VARŠAVA

In the early morning we were already on Austrian highways, but there was still three countries waiting to driving thru. In the evening we were at the outskirts of Warsaw where Marek Gajda has his bonsai center. He is a student of Salvatore Liporace and one of the leading Polish bonsaist. Together with Wlodzimierz Pietraszka, Marta and Jacek Pietakiewicz, Piotr Czerniachowski and some other bonsaist they are a strong group which is establishing itself even abroad. I was a guest-demonstrator at their annual exhibition which is part of 'Green is life' fair. Tomaž and I worked on a juniper from a huge Marek's collection. They were great hosts, the exhibition was at club level, a lot of people was visiting the demonstrations.

Jutro sva srečala na avstrijskih avtocestah, pred nama pa še za tri države vožnje, zvečer sva prispela v južno predmestje dvomiljonske Varšave, kjer ima svoj center Marek Gajda. Učenec Salvatoreja Liporaceja je eden od vodilnih poljskih bonsajistov, ki skupaj z začetnikom bonsajizma na Poljskem Wlodzimierzom Pietraszko, Marto in Jackom Pietakiewicz, Piotrom Czerniachowskim in še nekaj posamezniki tvori močno skupino, ki se vse bolj uveljavlja tudi izven meja. Tokrat sem na Marekovo povabilo kot gost-demonstrator iz tujine nastopil na njihovi vsakoletni razstavi v okviru sejma Zeleno je življenje. S Tomažem sva delala na brinu iz velike Marekove zbirke. Navdušila je gostoljubnost gostiteljev, razstava je bila na klubskem nivoju, predstavitve pa si je ogledalo ogromno ljudi.

First we put our trees on the shelves in Warsaw fair and then we set at Marek's center and drink some beer an have some snacks. The center is nice and the collection of material is huge. Of course the master keep the best material at his privet part of the garden … Beside the Polish bonsaist there was also Roman Bona, who has Polish-German backgrounds and work in Germany. Great company, nice environment, we almost forget that I must choose a material for Saturday's demonstration.

Potem ko smo še v petek zvečer drevesa razporedili po policah v razstavni dvorani Varšavskega sejmišča, smo v Marekovem centru posedeli ob vrčku piva in prigrizku. Lepo urejen center vabi k sprehodu, velika je zbirka materiala. V privatnem delu najboljše primerke mojster seveda hrani zase … Poleg uveljavljenih poljskih bonsajistov je bil tu tudi Roman Bona, bonsajist poljsko-nemškega rodu, ki deluje v Nemčiji. Družba kot se šika, prijetno okolje, skoraj bi pozabili na to, da moram pred sobotno demonstracijo še izbrati material.

By my opinion the best tree on the show was this Juniperus communis of Wlodzimierz Pietraszka

Po moje najlepše drevo na razstavi - slavni navadni brin Wlodzimierza Pietraszke

Well, let's say that the juniperus was the best ...

No, recimo, da je bil brin najepši ...

Nice Marek Gajda's center with huge collection of material.

Lepo urejen center Mareka Gajde z veliko izbiro materijala.

Master keeps the best material in private part of the garden.

Mojster najboljše primerke hrani zase.

Tomaž find something for himself.

Tomaž je našel nekaj zase.

In the dark I choose a juniperus, which I could saw for the first time just hours before the show, I did the analyse before the audience on the stage. But this is the part of the show, the real bonsaizm is a little different. Piotr Czerniachowski worked on Taxus, me and Tomaž take a stage, Marek Gajda was announcer.

V temi sem izbral brin, ki sem si ga lahko dobro ogledal šele naslednji dan tik pred demonstracijo, analizo pa opravil kar pred številno publiko, ki se je ob napovedanem času nabrala v avditoriju: tudi to je del šova; pravi bonsajizem se seveda gremo nekoliko drugače. Piotr Czerniachowski je obdeloval tiso, s Tomažem sva zasedla oder, povezoval je vedno duhoviti Marek Gajda.

Piotr was working on Taxus

Piotr je delal na tisi

Even Roman Bona was checking the demonstration

Tudi Roman Bona je prišel pogledat demonstracijo.

Result. Sorry for the poor picture.

Rezultat. Žal boljše slike nimam.

Juniperus has a great lower part, but the upper part is too strait. We tried to get the best out of the tree. After cleaning we were trying to resolve the main problem of the tree – the boring upper part. We rapped the rafia and plastic tape around the brunch and then we bent it with a pole. This was the most attractive moment for the public but this is also a standard method used in bonsaism. There was just a wiring left but we run out of time. Three and a half hours was too short for job to be done, so we did the final touch in the next morning, when Marek Gaida and Wlodzimierz Pietraszko had their demonstrations. The result is a compact tree with some movement, there will be also a lot of dead wood in the future. We left two brunches as a reserve. This is a basic skeleton of the future bonsai, now everything depends on after-care!

