FIKUS

If a man does not live in the tropics then having a tropical tree is always a challenge. I challenged myself six years ago when I bought a Ficus retusa; this is still my only tropical tree. It is a high-quality material, which has never been grafted, and it is also narrowing naturally. Any commercial bonsai from large department stores don't have such qualities, of course.

 

Če človek ne živi v tropih je tropsko drevo vedno izziv. Sam sem si ga postavil pred šestimi leti, ko sem nabavil fikus vrste retusa; ta je še vedno moje edino tropsko drevo. Gre za kvaliteten materijal, ki ni bil nikoli cepljen, prav tako pa je tudi njegovo ožanje naravno. Vsi komercialni bonsaji iz veleblagovnic takšnih kvalitet seveda nimajo.

 

Ficus retusa, January 2007

 

The first few seasons have passed in the adaptation, finding the right place for overwintering, learning what tropical tree needs actually are. The first serious styling I made in July 2009, when it was first time defoliated and fully wired.

 

Prvih nekaj sezon je minilo v prilagajanju, iskanju pravega mesta za prezimovanje, učenju, kakšne so pravzaprav potrebe tropskega drevesa. Prvo resnejše oblikovanje sem opravil julija 2009, ko je bil prvič razlistan in v celoti ožičen.

 

2009 - first defoliation and styling

 

This was followed by a new era of development and in 2011 a new defoliation and styling were performed. If i'd live in the tropics, I'd defoliate it three times a year, but in temperate regions such a drastic intervention comes only once every two years. The development is correspondingly slower ...

 

Sledilo je novo obdobje razvoja in 2011 novo razlistenje in oblikovanje. Če bi živel v tropih, bi ga razlistal trikrat na leto, tako pa pride ta drastični poseg na vrsto le enkrat na dve leti. Razvoj je temu primerno počasnejši ...

 

2011 - after second styling

 

This time the third defoliation and styling were done. Now the tree has a silhouette similar to what I put on the ultimate goal: a tree in the style of Taiwanese ficus. Another defoliation or two so that the crown structure will be more dence and we will be there ;-)

 

Tokrat je prišlo na vrsto tretje razlistenje in oblikovanje. Zdaj je silhueta že podobna tistemu, kar sem si postavil za končni cilj: drevo v slogi tajvanskih fikusov. Še kakšno razlistenje ali dve, da se struktura krošnje še zgosti, pa smo na cilju ;-)

 

2013 - after defoliation and before styling

after styling

on a black

development 2007-2013

 

 

P. S.: Matej has worked on dwarf spruce. Now he is doing the homework, he will brought the result back to atalier before the summer!

 

P.S.: Matej je delal na pritlikavi smreki. Zdaj dela domačo nalogo, ki jo bo v ataleje prinesel pokazat še pred poletjem! 

 

 

RAZSTAVA

Saturday was a special day. After 11 years we in Slovenian bonsai club organized internally club show. What was visible at the first glimse was the fact that in those years huge step forward was done, as the trees on the club exhibition were at the level that any serious exhibition would not be ashamed of! There was also a really great atmosphere!

 

Sobota je bila poseben dan. Po 11-ih letih smo v Slovenskem bonsaj klubu spet organizirali interno klubsko razstavo. Kar je najprej padlo v oči je to, da je bil v teh letih napravljen ogromen korak naprej, saj so bila drevesa na mimogrede pripravljeni razstavi na nivoju, ki se ga ne bi sramovala niti kaka resna razstava! Dobre volje pa prav tako ni manjkalo!

 

 

On Sunday, Gorazd come to a course for beginners. He drowe down  from Tolmin and thus showed a great desire for knowledge. He would like to join the group in Solkan. The course is completed and barriers no longer exist. And his first own product is here!

 

V nedeljo je na tečaj za začetnike prišel Gorazd. Pripeljal se je iz Tolmina in že s tem pokazal veliko željo po znanju. Rad bi se pridružil podružnični skupini v Sollkanu. Tečaj je opravljen in ovir ni več. In prvi lastni izdelek je tudi tu! 

 

 

POWER

Is this spruce full of power or what? ;-)

 

Je ta smreka polna moči, ali kaj? ;-)

 

 

P.S.: Regular weekly workshop of central group of Tora school is postponed to Thursday, 16th May. We'll meet with Maribor group at 8th Jun!

 

P.S.: Redna tedenska delavnica centralne skupine šole Tora je prestavljena na četrtek, 16. maja, 8. junija pa se dobimo v Mariboru!

MRTEV LES

Regular weekly workshops in Tora school are planned until mid-June, at least, then the first part of the season will be over. Some rest will follow, time dedicated primarily to watering, after the summer we will work with full power again! This time, Aleš, two Tomažs and Miha enjoyed the trees. Aleš was working a lot on dead wood on the olive tree, the others enjoyed their time :-)

 

Redne tedenske delavnice v šoli Tora načrtujemo še vsaj do srede junija, potem bo prvega dela sezone konec. Nekaj počitka, ki bo namenjen predvsem zalivanju, po poletju pa s polno paro naprej! Tokrat so na drevesih uživali Aleš, dva Tomaža in Miha. Aleš je na veliko ustvarjal v suhem lesu na oljki, ostali pa vsak po svoje :-)

 

 

These days are marked with anticipation of reactions of newly collected yamadoris. Will they make it over the sensitive phase or not ... Well, the good news is that there are some excellent new trees already on the safe side!

 

Ti dnevi minevajo tudi v pričakovanju reakcije novo izkopanih jamadorijev. Ali se bodo prebili čez občutljivo fazo ali ne ... No, dobra novica je,da je nekaj izvrstnih novih dreves že na varni strani!

