SMREKA

Spruce is one of the most demanding species in bonsai world. If one want to keep the spruce in order, in right way developing towards perfection - it needs a LOT of work. It is difficult and time-consuming when wiring, it doesn't like to be touched, it needs sharp timing at candle pinching and shoots cutting. Not easy tree huh? But, in the other hand, it has also many good features: it is easy to collect, it has flexible branches, short needles ... So, it is still very good species for bonsai. One just need to find a good starting material. And this weeks we, at TORA international bonsai school, had opportunity to work on a really good one! Miha brought a big, more than 100 yrs old spruce in the studio.  Fantastic tree, with incredible energy, as it accumulated in it in over a century time. This is a mother of all spruces!

 

Smreka je ena zahtevnejših vrst v bonsajskem svetu. Če jo človek hoče obdržati v formi, na pravi poti pri razvoju proti perfekciji - zahteva res ogromno dela. Je zahtevna pri žičenju, zahteva ogromno časa, nima rada dotikanja, natančni moramo biti pri tajmingu vršičkanja in rezanja vršičkov. Težko drevo, kaj? Toda, po drugi strani, ima tudi veliko dobrih lastnosti: lahko jo je izkopati, ima prožne veje, kratke iglice ... Torej, še vedno je to dobra vrsta za bonsaj. Samo dober začetni materijal je treba najti! In v zadnjih tednih smo v šoli TORA imeli priložnost delati na res dobri smreki. Miha je v atelje prinesel veliko, več kot 100 let staro smreko. Fantastično drevo z neverjetno energijo, ki se je v njej nabirala več kot stoletje. To je mati vseh smrek!

 

THE SPRUCE, as arrived to atelier

 

First we thought not to style it, just to open it and let the sun and air in to crown. Prepare it for next year. But further analysis showed that complete first styling is possible and Miha decided to go all the way! And work that lasted for many hours, days and weeks, started!

 

Najprej smo razmišljali o tem, da je ne bi oblikovali, ampak samo odprli in spustili v krošnjo zrak in svetlobo. Jo pripravili za drugo leto. Toda nadaljna analiza je pokazala, da je oblikovanje mogoče in Miha se je odločil, da gremo do konca! Začelo se je dolgotrajno delo, ki je trajalo ure, dneve in tedne!

 

 

 

We went branch by branch, Miha wired one, we styled it, then we moved forward. And along the way we cut all the unneeded branches. Miha turned them in to jins. At one point almost all students of TORA international bonsai school laid hand on it and help to wire a little bit!

 

Lotili smo se je vejo po vejo. Miha jo je ožičil, potem smo jo oblikovali in šli naprej. Spotoma smo odrezali vse nepotrebne veje. Miha jih je oblikoval v džine. Skoraj vsi študentje TORE so tu in tam vsaj malce pomagali pri žičenju!

 

 

 

 

At all times we keep the crown moist, also our hands weren't dry. This is the most important thing at wiring the spruce!

 

Ves čas smo krošnjo vlažili, tudi naše roke niso bile suhe. To je pri žičenju smreke zelo pomembno!

 

 

Miha almost there! Just one branch to go!

 

And then, after weeks of hard work, the first styling was done! Miha did a great job! This is a fantastic spruce with such a great future! If we think that this is only a first styling, we can imagine what a tree this will be with all jins treated and with crown matured! Masterpiece!

 

In potem, po tednih trdega dela, je bilo prvo oblikovanje končano! Miha je naredil odlično delo! To je fantastična smreka z izjemno prihodnostjo. Če samo pomislimo, da je to šele prvo oblikovanje in da morajo biti še vsi džini obdelani in da mora krošnja dozoreti ... Mojstrovina!

 

 

Spraying all the time!

 

The final result after first styling

 

 

SYLVESTRIS

It is funny how different bonsai material can be: one can be turned in to masterpiece in really short time, the other needs years, maybe even decades. But in every case the preparation is very important. In TORA international bonsai school we prepared this Sašo's pine, Pinus sylvestris, in spring, but now it was already ready for first styling. The pine was collected at local hills two years before it came in to TORA workshop. Great base, then sharp turn, but then a long straight trunk. So, at first workshop, we concentrated on resolving this main problem. The powerful trunk was carefully prepared and then bended for cca 25 degres down. We also cut one unwanted branch and this was all for first intervention. The preparation for atumn styling done.

