Saturday October 5 (9 am to noon) - Punk Ikebana

LOGISTICS: This is a LIVE FACE-TO-FACE WORKSHOP that will be held in Northern California at our eco-reserve near Nicasio, California. Logistics including where to gather will be emailed to you one week in advance of the training. The location is about 20 minutes from San Rafael, California- 45 minute north of the Golden Gate bridge. The training is capped at ten registrants (see below), plus the instructor.

ABOUT: Come out to the forest for a three hour workshop that will culminate with your personal creation of a dried floral arrangement for your home or office. This could be something you hang from the front door, could be something that you put in the center of a dining room table, or on a pedestal as a standalone art piece.

Connect to the seasons, your own hands, and the elemental living world by creating a piece of nature arts from materials sourced at our ten-acre eco-reserve.

These arrangements are inspired by Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging, which translates as 'flowers kept alive'. Ikebana is a 600-year old tradition, emphasizing process as much as product, and dwelling on our relationship with the Living World. While this often translates into a sort of minimalism, it is really a way to alchemize and distill the beauty of nature into a flower arrangement.

After a brief walk and gather, will meet in one of our outdoor classrooms to create seasonal floral arrangements.

You’ll choose between starting with a base (from the buttom up) or a frame (from a surround), and build your arrangement from there.

We have all the necessary tools, and all the necessary supplies.

Sit in the forest, sip on a cappuccino, and make art out of living materials for your home.

At the end of the class, you’ll take home your creation.

Children over age 12 are welcome to register as long as they’re accompanied by a parent or guardian. So two people can make a single arrangement, as long as you promise not to fight about it 😉

The training will be held on our 10-acre property near Nicasio, California, in an old-growth Douglas Fir grove that backs up to a 437-acre property and a 320-acre property. At the property we have already encountered over twenty species of plants, insects, birds, and animals that we have not seen elsewhere in Northern California, including giant salamanders, a Golden Eagle, rare orchids, etc.

The land is in a valley that has been continuously inhabited for at least 8,000 years (confirmation based on dated petroglyphs in the area).

Conditions on the land are rustic. There is a restroom, our film studio which contains our library, and a teahouse and small meditation studio. There are places to sit and hammocks. In order to be able to comfortably participate, you should be able to walk about a quarter of a mile on relatively flat (no hills) but not even (there are no sidewalks) ground.

Please bring water and layers of clothing. We are in a micro-climate with more extreme temperatures (both warmer and cooler) than in nearby parts of the Bay.