Mary Jane Sasser, Sangetsu School

​As a child Mary Jane Sasser helped her father plant, cut and arrange flowers. Over lemonade he would bring out the book of beautiful Japanese flower arrangements. Together they would try and figure out the magic of those arrangements, the book was written in Japanese.

30 years later before Instagram, Google or Facebook, in 2003, Mary Jane found the Sangetsu School of Ikebana and her teacher Professor Helena Arouca. Two years later the Sangetsu School of Takoma Park put on  an exhibit using recycled materials such as window shutters, tire irons and egg shells as vases. Participating in that exhibit  gave Mary Jane a broader definition of a vase and ignited her passion for the technical skill required to share the beauty of nature through ikebana. In 2012, she earned her Instructors certification Since then Mary Jane has taught ikebana to football players, senior citizens and inner city children.

Her work has been exhibited at the National Arboretum and the Japanese Embassy in Washington DC. Mary Jane loves a beautiful vase but she loves seeing people’s eyes light up when they re-imagine a container into a vase with their own unique creative vision even more!