Miha collected this Pinus sylvestris in March 2009. Apparently he needed only three minutes to collect! The lower part is very interesting, twisted, there obviously something happened in the past, but the upper level is straight - in the last few years pine was growing unconstrained, branches are elongated, green is far from the tree.
Miha je tale rdeči bor izkopal marca 2009. Menda je potreboval le tri minute, pa je bilo drevo zunaj. Spodnji del je nadvse zanimiv, zvit, tam se je v preteklosti očitno nekaj dogajalo, zgornji pa je raven - v zadnjih nekaj letih je bor neovirano rastel, veje so razpotegnjene, zelenje je daleč od debla.
When Miha first brought pine to the studio in early spring 2012, we immediately named it The elephant. With wholesale leg and long trunk it was clearly like an African elephant. If the name setting was easy part of the task, the work plan was anything but easy: the position in the container is weird, but because it was growing on a strange angle in the wild, it could not be planted otherwise. Apart from an interesting lower part the pine was not promising nothing - so we had a difficult task to deal with.
Ko je Miha zgodaj spomladi 2012 bor prvič prinesel v atelje, smo ga takoj krstili za Slona. Z debelo nogo in dolgim rilcem je spominjal na afriškega debelokožca. Če je bilo določanje imena lahek del naloge, pa je bil načrt dela vse prej kot enostaven: položaj v posodi je čuden, ampak ker je v naravi rastel pod čudnim kotom, ga drugače ni bilo mogoče posaditi. Razen zanimivega spodnjega dela bor ni obljubljal nič drugega - skratka pred nami je bila težka naloga.
The first task was to bring green closer to the tree and to made the whole tree compact. This was done at the first session, hard bending was the only intervention before the new growing season. One of the two bended branches (circled in red) later did not survive.
Prva naloga je bila zelenje približati deblu in skompaktirati celo drevo. To smo naredili že na prvi seansi; močno krivljenje je bil tudi edini poseg pred novo rastno sezono. Ena od obeh močno krivljenih vej (obkrožena z rdečo) kasneje ni preživela.
Miha returned to the studio with Elephnant three weeks ago. In summer he fed it strongly and with a lot of sun the remaining branch reacted with a lot of new buds. Branch already stood in a new position, the tree is strong and healthy. Time to continue the story. Detailed analysis showed that the tree must be even more compact, we must create only a minimal crown to emphasizes the interesting curve. Miha was set to work - he choose the most suitable side branch, cut last year's needles and wrapped it with raffia.
Miha se je v atelje s Slonom vrnil pred tremi tedni. Čez poletje ga je gnojil in izpostavil soncu, tako da je preostala veja reagirala z veliko novimi brsti, obstala v novi poziciji, drevo je močno in zdravo. Čas za nadaljevanje zgodbe. Podrobna analiza je pokazala, da bo treba drevo še bolj skompaktirati, ustvariti zgolj minimalno krošnjo in poudariti izjemno zanimivo krivino. Miha se je lotil dela - izbral je najprimernejšo stransko vejo, porezal lanske iglice in jo ovil z rafijo.
At the next session he wired the branch and prepared it for shaping.
Na naslednji seansi je vejo podrobno ožičil in pripravil na oblikovanje.
So, last night there was enough time for the shaping. To concentrate on the design. Here Miha is dealing with the last detail, he is painting the dead wood.
Sinoči je bilo tako dovolj časa za samo oblikovanje. Posvečanje dizajnu. Miha tu še ureja zadnje podrobnosti, barva mrtev les.
And here is the current result. From the huge tree that had crown almost two meters away from the trunk, we created a very dynamic, strong bonsai. Reserve crown is wrapped in the black bag, this green mass will be removed next summer (if all goes according to plan). Elephant now needs rest and careful hand. In the following years it will be re-potted in to appropriate pot. According to a planting angle the re-potting will probably need two additional steps.
In tu je trenutni rezultat. Iz ogromnega drevesa, ki je imelo krošnjo skoraj dva metra stran od debla, je nastal izjemno dinamičen, močan bonsaj. V črni vrečki je še zavita rezervna krošnja, ki pa bo naslednje poletje (če bo vse potekalo po načrtu) odstranjena. Slon zdaj rabi počitek in skrbno roko. V naslednjih letih pa še presajanje v primerno bonsajsko posodo. Glede na kot posaditve bo presaditev verjetno potrebovala dva dodatna koraka.
Something like that the tree will look in the pot. Two years more and Miha will live the result of his work. Than will be already 5 years from collecting!
Tako nekako bo drevo zgledalo v bonsajski posodi. Še dve leti in Miha bo dočakal rezultat svojega dela. Od izkopa pa bo takrat minilo že 5 let!
