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Students of Ikebana have class
The Vindicator ( Youngstown)
Photo
Shirley Winkler of Saxonburg, Pa., right, assists Pearl Marlos of Campbell as she creates a floral arrangement in the style of Ichiyo, one of numerous schools of Ikebana. Winkler has been teaching Japanese flower arranging for more than 30 years. Photo by: Robert K. Yosay | The Vindicator
Group members who create Japanese floral arrangements are ...
By JoAnn Jones
A few colorful day lilies, a little greenery, a cattail or two and a container — these are the only ingredients the members of the Youngstown Ikebana Study Group need to create beautiful Japanese floral arrangements.
The members meet once a month (except January and February) at the Davis Center in the Fellows Riverside Gardens in Mill Creek Park to learn new techniques and produce creations in the style of the Ichiyo School of Ikebana. Most of the time they are taught by past president Pearl Marlos, but three times a year a certified Ichiyo master, Shirley Winkler of Saxonburg, Pa., comes to Youngstown.
Winkler calls the Youngstown group her “pride and joy.”
Beginning as a student in Japan, Winkler has been teaching Japanese flower arranging for more than 30 years.
“I moved to Japan in 1969 when my husband worked for Pennzoil,” Winkler said. “At that time I didn’t even know what Ikebana was.”
“A British lady who lived there told me about it and said you use only three flowers,” she added. “When we looked for schools [to learn about it], Ichiyo was the only one with English-speaking teaching.”
Winkler, whose Pennsylvania license plate reads “Ichiyo,” continued her studies while she lived there until 1975. Since that time she has returned six times to study under Akihiro Kasuya, known as the Iemoto or headmaster. Winkler’s expertise was recognized in 1998 in Tokyo when she was awarded the Executive Master Certificate, one of only six in the world.
Ichiyo is one of numerous schools of Ikebana and focuses on the personal interpretation of the creator. The emotions of the individual as well as the environment in which the arrangement is being created are the focus of the piece.
Information provided by Winkler said that Ichiyo “integrates space, light, color, sound and movement in each arrangement, sometimes without the use of a kenzan” (a metal piece with needles that secures the flowers to the bottom of the container).
“We are an Ichiyo school, but there are thousands of Ikebana schools internationally,” said Marlos, the current vice president of the Youngstown group. “I joined shortly after the group organized in 1963. Our charter comes from Japan, and each chapter must be at least 50 miles apart.”
According to Marlos, the members — 25 from the Youngstown area that include both males and females — learn a different lesson each time Winkler comes. They make it an all-day affair with a lesson in the morning, a quick sack lunch or a lunch from the Davis Center caf , a brief business meeting and a lesson in the afternoon.
Current president Dianna Mullins said there is a waiting list to join the study group because the instructor can only help a few people at a time.
“Shirley is a gem,” Mullins said. “She is fascinating and such a sweetheart. We do two lessons when she comes. She sends us a printed instruction sheet so we know what to bring.”
Most of the members have their own flower gardens, Marlos explained, but once in a while they’ll purchase some dried flowers, especially in the winter.
“I’ve gardened since I was a child with my grandmother,” she said. “I was raised in a garden. I have a big flower garden, and so do a lot of others, so we always have more flowers than we need and we share.”
Marlos and group treasurer Bev Patrick volunteer at the Davis Center and spend every Thursday making 12 arrangements for the center.
“We cut things from the gardens here and sometimes bring flowers from home,” she said, adding that they are the only ones with permission to cut.
“Pearl and I go out and cut flowers but don’t get arrested,” Patrick said with a laugh. “People get so angry when they see us cutting.”
Patrick emphasized how fortunate the group is to have Winkler come to teach them.
“We are so lucky to have Shirley,” she said. “There aren’t very many masters around.”
Winkler is a busy woman as she is active in the Pittsburgh chapter of the Ichiyo school that she founded in 1982. Now a past president, Winkler said it is preparing to celebrate its 30-year milestone at the Butler Country Club in a big way.
“The Iemoto (Kasuya) and his son Naohiro are coming from Sept. 19 to 21,” she said. “I’ve known him since he was 26 years old. People from all over the United States are invited, but there’s actually a waiting list. Most who are coming have lived in Japan at one time or another.”
Winkler is not the only one who has traveled extensively to promote Ichiyo. As president of the Youngstown study group, Mullins has judged Ichiyo creations in Brazil, Peru and the Cayman Islands, and is heading to Argentina in November to judge two shows.
One of 14 children raised on a farm where she always played in the dirt, Mullins said “inner beauty and enjoyment of putting a creation together for the person viewing” is what Ichiyo is all about. She takes a different arrangement every week to her mother at a nursing home.
“We also do a flower show in June that is not judged,” Mullins added, “although Pearl and I and quite a few others here judge shows, too.”
Mass flower arrangements, she said, are “way too expensive, costing hundreds of dollars.” She explained the containers for the Ichiyo creations can be expensive but don’t have to be.
“We’ve used cake pans sprayed black that cost only 50 cents, but I’ve seen containers from $400 to $500,” Mullins said. “Everyone pays for their own supplies. I had a friend in Canton who retired and we got to buy her containers.”
“We believe in natural — out of the garden,” she said. “And we actually made our containers one time.”