Zanimivo je, kako se bonsajski materijal razlikuje: enega je moč oblikovati v mojstrovino v relativno kratkem času, drugi za to potrebuje leta, mogoče celo desetletja. V vsakem primeru pa je priprava materijala zelo pomembna. V TORI smo Sašov rdeči bor pripravljali spomladi, zdaj pa je že bil pripravljen na prvo oblikovanje. Bor je bil izkopan v lokalnem hribovju dve leti preden je prišel v TORIN atelje. Odlična baza, potem zanimiv oster zavoj, toda potem dolgo ravno deblo. Na prvi delavnici smo se tako posvetili reševanju tega glavnega problema. Debelo deblo je bilo skrbno pripravljeno in potem skrivljeno za približno 25 stopinj navzdol. Odrezali smo še odvečno vejo in za prvi poseg je bilo dovolj. Priprava na jesensko oblikovanje končana.

Pinus sylvestris, starting material, March 2014

Great base with sharp turn

Bending of trunk in progress, we used combination of tehhnicques (Wet wood, sawing)

Sašo next to pine after first intervention, March 2014

Pine reacted very well. so after 8 months of rest we continued with work. Because there were a lot of branches and they were dence, we desided to go all the way - complete first styling.

Bor je dobro reagiral, tako da smo po osmih mesecih počitka nadaljevali z delom. Ker je na drevesu bilo veliko gostih vej, smo se odločili, da gremo do konca - torej opravimo celotno prvo oblikovanje.

Pinus sylvestris before first styling, December 2014

Sašo working

Final result after first styling, December 2014

Development March 2014-December 2014

If you have in mind the starting material - the result is great. Nice han-kengai with nice future. Next step will be repotting in to proper bonsai pot. The bonsai story never ends ... 

Glede na začetni materijal je rezultat odličen. Lepa pol kaskada z svetlo prihodnostjo. Naslednji korak bo presajanje v primerno bonsajsko posodo. Bonsajska zgodba se nikoli ne konča ...

KUROMATSU

A week of hard work on neglected Kuromatsu (japanese black pine, Pinus thumbergii) is done; first phase on this very big tree is completed. Tree is from Rok's collection and was neglected for a last five maybe even ten years. It is a yamadori, that fact add a value to the tree, but in the other hand it has some faults. This time, after the tree came to the shop, we dealed with faults made by careless owner before the tree came in to Rok posession. The main problems were the main branches which started to grow upwards again, then the big open space in the upper part of the tree. But first we cut all the phatetic guy wires whic did nothing else then just made the tree ugly.

 

Teden dni trdega dela na zanemarjenem japonskem črnem boru je za nama; prva faza na tem zelo velikem drevesu je končana. Drevo je iz Rokove zbirke in je bilo zanemarjeno zadnjih pet, morda celo deset let. Je jamadori, kar dodaja vrednost, toda na drugi strani ima tudi nekaj napak. Tokrat, potem, ko je drevo prišlo v delavnico, sva se ukvarjala z napakami, ki so posledica nepravilne vzgoje lastnika pred Rokom. Glavne težave so bile: glavne veje, ki so se že začele dvigovati, velika luknja v zgornjem delu krošnje. Najprej pa sva porezala vse patetične napenjalne žice, ki niso služile ničemur drugemu kot temu, da je bilo drevo grdo.

 

Kuromatsu as arrived to the shop

 

Ugly wires were cut off

 

Problem in the top: big empty space

 

After we cut all old needles we started to wire and slowly build the structure from bottom towards the top. When I first saw this big tree (one realizes how big is it only if one see it in live) my plan was to deal with every needle, to made the final styling. But with closer inspection it was obvious that the tree was so neglected that needed a much more - so we went way back in to the branch structure, repairing the crossed branches, cut the thicker ones and so on ...

 

Ko sva porezala vse stare iglice sva začela z žičenjem in postavljanjem strukture od spodaj navzgor. Ko sem to veliko drevo videl prvič (kako veliko je, človek spozna šele, ko ga vidi v živo) sem mislil, da bom lahko na mesto postavil vsako iglico, napravil finalno oblikovanje. Natančnejša analiza pa je pokazala, da je bilo drevo tako zanemarjeno, da je potrebovalo veliko več - tako sva morala veliko bolj nazaj z urejanjem strukture vej, popravljanjem prepletenih vej, rezanjem predebelih ...

 

TORA international bonsai school apprentice Gašper working on big Kuromatsu

 

The first phase is now completed. The tree is wired again, the branches are in position. Pine has great old bark, the smaller crown is now part of the story, wached over by parent crown on bigger trunk. The tree still needs a lot of work in the future - but for now this is it. Now the tree wil rest, in next season we'll do a next step with proper watering, feeding, pinching and cutting candles and so on ...

