Boston Flora

Tag: Walks Of Life

  • Tuesday, December 1, 9:30 am – Sogetsu Ikebana Demonstration

    Ikebana International, Boston Chapter, will sponsor a Sogetsu Ikebana Demonstration on Tuesday, December 1, beginning at 9:30 am, at the University of Massachusetts  Waltham Center, 240 Beaver Street in Waltham.  Jennie Sterling will display her art, and guests are welcome.

    “Of all Japan’s traditional arts, perhaps the most famed and actively practiced today is IKEBANA, the art of flower arrangement. While tracing its origins back for hundreds of years, it still exists as a vital element in the contemporary world of art. It has emerged from its historical setting within the “tokonoma” alcove of the Japanese house and entered the modern everyday world: the office window or conference room, the hotel lobby or public square. In the same way, Ikebana is no longer the exclusive province of arrangers or artists in Japan, but counts among its devotees professional and amateur designers in all nations and walks of life. This added dimension to the use and meaning of Ikebana has in no way altered those fundamentals of structure, space and naturalism, which have been developed over the centuries.

    In basic form, an Ikebana arrangement follows a fixed pattern: a triangle of three points. Emphasis is placed on linear perfection, color harmony, space and form. If commonplace branch material is arranged in a beautifully flowing line, it takes preference over a mass of blooms or blossoms, regardless of their beauty. Of equal importance is the sense of naturalism: an arrangement encompasses nature in all its aspects – from the tall stately pine to the lowliest blade of grass. Further, an Ikebana usually contains the foliage and flowers of the season at hand, used in their natural state expect for the deft “cut” of the arranger’s clippers, which perfects the line of a branch or the shape of a bud.

    There are numerous schools of Ikebana, each following a particular set of rules and arranging techniques, but without losing sight of the fundamentals of the art. And in keeping with the broader emphasis being given to Ikebana in its role in contemporary living, many of these schools seek expression in forms that reach beyond traditional styles.”  From: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

    For information about the program and about Ikebana International, log on to www.ikebanaboston.org.

  • Sunday, November 15, 4:00 pm – Forest Hills Cemetery Book Party

    Join author Anthony Sammarco and The Forest Hills Educational Trust on Sunday, November 15 at 4:00 pm at Forest Hills Cemetery, 95 Forest Hills Avenue in Jamaica Plain, for the launch party of Mr. Sammarco’s new book, Forest Hills Cemetery, 1848 – 2008.

    This new photographic history of Forest Hills Cemetery  celebrates the 160th anniversary of the cemetery. This book is lavishly illustrated and sales will benefit the Trust’s education and preservation projects.

    Laid out in 1848 as a rural garden cemetery by Henry A.S. Dearborn,  its 275 magnificent acres have been the resting place of people of all walks of life, ethnicities, religion and race. Among these are poet Anne Sexton, playwright Eugene O’Neill, ee cummings and William Lloyd Garrison.

    Forest Hills’ landscape is a museum of sculpture, art and monuments that chronicle the Victorian age to the present. The first crematorium in the United States was here and prominent Bostonian suffragette Lucy Stone was the first person to be cremated at Forest Hills in 1893. An active cemetery and an all embracing place, Forest Hills offers a bucolic and picturesque setting for the “gathering of generations,” and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

    Anthony Sammarco has written over fifty books in the Arcadia series, and is a trustee of the Forest Hills Educational Trust and teaches at the Urban College of Boston.  For more information, and for directions, log on to www.foresthillstrust.org.

  • Tuesday, September 15, 7:30 – 9:30 pm – Annual Orchid Auction

    The Massachusetts Orchid Society will hold its annual orchid auction on Tuesday, September 15, from 7:30 – 9:30 pm at the Waltham Field Station, 240 Beaver Street in Waltham, Massachusetts.

    The Massachusetts Orchid Society is a non-profit educational organization of individuals from all walks of life, who share an interest in orchids. These interests range from the simple appreciation of orchids as beautiful flowers to highly technical involvement in orchid breeding and taxonomy. Most MOS members are active orchid growers, growing their own plants under conditions ranging from window sills to artificial light gardens to automated greenhouses.

    The MOS holds monthly meetings throughout the year, encompassing a broad range of topics. The program for a typical meeting includes an orchid show table, plant sales, social time with refreshments, a short business meeting, a presentation by a guest speaker usually with slides, discussion, and Q&A, and a raffle for orchid plants.  Annual membership is $20.  For more information, log on to www.massorchid.org.