Tropical Paradise

 San Francisco Bay Area Chapter #31 

 Alka Bhargava (Ichiyo) is an interior designer by training and an innovative floral designer with decades of experience including over 16 years of experience in Ikebana and over 3 decades in event decor spanning both corporate and private formal events. Alka is a Master in the Ichiyo shool of ikebana and has led and facilitated numerous workshops and demos domestically and internationally. She has won numerous awards including both the best in show and most creative, in the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Art in Bloom competition, and top award winner in both the Philadelphia flower show and world association of flower arrangers. Her design was recently published in “ikebana opposites attract” a global collection of ikebana designs created by masters. 

Rayko Kurosaki (Enshu) started taking lessons in the Enshu ikebana School in San Francisco with Haruko Obata and Sakae Sakaki when she was in Jr. High. The simplicity of the classical style, which epitomizes Enshu appealed to her. She continued taking lessons over the years, with some breaks in between. When Sakaki Sensei retired, Rayko took over teaching her class at the El Cerrito Recreation Center. Rayko has exhibited at the biennial Flower Show, and made side arrangements at our monthly Friday meetings. Last year she represented Enshu at the Cherry Blossom Festival ikebana exhibit. 

Chizuko Nakamura (Ikenobo) came to the United States from Japan in 1966. For 40 years, she studied Ikebana with Shumika Tada of the Ikenobo school. She is currently teaching Ikenobo Ikebana to students at her home, her church and to the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California in Japan town. Her arrangements have been exhibited at the Asian Art Museum, designers offices, the northern California cherry blossom festivals and many other venues and events. 

Keeth Souza-Courpet (Wafu) initially began her studies of ikebana in 2007 in the Chiko School with Michiko Hosoda. Since 2015 she has been studying Wafu ikebana and her sensei is Fusako Hoyrup. She will soon receive a special level certificate which is just below the teaching degree. Keeth enjoys the natural beauty of working with different plant materials. She joined Ikebana International San Francisco Chapter in 2008 and has held various board positions including Historian, 2nd Vice President and for several years now has been our 1st Vice President. Keeth has participated in many I.I. San Francisco Flower Shows and Wafu Flower Shows.