 

Prva faza je zdaj končana. Drevo je ponovno ožičeno, veje so tam, kjer morajo biti. Bor ima krasno staro lubje, manjša krošnja je del zgodbe, nad njo bdi večja na glavnem deblu. Drevo bo v prihodnosti potrebovalo še veliko dela, toda za zdaj je to to. Drevo bo zdaj počivalo, naslednjosezono pa bomo nov korak naprej napravili s pravilnim zalivanjem, gnojenjem, vršičkanjem in rezanjem svečk ...

 

Before - after

SAKKA-TEN

Tora international bonsai school organizes excursions for our students too. This time we went to Florence, Italy. Nippon Bonsai Sakka Kyookai Europe organized its bienal exhibition, Sakka-Ten, Autumn trees. One can read on their web-pages all about rules and standards. This time there were a little less trees then I expected, also the exhibition room was somehow small, but nevertheless there were some excellent bonsai trees. Here are some photos from this really nice event: 

 

Bonsajska šola Tora za študente organizira tudi ekskurzije. Tokrat smo se odpravili v Firence. Nippon Bonsai Sakka Kyookai Europe je organiziral bienalno razstavo, Sakka-Ten, jesenska drevesa. Na njihovi spletni strani si lahko preberete vse o pravilih in standardih. Tokrat je bilo na policah nekoliko manj dreves, kot sem pričakoval, tudi razstavni prostor je bil nekoliko premajhen. Vseeno pa je bilo nekaj razstavljenih dreves vrhunskih. Tu je nekaj fotografij s tega res lepega dogodka:

 

 

 

 

I especially liked this spruce (Picea abies):

 

Zelo mi je bila všeč tale smreka (Picea abies):

 

 

Infront of exhibition room, on the square in the middle of Fiesole above the Florence, one could find some traders. Many times I am surprised about prices, because this days one rarelly can find fair pricess of trees, pots and tools. I still don't know why a neglected sohin Cryptomeria with bad nebari and almost no tappering should cost 1000 eur and why some scissors, even though special, have 600 eur price-tag on it ... But obviously traders still can find a people which buys such things ... 

 

Pred razstavnim prostorom, na trgu sredi Fiesola nad Firencami, je bilo zbranih neka jprofajalcev. Velikokrat me cene presenetijo, saj dandanes človek redko naleti na poštene cene za drevesa, posode in orodje. Še vedno mi ni jasno, zakaj bi  morala znemarjena Cryptomeria šohin velikosti, z slabim nebarijem in skoraj brezu ožanja stati 1000 eur in zakaj bi moral neke škarje, pa čeprav posebne, imeti na sebi ceno 600 eur ... Toda očitno prodajalci še vedno najdejo ljudi, ki to kupujejo ...

 

BRIN R

This is a story about another Juniperus virginiana, most common juniper used in gardens and streets as green barriers or something like that. So material is easy to find. Virginiana is of course never going to be as fine as Itoigawa variety, one can't gain such a definition wit Virginiana as with Itoigawa. And there is also a problem with fungus. But nevertheless It is a nice material to work with. Tomaž R. came to atelier two years ago with such material. He wanted a tall tree, so we made one :-)!

 

To je zgodba o še enem Virginijskem brinu, vrsti, kije zelo pogosta v vrtovih in po ulicah za ozelenjevanje itn. Materijal je torej relativno dostopen. Virginiana seveda ne bo nikoli tako dobra kot Itoigawa, z Virginijskim brinom se nikoli ne da doseč takšne definicije, kot z itoigawo. In tu je tudi težava z gobo. Kljub vsemu pa je to dober materijal. Tomaž R. je pred dvema letoma prišel v atelje s takim materijalom. Želel si je visoko drevo, pa sva ga naredila :-)!

 

Juniperus virginiana, 2012

 

After two seasons tree returned to shop. As one can see at photo below, the tree grow a lot, the wire was cut off, juniper needed a new styling. Because the top has all sorts of problems I sugested to owner a lower tree. And this time he agreed! :-)

 

Po dveh sezonah se je drevo vrnilo v delavnico. Kot lahko vidite na spodnji sliki, je drevo lepo pognali, bilo je razžičeno in potrebovalo je novo oblikovanje. Ker je bilo z vrhom veliko težav sem Tomažu predlagal nižje drevo in tokrat se je strinjal! :-)

Juniperus virginiana, November 2014

 

So we made the plan, and Tomaž started to work. He cut the top off, we turned it in to ten-jin, then he wired all the branches. One side branch we turned in to a new top.

Napravila sva načrt in Tomaž se je lotil dela. Odrezal je stari vrh, oblikovala sva ga v ten-džin, potem je ožičil vse veje. Eno stransko vejo sva oblikovala v nov vrh.

Tomaž working, Aleš supervising :-)

 

Juniper wired up, and prepared for re-styling

Juniper virginiana, after re-styling

 

We ended with a much more compact and atractive tree wich has a good future. If it'll only avoid fungus infection!

