Patricia Ziegler and Gabriel Pacheco will give a presentation on the Sogetsu School of Ikebana for the Palisades Garden Club at 7 p.m. on April 4, via Zoom. Ikebana means “living flowers” in Japanese and is a term used to describe a method of flower arranging in the Japanese culture.
Ziegler, who is the director of the San Fernando Valley Ikebana Sogetsu Branch and Pacheco, who is a UCLA extension ikebana instructor, will explain that Japanese flower arrangement is based on three main lines that symbolize heaven, earth and humankind. Unlike Western appreciation of flowers, which emphasizes quantity and color, in this style of flower arranging, broken leaves and dying buds as well as blooming flowers are all seen as objects that enhance the beauty of the arrangement.
Sogetsu is one of several ikebana flower arranging schools founded in Japan, but followed by practitioners throughout the world. Sogetsu philosophy states that plants are beautiful as they are, but with the help of man, they can be arranged in an effective style to be even more appreciated.
The Sogetsu School was founded by the late headmaster Sofu Teshigahara in 1927. Believing that ikebana should be both enjoyable and creative, Sofu developed a school of ikebana that was deeply rooted in Japanese tradition yet embraced the evolving requirements of the modern age.