Saturday 7 November 2009

zen and minimalism


I've been having fun designing this new giclee print. I just love the whole feeling of ikebana. Shop fronts in Japan have the most gob-smackingly gorgeous ikebana arrangements in their front windows. It makes me want to run away in horror from the front of some Australian shops because they just have no idea. Not all of course. But some seem to have never encountered the principles of shape, line and form or the symmetry and balance of ikebana. Or the concept of minimalism.

I suppose those of us in Melbourne could head off to Ikebana Melbourne for some lessons to help rectify this sad state of affairs.

This photo by markfountain52 on flickr taken on the streets of Kyoto is the kind of thing that makes me swoon.

10 comments:

  1. beautiful! images of your prints and the Kyoto photo all together work so nicely.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree! Melbourne stores have a lot to learn from Japan about shop fronts and merchandising.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lovely print! It has such a peaceful rhythm to it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. love the colour of this print - it really adds to the calm feel of the image

    ReplyDelete
  5. ooooh wow. what a really great flickr set, thankyou for pointing this out! would it be ok to maybe pop one or two up one ii-ne-kore as well? i so very much agree with you. it would be interesting to see some western stores taking up this kind of thing, it would be interesting to see an interpretation of it. but it is very special to japan, this art, don't you think? and what a great print - lovely!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. ii-ne - the flickr set belongs to markfountain52 so I'm sure it would be fine as long as you credited his photos.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mizu / ii-ne-kore,

    I'm happy for my images to be used provided they're linked back to my Flickr site and it's not for profit....... Thanks for the kind comments

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks Mark. Your photos are beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  9. A beautiful print Kylie! I love the mood in it. And yes, why is the concept of minimalism an almost misunderstood thing in this country? (I'm generalising) but gosh.... structure, and flow, negative space.... yummy!

    ReplyDelete