Drevo ima zelo dober spodnji del, ki pa se nadaljuje v izjemno neatraktivno ravnino s skromnim zelenjem na koncih redkih vej. S Tomažem sva pljunila v roke in skušala iz drevesa iztisniti največ. Po osnovnem čiščenju in obdelovanju džinov in šarija je prišlo na vrsto reševanje največjega problema drevesa – dolgočasni zgornji del. Ovijanje z rafijo in plastičnim trakom, potem pa agresivno zvijanje s pomočjo vzvoda – za publiko najbolj atraktiven del demonstracije, sicer pa preverjena in ustaljena metoda reševanja podobnih primerov. Ostalo nama je le še žičenje in oblikovanje krošnje s katero sva nekoliko prikrila ravnino. Kljub hitenju je bilo na koncu tri ure in pol časa premalo za dokončanje, zato sva podrobno urejanje krošnje opravila v nedeljo dopoldne na demonstraciji Mareka Gajde in Wlodzimierza Pietraszka. Rezultat je kompaktno drevo z veliko gibanja, ki ga bo v prihodnje oplemenitilo še veliko suhega lesa. Na drevesu bo le nekaj živih ven, ki bodo napajale krošnjo. Za zdaj sva kot rezervi pustila dve veji; tako bo drevo lažje prebrodilo šok oblikovanja, če pa bi se slučajno kaj zgodilo z oblikovano krošnjo, je tu na voljo druga rešitev. Osnovno okostje bonsaja je rojeno, zdaj je vse odvisno od nadaljne oskrbe!

Marek Gajda worked on similar juniperus from his private collection. He used the same technique we did. Wlodzimierz Pietraszka worked on Pinus Sylvestris – he just wired and shaped it. After the demonstration he said: „ Fuck such demonstration, in two hours you can not create a bonsai.“ Marek and Wlodzimierz has even less time then Piotr, me and Tomaž has. Rushing, working under pressure – this is not a bonsaism. But a glowing faces of visitors, their energy feels me up. I enjoy spreading a bonsai knowledge!

Marek Gajda je na demonstraciji oblikoval podoben brin kot midva s Tomažem, le da je bil material izbran v njegovi osebni zalogi in zato za kakšno številko ali dve večji. Ubral je enako tehniko kot midva, saj je takšna rešitev pri podobnem materialu pravzaprav najprimernejša. Wlodzimierz Pietraszko je delal na rdečem boru, ki ga je na hitro ožičil in oblikoval, potem, na zasluženem pivu pa dejal: „Jeb... takšno demonstracijo, v dveh urah se pa bonsaja res ne da napraviti.“ Marek in Wlodzimierz sta imela namreč na voljo še eno uro manj časa, kot Piotr in midva s Tomažem. Hitenje, delo pod pritiskom, izpostavljenost – to res nima prave veze z bonsajizmom. A žareči obrazi med obiskovalci, njihova energija, pa čeprav je šlo v tem primeru zaradi narave celotne prireditve za bolj ali manj slučajne mimoidoče, vsaj pri meni poplačajo vse. Uživam pri širjenju bonsajskega znanja.

Wlodzimierz Pietraszka

Marek Gajda and his juniperus

And then it was five a clock, we find a place for two additional trees in our car and drive into sun set. Warsaw was a new bonsai adventure!

Potem je bila ura pet, s Tomažem sva v avtu morala najti prostor za dve novi drevesi in odpeljala sva se v sončni zahod. Ni kaj, Varšava je bila nova izjemna bonsajska dogodivščina!

TEČAJ

Darja opened the autumn season of workshops in Tora. Her kind co-workers gave her a basic workshop as a birthday gift. She planning to arrange her garden for outdoor trees, but for now we worked on ficus. Ficus is not the best species for learning - it demands precise wiring, there is not a lot space between brunches and leafs ... We didn't defoliated the tree because I don't know what after care will be done. So, as safety measurement, we wired the tree with it leafs on. Darja also learned how to use a proper bonsai tools:

Darja je odprla jesensko sezono tečajev v Tori. Prijazni sodelavci so ji obisk v šoli poklonili za rojstni dan. Ker urejanje vrta, kjer bo imela zbirko zunanjih dreves še načrtuje, sva delala na fikusu. Izkazalo se je, da fikus ni najboljša vrsta za učenje - zahteva natančno žičenje, prostora med vejicami in listi je malo ... Drevesa nisva razlistila, ker ne vem, kako bo za bonsaj poskrbljeno v času po posegu. Zato sva raje ostala pri varnejšem a težjem načinu - žicanju z listi na vejah. Darja pa je spoznavala tudi pravo bonsajsko orodje:

We created a nice little tree. With right after care It could be even nicer in a short time. Darja loves all beautiful things and she will know how to take care of this bonsai.

