Flowers for Tea: An Example of Chabana

Chabana refers to the flowers for tea ceremony.

As in all other aspects of chanoya, great emphasis is placed on simplicity and the unique qualities of the materials.

While it is appropriate to turn the flowers so that their qualities are shown to their best advantage it would not be appropriate to subject the flowers to the same sort of manipulation characteristic of other forms of ikebana. Instead, flowers are placed in a way that seems to be casual but is actually well-considered.

For this arrangement I selected a handmade vase of reclaimed wood with a distinctive grain pattern and small wormholes. I decided that the orchid stem should be left long enough to emphasize the branch's natural inclination to bow and sway.

Chabana arrangement, J. A. Johnson

(Please note: all arrangements are by J. A. Johnson, unless otherwise noted.)