W hen we gave Zen Flowers its own website back in May, I said I wanted somewhere a little slower than the App Store, a place to talk about the collections and the thinking behind them without anyone trying to sell you something the moment you arrived.
We've added one more small room to that house. zenflowers.app now has a place to write, short pieces about ikebana, about the collections, about why a single arrangement with a lot of empty space around it can be more calming than a full bouquet ever is. Nothing frequent, nothing urgent. Just a little more of the "why" behind the app, for anyone who wants it.
The first piece is up now: What Are Zen Flowers? The Calming Art Behind the App. It's the plainest answer I know how to give to a question people ask me all the time, in the studio and in the app's reviews alike: not "what is ikebana," but something closer to "why does this feel the way it does?" I tried to answer that without assuming anyone's read a single thing about Japanese flower arranging before. Because most people haven't, and they don't need to, to feel it.
If you've been to a workshop with me, this will sound familiar. It's more or less what I try to say with my hands instead of words when I'm arranging in front of a room. If you've only known Zen Flowers as an app on your phone or a screensaver on your Apple TV, I hope it's a nice bit of the story behind it.
More pieces will follow every couple of weeks, some about the app, some just about ikebana itself. You can always find them at zenflowers.app, or I'll keep sharing new ones here as they go up.
Narcisa
Visit Zen Flowers
Read the new blog at zenflowers.app or explore the app on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.