By Joel Weiner
award-winning installations
It was in 2002, about eight years after she moved to Lowertown, that Elaine Sigler discovered the other love of her life, <Ikebana, the ancient Japanese art of flower arranging. Today, she’s a certified instructor with a title (Sensi, or ‘Teacher’), with a Japanese name (Seiki) conferred on her by the Sogetsu School of Ikebana authorities in Japan. She’s also an accomplished exhibitor in both Canada and the United States.
For the uninitiated, Ikebana is a type of Japanese floral arrangement that dates back to the seventh century. The artists typically use blossoms, branches, leaves and stems placed in a vase or container of any shape; it may be tall and narrow or very shallow, depending on the style of Ikebana that is practiced, the materials used and the location where it is to be placed. The objective is to make the flowers “come alive.” Of the more than 1,000 different schools of Ikebana, two are actively practiced in the Ottawa area: Ohara and Sogetsu. Elaine belongs to the Sogetsu School, a more modern discipline that promotes doing Ikebana anytime, anywhere and with any material, plant or non-traditional.
So how did a Lowertown woman become entranced by a floral art that has its roots in Zen Buddhism of the Far East and was originally practiced by warrior samurais? “My husband and I were out walking on a lovely spring morning in 2002 and noticed that the Japanese Embassy was hosting a free Ikebana exhibit,” Elaine recalls. “We both went in and were very impressed by the displays. He left after 30 minutes, but I was hooked and stayed for several hours, looking at the arrangements and chatting with the exhibitors. I had seen Ikebana while travelling in Japan in the late 70s but had never really appreciated it until that day.”
Thoroughly enamoured, Elaine soon began studying the Sogetsu curriculum at classes in the Routhier Centre. She found that “practicing Ikebana and working with flowers was a wonderful way to unwind at the end of a stressful work day.”
After several years of courses in Ottawa and the United States, Elaine eventually qualified as a teacher. Since then, she has conducted workshops and demonstrations at various venues, and has exhibited her work at both the National Art Gallery and the Museum of Nature. Two years ago, she won the Director’s Award at the prestigious annual “Art in Bloom Exhibition” at the Vero Beach Museum of Art in Florida.
Here at home, Elaine returns regularly to the Japanese Embassy, either to visit the Ikebana shows held there twice each year or as an exhibitor in her own right. Because of the pandemic, the Embassy’s most recent Sogetsu Exhibition was a virtual one, held on line last month. But many people were able to see her exhibit in person because she erected and photographed it in Bordeleau Park.
“Since it was fall, and the weather still reasonable, I decided to do an outdoor installation across from where we live at the edge of the Rideau River,” Elaine explains. “It was an incredible challenge because I had never done anything outside quite so large and on my own before.”
She explained: I built the arrangement in the clump of pine trees at the entrance to the park, like a sentry standing guard. I used bamboo poles and reeds festooned with autumn native plants, such as mountain ash berries, sunflowers and baby pumpkins. The entire arrangement was in harmony with nature, the upright bamboo emulating the tree trunks. I wanted the passersby to discover something new and unexpected. Hopefully, they also gained a new appreciation for the park by first focusing on my work and then gazing through it across the grass to the river.
In many respects, the Bordeleau Park installation was a tribute to the important role our Lowertown neighbourhood has played in Elaine’s development. “It’s so easy for anyone, particularly those artistically minded to be inspired in Lowertown,” says Elaine. “We have parks, two rivers, a magnificent waterfall and so much green space. How could anyone not be stimulated and appreciative of what we have around us?”