Futa-oki

This past week I made my first Futa-oki to honor the visiting a Master of the Tea Ceremony. 

Yabe Keishu - sensei was visiting the garden to prepare for her Ikebana demonstration at the Foundry Vineyards in honor of the Walla Walla Mokuhanga Center's first week of workshops.

Yabe Keishu - sensei is also a master of the "Sōgetsu, 20th-century Japanese school of floral art that introduced the zen’ei (“avant-garde”) ikebana style in which freedom of expression is preeminent." (This explanation was stolen from the FV press.)

Sensei, with the help of the wonderful Hitomie Johnson, gave instructions on how to alter my napkin rings into a tea ceremonial object that holds the lid of the tea pot. 

Here is the Futa-oki I made for Hitomi and her tea . Of course, the messages inside are for their owners, you will have to attend their tea ceremony to see them.