Aileen Duke

After discovering ikebana in 2010, Aileen qualified as a teacher in the Sogetsu School and has been teaching for six years. 
She holds classes in Abbotsford and Mount Martha, and online to Tasmania and London. She is Deputy Director of Sogetsu Victoria and Secretary of a global ikebana group that meets online weekly to explore ikebana and to learn about aspects of Japanese culture from guest speakers from Japan and across the globe. 
Aileen has presented workshops in Victoria, Tasmania, Berlin, London, and Niseko, Japan.

In October 2023, as artist-in-residence at Point Nepean, Aileen held a solo exhibition focusing on pest plants from the Mornington Peninsula. 
She recently returned from a month-long artists residency in France where she practiced her art alongside 22 other artists in a range of art media. While in France, she held two exhibitions, a demonstration and a workshop, and created ikebana arrangements for a solo exhibition by an American portrait artist at the opening of Diderot Gallery. 
Aileen believes ikebana can bring peacefulness to our busy lives, and beauty into our homes.