Collaboratively, the beautiful photography of Murata captures the flower arrangements and images to illustrate the text of ‘basic ikebana techniques‘. Rie proceeds to teach the techniques of water absorption, cutting, stabilizing, bending, shaping, maintenance and finding the right containers. From there we’re ready for the ‘principles of Japanese floral design’. They include the essentials of communing with nature, water awareness, simplicity, seasonality, light and shadow, and sensory perceptions. It may sound overwhelming, but the presentation is user friendly and attainable.

Ueno's ikebana has a pleasant expression that goes well with modern interiors and lifestyles, and it encourages the readers to try out this communication with nature and create arrangements at home

I really enjoyed this book as my recollection of ikebana was of a far different style than the arrangements shared herein.  The classic ikebana arrangement should look natural, something I lean towards where flower arrangements are concerned.  But I used to think of ikebana arrangements as stark and possibly a little too modern for my tastes.  Clearly, this doesn’t have to be the case, for this pair of talented artists (the authors) have introduced a new view of ikebana.

I really enjoyed this book as my recollection of ikebana was of a far different style than the arrangements shared herein.  The classic ikebana arrangement should look natural, something I lean towards where flower arrangements are concerned.  But I used to think of ikebana arrangements as stark and possibly a little too modern for my tastes. Clearly, this doesn’t have to be the case, for this pair of talented artists (the authors) have introduced a new view of ikebana.

The book is written by Yuji Ueno and Rie Imai and photographed by Noboru Murata. It includes full-color, full-page photos that are beautiful enough to frame. It also include some step-by-step photos to show you just how these beautiful pieces of art were created. I especially loved the information on how to build your own natural floral supports rather than using florist’s foam or frogs. Instead the artist builds a natural arranger out of copper wire or snapped twigs placed at angles inside the container.