Heika Style "A"

The primer, “Japanese Flower Arrangement in a Nutshell” written by Ellen Gordon Allen, is a “go to” book.  Mrs. Allen was the daughter of Major General Walter Gordon, U.S. Army and the wife of Major General Frank A. Allen, Jr. stationed in Japan in 1955.  Her interest in flower arranging grew as “an antidote to worry.”  The masters she studied under were Mr. Huon Ohara and Mr. Koshi Tsujii.  Her reasons for studying Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging,  were threefold:  “…first, I want to spread a love for and a knowledge of this art; secondly to form an association of all individuals who are studying or who have studied Japanese flower arrangement; and thirdly, to bring to this country (USA) some day on tour the great masters of this art, those artists who are so wonderfully qualified to display the art at its highest peak of perfection and beauty.”