BELGIJC

Last two days I was working on juniper which found its way into my garden almost three years ago. It is a urban yamadori, probably garden material. Firstly I was planning to shape it in autumn, but It was growing so vigorously after re-poting that I decided to do it now. I'll remember it's smell the most and peace at wiring in morning, when work became meditation.

Zadnje dva dni sem delal na brinu, ki je pot v moj vrt našel pred slabimi tremi leti. Gre za urbani jamadori, najverjetneje je nekoč rastel na kakšnem vrtu. Sprva sem njegovo drugo oblikovanje načrtoval za jesen, a ker se je po presajanju odzval z bujno rastjo, sem se ga lotil že zdaj. Najbolj mi gre do živega njegov vonj in pa jutranji mir ob žičenju, ko delo postane meditacija.

before wiring

After two and a half years of work on it, it is showable for the first time. I'll exhibit it probably at autumn exhibition in St. Veit in Austria! 

Po dveh letih in pol dela na njem, je prvič pripravljen za rasztavo. Najbrž bo debitiral jeseni na razstavi v St. Veitu v Avstriji! 

October 2009

May 2011

SMREKA

The season of workshops in Tora is almost over, the summer break is near. Davorin came in for advanced workshop; after some years of break he started to do a bonsai again. Now he want to push his knowledge on to higher level. We worked on simple spruce, but we gave it a lot of character. Davorin surprised me with his wiring. He was on one beginner workshop but he is wiring like he do this everyday. He does only a few errors. It is true that his concentration is quickly fading with time, but this could be improved by practice. Davorin has proved that he know how to do it. 

Sezona delavnic v Tori se počasi končuje, bliža se poletni predah. Davorin je prišel na nadaljevalni tečaj; po nekaj letih premora se je spet začel ukvarjati z bonsaji in svoje znanje hoče dvigniti na višji nivo. Delala sva na enostavni smreki, ki pa sva ji dala veliko karakterja. Davorin me je izjemno presenetil z znanjem žičenja. Za njim je le en osnovni tečaj, toda žiči tako, kot da bi ožičil že veliko dreves. Komaj kakšno napako napravi. Res da mu s časom koncentracija hitro pada, a tovrstno kondicijo lahko pridobiš le z vajo. Da znanje ima, pa je Davorin dokazal.

A little bit more problem for him is shaping. What is hiding in the bush, how to create a bonsai out of bush. But so why he came to the school. With some practice he'll improve on that too. First some simple trees and then better and better ones. Davorin is on a good way!

Nekoliko več težav mu dela oblikovanje. Kaj se skriva v grmu, kako iz grma ustvariti bonsaj. A zato je prišel v šolo. Z nekaj vaje, bo tudi tu napredoval. Najprej enostavna drevesa, potem pa počasi vedno boljša in boljša. Davorin je na dobri poti!

For me season is far from over. I am planning to wire a complicated juniper, after a week or two I'll defoliate a ficus ... Meanwhile someone will come in Tora, for sure!

Zame sezone še zdaleč ni konec. Pred mano je žičenje zahtevnega brina, čez kaka dva tedna razlistenje fikusa ... Vmes pa se bo gotovo našel še kdo, ki bo znanje iskal v Tori!

ZABAVA

This was the most fun group of students ever! We were already freezing in the evening, but the joy of work on trees overcome everything. Three new bonsaists are born. Usually on this workshops I only give much, but this time I've got some good energy back. In the afternoon Damjan and me were re-potting his juniper which we shaped last year at basic workshop.

Tako zabavne skupine učencev, kot je bila tokrat, pa že dolgo ne. Zvečer nas je že pošteno zeblo, a užitek dela na drevesih je premagal vse! Rojeni so trije novi bonsajisti. Običajno na tečajih veliko samo dajem, tokrat pa sem nekaj dobre energije dobil tudi nazaj! Še prej sva z Damjanom presajala lani na tečaju oblikovan brin.

KSIAZ

From afar castle Ksiaz in the middle of Fagus woods looks mighty and a bit mysterious. Like mirage in the distance. Up close impression is no different. It is one of the biggest polish castles; some years ago there was a EBA convention, this time it was a host of Polish national exhibition. Me and my assistant Tomaz were performing as demonstrators. Exhibition was part of Flower and art festival, whole weekend there was a great river of people running trough castle countless halls. But castle is so huge that one can find a place only for himself where one can admire work of masters from the past.    

Grad Ksiaz sredi bukovih gozdov že od daleč deluje mogočno in malce skrivnostno. Kot privid v daljavi. Od blizu vtis ni nič drugačen. Gre za enega največjih gradov na Poljskem, pred leti je gostil konvencijo EBA, tokrat pa je bil prizorišče poljske nacionalne razstave, kjer sem skupaj z asistentom Tomažem nastopil kot demonstrator. Razstava je bila v sklopu festivala rož in umetnosti, cel konec tedna se je v grad in po njegovih brezštevilnih sobanah valila ogromna reka ljudi. A grad je tako ogromen, da kljub vsemu lahko najdeš kotiček zase in občuduješ delo rok mojstrov iz preteklosti.

Bonsais were hiding in a dance hall, revealed some interesting views.

Bonsaji so se skrivali v plesni dvorani, razkrivali so se zanimivi pogledi.

My Prunus, this time exhibited in tokonoma, got EBA's Certificate of Merit and with that a proof that it is in a good way. This was one of the awards in the exhibition.

Moja rešeljika, tokrat razstavljena v tokonomi, je s certifikatom kakovosti, ki jo podeljuje EBA, dobila potrdilo, da je na dobri poti in eno od nagrad na razstavi. 

The main job we did in Saturday. My friend and organizer Piotr Czerniachowski gave me a Picea pungens for a demo. "It needs your Italian hands," he said and that what he get. We, me and Tomaz, were analyzing the Picea in Friday evening, I drew the sketch and with that we started the demo. We were on the stage together with great Seok Ju Kim form Korea and Milan Karpisek from Czech republic (his assistent was a great pot-maker Tom Benda).

Osrednja naloga me je čakala v soboto. Prijatelj in organizator razstave Piotr Czerniachowski je za mojo demonstracijo pripravil srebrno smreko. "Potrebuje tvoje italijanske roke," je dejal Piotr in to je tudi dobil. S Tomažem sva smreko že v petek zvečer analizirala in nastala je skica, s katero sva demo tudi začela. Oder sva si delila z odličnim Korejcem Seok Ju Kimom in Čehom Milanom Karpinškom (njegov asistent je bil mojster izdelovaja posodo Tom Benda). 

Great atmosphere, far from wild rivalry which is too often the feature of exhibition in the west; here the soapy Slavic soul prevailed. Socializing, endless talks, friendship. That is why I like to come back in this part of the world!

Krasno vzdušje, daleč od divje tekmovalnosti, ki je vse prevečkrat značilno za razstave na zahodu; tu je prevladovala mila slovanska duša. Druženje, neskončni pogovori, prijateljevanje. In zato se v tal del sveta rad vračam!