 

Rezultat je veliko bolj kompaktno in atraktivno drevo z lepo prihodnostjo. Če se bo le izognilo okužbi z gljivo!

 

Juniper virginiana, before - after, November 2014

 

Meanwhile the first apprentice of TORA international school, Gašper, works hard. He re-styled a neglected spruce for our customer. He did a great job, only needed one or two advices and corrections. He is really tallented and he improves his skills fast.

 

Med tem Gašper še naprej trdo dela. Preoblikoval je zanemarjeno smreko za eno od strank. Opravil je dobro delo, le enkrat ali dvakrat je potreboval nasvet ali popravek. Res je talentiran in hitro napreduje.

Spruce before

Gašper working

 Spruce after

BOR M

I collected this red pine five years ago at local hills. After four years in pot it was more then ready for first styling. So I decided to give this tree to Andrea Melloni to style it this spring during VI. International bonsai exhibition in Ljubljana. It was a little late for styling as it was already first weekend in June.

 

Ta rdeči bor sem izkopal pred petimi leti v lokalnih hribih. Po štirih letih v posodi je bil več kot pripravljen za prvo oblikovanje. Odločil sem se, da ga ponudim Andrei Melloniju, ki naj bi ga oblikoval med demonstracijo na VI. Mednarodni razstavi v Ljubljani. Za oblikovanje je bilo že nekoliko pozno, saj je bil to že prvi konec tedna v juniju.  

 

Pine before work (Photo: Roland Petek)

 

Before work, at delicious cappuccino we, me and Andrea, discuss the future of this old yamadori. We agree at almost all details (which line to choose, which branch to use etc.), but even if we wouldn't agree, Andrea is an artist which I completely trust. So he started to work.

 

Pred začetkom sva se z Andreo na kapučinu pogovorila o prihodnosti tega starega jamadorija. Strinjala sva se v skoraj vseh podrobnostih (katero linijo izbrati, katero vejo uporabiti idr.), pa tudi če se ne bi, Andrea je bonsajist, ki mu popolnoma zaupam. In tako se je lotil dela.

Andrea working on big jin created from main trunk (Photo: Roland Petek)

Tomaž Hafner assisted Andrea (Photo: Roland Petek)

The final result after demonstration (Photo: Roland Petek)

The result was elegant pine with interesting line and even more interesting jin which complemented the line of the trunk. Because Andrea cut almost 70% of green mass and did some major bendings many people expressed their concern that the tree will not survive. But as always in such cases the preparation of the tree before the demo is as important as after care. So after demo the tree was carefully looked after with right measures and there was no problem. Tree reacted very well with a lot of new buds but also with very long needles. After five months It was time for a new step.

 

Rezultat je bil eleganten bor z zanimivo linijo in še bolj zanimivim džinom, ki dopolnjuje linijo debla. Ker je Andrea porezal skoraj 70% zelenja in napravil nekaj konkretnih zvijanj, je kar nekaj ljudi izrazilo dvome, da bo drevo preživelo. Toda tako kot vedno v takšnih primerih je priprava drevesa pred posegom enako pomembna, kot je skrb za drevo po njem. Po demotu je bilo za drevo dobro poskrbljeno s pravim pristopom in tako težav ni bilo. Drevo je reagiralo zelo dobro, z veliko novih brstov, a tudi z zelo dolgimi iglicami. Po petih mesecih je bil čas za nov korak.  

 

I cut off all the wire and raffia, Gašper also cutted all old needles. The bark on this tree is really spectacular!

 

Porezal sem vso žico in rafijo, Gašper je porezal tudi vse stare iglice. Skorja na tem drevesu je res spektakularna!

 

 

The pine was fully wired again. The crown is more compact now and the structure is better. After first styling of Andrea Melloni I found the tree a little to toll, so I try to lower it. Of course the needles are too long and It will take some three or four years to get the proper needles back. In meanwhile I'll re-pot the tree in to bonsai pot. I am looking forward to work on this tree!

 

Bor je bil potem ponovno ožičen. Krišnja je zdaj bolj kompaktna in struktura boljša. Po prvem oblikovanju Andrea Mellonija se mi je bor zdel nekoliko previsok, zato sem ga skušal znižati. Iglice so seveda še predolge, toda za to, da bodo pognale kompaktne prave iglice bodo potrebna tri ali štiri leta. V tem času bom drevo presadil v bonsajsko posodo. Se že veselim dela na tem drevesu!

 

Pinus sylvestris, October 2014, black background

Pinus sylvestris, October 2014, white background

To be continued ...

Se nadaljuje ...