I commenced studying Sogetsu Ikebana in 1998, in Tokyo, Japan at the ikebana atelier of Yoka Hosono, a Master Instructor at Sogetsu Ikebana Headquarters. I was awarded my Sogetsu Ikebana Teacher’s Certificate in December 2000, by the former Iemoto of the Sogetsu School, Hiroshi Teshigahara, and currently hold a Somu level teacher’s certificate.

 

​I have a longstanding international ikebana career, and have participated in ikebana exhibitions in Australia, Belgium, Japan, and Spain. As well as virtual ikebana exhibitions for Sogetsu Branches and Ikebana International chapters in Finland, France, India, Japan, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Russia, and Singapore.  I am dedicated to sharing my knowledge and passion for Sogetsu Ikebana and have presented international workshops for ikebana groups in Spain, Australia, India, France, the U.S.A. (N.Y.), the Netherlands and Belgium. In 2020, I conceived the idea of, and curated, a global Virtual Ikebana Exhibition Fundraiser for the Australian Bushfires. 

 

In my endeavour to promote Sogetsu Ikebana across multidisciplinary art forms, I have collaborated with many non-ikebana artists, including musicians, ceramicists, designers,  studio potters, artists, and poets from the U.S.A., Japan, and Spain. I was the lead designer for the Madrid Flower School’s ikebana installation at Casa Décor 2022 in Madrid, Spain. My large installation collaborations include the Christmas installation for Hotel Tótem, Madrid, Spain, and the stage design for Japanese singer/composer Youmi Kimura’s ('Alway's With Me' from the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away) performance in Canberra, Australia. My corporate work includes the Madrid based perfume launch for Issey Miyake’s A Drop d’Issey.

 

In keeping with the notion of 'Friendship through Flowers', I have worked alongside internationally renowned ikebana artists including Ilse Beunen (Belgium) , Yoshiro (Seiseki) Umemura (Australia), and was a member of the team assisting Master Instructor Tetsunori Kawana (Japan) prepare and present an ikebana demonstration at the Embassy of Japan, in Canberra, Australia. 

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I am passionate about educating younger generations to appreciate and love ikebana. I draw upon my extensive post-graduate qualifications and work experience as a schoolteacher, and Educational Program Evaluator to develop and teach ikebana classes specifically for young children. As a result of my dedication to teaching ikebana to children, I was awarded a grant from the Ikebana Iwaya Fund to create an educational video compiling teaching methods and creative lesson ideas to assist and encourage ikebana teachers from all ikebana schools to teach ikebana to the next generation.  The video can be accessed through the Ikebana Iwaya fund website at:  https://www.ikebanaiwaya.org/ikebana-for-children.html

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