hour after the ceremony starts. The family does not want their flowers after the memorial has started. The hospital wants the flowers delivered within their delivery times. The day after Mother's Day is too late and on and on it goes. Because of the time element, they have had to develop techniques that will allow them to produce designs in a timely manner producing styles much different than the other two categories. The hobbyist can design at their leisure. If it doesn't get done today, it can be finished tomorrow. Garden Club designers have not only a time line but show rules to follow when they compete. They must enter on time, abide by the schedule, and follow the elements and principles of design in order to be judged a blue ribbon winner.

These differences cause some major differences in the designing done in these three categories. The Professional Designer slips very easily into a rut and much of what they do becomes repetitive… each design looking like the last one they did. The designs become structured and all too often "boring." The hobbyist's designs tend to be much more casual and relaxed: using flowers for flowers sake. The Garden Club Designer, for the most part, is on the cutting edge of creativity and very often futuristic as the design world goes. The garden clubs have historically been the group that has caused the most progress in design because in competition it is absolutely necessary to win "Best of Show."

It is always fun and a challenge to view a design and try to categorize it as being influenced by Ikebana, Western or Continental and guessing if the designers background is either hobby, professional or garden club. One of the best avenues to becoming a good designer is to learn to become a good critic.

Enjoy!!!

Click here for pictures from the 2006 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show

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