ARCO

 

Along with two students (Maurizio and Miha), this weekend we attended the exhibition in Arco, Italy. Wonderful weather, great environment, good trees - a man can not wish more for a nice day.

 

Ta konec tedna smo se s študentoma šole Tora Mauriziem in Mihom udeležili razstave v Arcu. Čudovito vreme, krasno okolje, dobra drevesa - človek si za lep dan več niti ne more želeti.

Arco Bonsai is one of the most prestigious Italian exhibitions each year. We enjoyed the excellent exhibition; Olea from Spanish center MED stood out by outstending quality. Amazing tree reached an amazing maturity, perfect bonsai!

Arco Bonsai je ena najprestižnejših vsakoletnih italijanskih razstav. Uživali smo lahko v vrhunski razstavi, na kateri je po kvaliteti izstopala oljka španskega centra MED. Izjemno drevo z neverjetno dozorelostjo, bonsaj za čisto desetko!

 

 

 

 

Bonsai Scuola Del Mediterraneo put on a shelf  Erica Arborea. Considering the type of the tree also amazing bonsai:

 

Scuola Bonsai Del Mediterraneo pa je na polico postavila drevesasto reso (Erica Arborea). Glede na vrsto prav tako izjemno drevo:

 

 

Among Italian trees we were also able to admire the masterpieces; Studio Botanico exhibited sabina juniper (Juniperus sabina)

 

V konkurenci italijanskih dreves smo prav tako lahko občudovali mojstrovine; Studio Botanico je razstavljal brin vrste sabina (Juniperus sabina):

 

 

Progetto Futuro represented Japanese black pine (from reliable sources I found out that the owner is Ivo Saporiti ;-) ) 

 

Šola Progetto Futuro je predstavljala japonski črni bor (iz zanesljivih virov sem izvedel, da je lastnik Ivo Saporiti ):

 

 

We also enjoyed a very well-prepared demonstrations of established Italian bonsai schools, which were a guarantee for a lot of new knowledge. Each school was represented in a special room. Bonsai Creativo School of Sandro Segneri: Sandro has done a spectacular shortening of the massive olive, well, the shortening could also be a little less spectacular, if Sandro would simply use a saw instead chisel  ;-) :

 

Uživali smo tudi v zelo dobro pripravljenih demonstracijah uveljavljenih italijanskih bonsajskih šol, kar je bila garancija za veliko novega znanja. Vsaka šola se je predstavljala v posebnem prostoru. Bonsai Creativo School Sandra Segnerija: Sandro je opravil spektakularno krajšanje masivne oljke; no krajšanje bi lahko bilo tudi malce manj spektakularno, če bi Sandro namesto dlete enostavno uporabil žago ;-) :

 

 

Progetto Futuro by Enrico Savini:

 

Progetto Futuro Enrica Savinija:

And Studio Botanico by Salvatore Liporace:

In Studio Botanico Salvatoreja Liporaceja:

 

Bonsai art at a high Italian level!

 

Bonsajizem na zelo visokem italijanskem nivoju!

NINA

Holidays were a bit festive, a little hard-working, great weather gave a fresh spring flavor to this days. Yesterday Nina came to the atelier, she is an amateur painter, her boyfriend gave her a ticket for beginner's course as a birthday present. We worked on Picea glauca, Nina learned incredibly fast about the principles of wiring and she completed the tree virtually by herself.

 

Prvomajski prazniki so bili malce praznični, malce delavni, čudovito vreme pa dneve sladka s pomladanskim okusom. Včeraj se je v ateljeju oglasila Nina; ljubiteljska slikarka, ki ji je začetniški tečaj kot rojstnodnevno darilo poklonil njen fant. Delala sva na glauci, Nina pa je neverjetno hitro osvojila principe žičenja in drevo dokončala praktično sama.

 

Picea galuca after basic cleaning

 

While Nina enjoyed working on spruce, I hosted Nikola in a garden. Nikola, along with Dean, is a driving force of the Zen bonsai club in Zagreb. We talked about some plans, Tora branch in Zagreb is developing as we agreed!

 

Med tem, ko je Nina uživala pri delu z smreko, sem v vrtu gostil Nikolo. Nikola je skupaj z Deanom gonilna sila kluba Zen iz Zagreba. Z gostom sva napravila nekaj načrtov, podružnica Tore v Zagrebu se razvija tako, kot smo se dogovorili!

 

Nikola photographing some of my trees

 

Nina finished the tree, I gave her all the necessary maintenance instructions, so the pictures for the archives followed!

 

Nina je smreko dokončala, dobila vsa potrebna navodila za vzdrževanje in sledilo je le še fotografiranje za arhiv!

 

Nina and her first bonsai

 

For some time now I owe you a photo of the new step of Karavanke spruce. After three years of acclimatization, last February it went through the first styling. After the wireing it twice last season, it was potted in to first bonsai pot. The pot is too large, but due to the large root cake at this stage it did not go in to smaller one. New re poting, presumably in the final pot, will be done in two years. Until then, it will, of course, be wired again ...

 

Že nekaj časa dolgujem tudi fotografijo novega koraka na smreki Karavanke. Po treh letih aklimatizacije je lani februarja doživela prvo preobrazbo. Potem kar dvakrat prerastla žico, tako da je zdaj nekoliko skuštrana dočakala svojo prvo bonsajsko posodo. Posoda je prevelika, toda zaradi velike koreninske grude v tej fazi v manjšo ni šla. Novo presajanje, predvidoma v končno posodo, jo čaka čez dve leti. Do takrat pa bo seveda tudi počesana ...

 

February 2012, before first styling

After first styling

June 2012, after second wiring

April 2013, in first bonsai pot

 

 

P. S.: The grafting of junipers is in full swing ...

 

P.S.: Tudi cepljenje brinov je v polnem teku ...