Nastalo je lepo drevesce. S pravilno oskrbo, lahko v kratkem postane še lepše. Darja je ljubiteljica vsega lepega in bo za drevo znala poskrbeti.

My next project is Warsaw. On invitation of Marek Gajda me and Tomaž will travel there early in Friday morning. I'll put some of my trees on the show, then I'll work as demonstrator in Saturday and I am looking forward to meet all friends. This will be interesting weekend!

Moj naslednji projekt je Varšava. Na povabilo Mareka Gajde se s Tomažem tja odpravljava v petek zgodaj zjutraj. Razstavil bom nekaj dreves, v soboto nastopil kot demnostrator, veselim pa se tudi srečanja s prijatelji. Obeta se zanimiv konec tedna!

NALIČ

Today I worked on this Picea abies for the first time since it was collected last autumn. There is good nebari hiding in bush of brunches, also tapering is nice although with minimal movement - this yamadori is promising material. For now I just cleaned all dead brunches, then I cut one of the three tops and let the light into the crown. This will help with forming a new buds. First shaping will be done at the end of the next year's summer!

Prvič po lanskem izkopu in potem, ko se je lepo vkoreninila, sem delal na smreki. V goščavju vej se skriva dober nebari, izjemno je ožanje proti vrhu, čeprav z minimalno gibanja, obeta se dober rezultat. Za zdaj je bilo dovolj le čiščenje odmrlih vej, z rezom enega od vrhov pa sem v krošnjo spustil svetlobo, ki bo pomagala pri formiranju novih brstov. Prvo oblikovanje pride na vrsto konec prihodnjega poletja!

Meanwhile Raje worked on his 'Kobayashi', he was seeking a break in his fulfilled agenda ...

Raje se je med tem ukvarjal s svojim Kobajašijem, iskal predah v natrpanem urniku ...

Then I worked on Juniperus chinensis, which find it's way into my collection more then two years ago. I cleaned it and studied its design. Of course it let me into it's secrets and showed me what design it wish. This will be a great tree already this autumn! If I will not shape it in Tora I'll use it for demonstration on Czech national exhibition. Of course I'll show the result here!

Sledil je še prvi poseg na kitajskem brinu, ki je pot v mojo zbirko našel že pred več kot dvema letoma. Tudi brin sem le očistil, porezal suhe in nekaj odvečnih vej in študiral njegov dizajn. Seveda mi je odkril svoje srivnosti in pokazal, kakšno obliko si želi. To bo vrhunsko drevo še to jesen! Če ga ne bom oblikoval ob trenutnem navdihu v Tori, ga bom morda uporabil za demosntracijo na Češkem. Rezultat seveda pokažem!

BOŽJA ROKA

We were in those parts of our little country where God was kind-hearted: beauty all around!

Te dni smo se z družino odpravili v tiste kotičke naše male dežele, kjer je Bog s svojimi darovi ni skoparil: lepot, da se duša naužije do obisti!

You can understand Mightiness when you are near.

Mogočnost dojameš šele, ko si tik ob njej.

You can feel smallness when you are looking at great wall where once the highest Slovenian waterfall was. "The Nature is not just," the old wise man Confucius said, the Nature is just consistent and act by inexorable rules regardless what we might wish.

Majhnost ob pogledu na podrto steno, kjer je bil nekoč najvišji slovenski slap. "Narava ni pravična," je znal povedati že veliki modrec Konfucij, narava je zgolj dosledna in deluje po neizprosnih pravilih, ne glede na naše želje in zasluge.

All with intention. And all this is also learning. I did some off-trails hiking and did find some excellent yamadoris. But it was not a right time. Maybe there will be no right time at all. They are standing and fighting there for centuries and give their soul to this places. Maybe, it is intentioned to be like this.

Seveda tudi z namenom. In vse to je lahko tudi učenje. Nekaj trenutkov sem si vzel tudi za kolovratenje izven poti. In našel kar nekaj izjemnih jamadorijev. A čas še ni prišel. Morda tudi ne bo. Že stoletja se borijo in dajejo dušo tem krajem. Morda je najbolje, da tako tudi ostane.