SMREKA K

Tips hardened off, so it is spruce-time! Spruce K did a step forward; crown matured and after a new wiring is already in exhibition-state. But the pot is another story ... They say, that maturity of bonsa is conected with number of wirings, on this spruce a number of wiring has already been done :-) Below is an illustration of path, that spruce K already did from February 2012 till today: 

 

Vršički so otrdeli, čas je za smreke! Smreka K je napravila še korak naprej; krošnja je dozorela in je po novem žičenju že v razstavni formi. Posoda pa je druga zgodba ... Pravijo, da je dozorelost bonsaja povezana tudi s številom žičenj, ki jih ima le-ta že za sabo; smreka jih ima že kar nekaj :-) Spodaj je ilustracija, kakšno pot je K že prehodila od februarja 2012 do danes: 

 

Development February 2012 - Jun 2014

 

I collected this spruce in autumn 2008. After three growing seasons it was ready for first styling in early Spring 2012. It is tipical tree from pasture, has a dense growth and really good nebari and tappering. Firts I cuted some un-needed branches, did a further selection of small branches and chose a front.  

 

Smreko sem skopal jeseni leta 2008 in po treh rastnih sezonah mirovanja je bila zgodaj spomladi 2012 pripravljena za prvo oblikovanje. Tipično pašniško smreko, ki jo odlikuje gosta rast, zelo dober nebari in zelo dobro ožanje, sem najprej razredčil, napravil selekcijo vej in izbral prednjo stran.

 

February 2012 - material

February 2012 - after branch selection, front side

 

And then I dedicated to work that is mostly done on the spruces - wiring. If one hate wiring, then one couldn't deal with spruce. One must know some other tricks too, but wiring is the base. I call Roland for help for first wiring:

 

In potem je sledilo tisto, česar je na smrekah največ - žičenje. Kdor ne mara žičenja, se s smrekami ne more ukvarjati. Poznati mora še nekaj drugih trikov a žičenje je osnova. Na pomoč pri prvem žičenju sem poklical še Rolanda:

 

February 2012 - first two branches wired. 100 more to go :-)

 

After hours of cuting and wiring the base of new bonsai was born. We tryed to form a classical chokkan, because the trunk doesn't have a lot of movement, but has a really nice nebari and nice tappering.

 

Po urah rezanja in žičenja je bila osnova novega bonsaja rojena. Poskušala sva oblikovati klasičen čokan, saj deblo nima veliko gibanja, ima pa res lep nebari in dobro ožanje.

 

February 2012 - after first styling

 

After close inspection and deep analysis, I decided to cut first left branch. And this was the result after first styling:

 

Po daljši analizi sem se odločil, da odrežem prvo levo vejo. To je rezultat po prvem oblikovanju:

 

February 2012 - after the first right branch was cut off

 

Spruce reacted really well, and in June, when the tips hardened off I already re-wired the tree again.

 

Smreka je lepo reagirala in Junija, ko so vršički otrdeli sem jo že ponovno ožičil.

 

June 2012 - Spruce started to fill up, after re-wiring

 

After one year of resting (this was already 5 years in the same pot after collecting) I repoted the spruce in the first bonsai-pot. Is still to big, but the root-ball was realy big and I couldnt reduce it more. I also decided to pot it leaning slighty to right; nebari is really powerful in this position and the tree is also more dinamic.

 

Po letu dni počitka (to je bilo že peto leto v isti posodi po izkopu) sem smreko presadil v prvo bonsajsko posodo. Je prevelika, toda koreninska bala je bila res velika in nisem je mogel bolj zreducirati. Odločil sem se tudi, da jo posadim nagnjeno nekoliko v desno; nebari je v tem položaju res močen in drevo je bolj dinamično.

 

May 2013- in first bonsai-pot

 

After re-poting spruce exploded with tousand of new buds, in two months the tree completely outgrows the basic line:

 

Po presaditvi je smreka eksplodirala s tisoči novih brstov, v dveh mesecih je povsem prerasla osnovno linijo:

 

June 2013 - thousand of new buds!

 

Carefuly I did a selection of buds and also did a fine-wiring of new growth. The result was already great:

Pazljivo sem opravil selekcijo brstov in natančno ožičil novo rast. Rezultat je bil odličen:

June 2013 - After wiring, white background

June 2013 - after wiring, black background

 

Also this spring spruce has a thousand of new buds, which were pinched, and then in June I did a new selection of buds, cut some old branches and completely re-wired the tree.

 

Tudi to pomlad je imela smreka na tisoče novih brstov, najprej sem jo zvršičkal, potem pa junija napravil selekcijo brstov, porezal nekaj starih vej in popolnoma na novo ožičil celo drevo.

June 2014 - again a lot of new growth

 

After a long and precise work the result was great. The crown is already mature and the tree has I quiet, majestic feeling. If It would be potted in better pot It would be already ready for exhibition.

 

Po dolgem in natančnem delu je bil rezultat odličen. Krošnja je že zrela in drevo daje tih, mogočen vtis. Če bi bila posajena v boljšo posodo bi bila že pripravljena na razstavo.

 

June 2014 - after wiring, white background

June 2014 - after wiring, black background

 

Nevertheless, one year more of maturing will not do a harm to the tree :-) So, the summary: It is important to prepare the tree long enough in training pot before the first styling. The spruce need a constant work and at least two wiring per year (february, june). If one not want to end with green mass only at the tips, the constant selection of buds is needed. The best time for that is June, after the new growth harden off. And, of course, dont't forget to spray the crown and your fingers during the work! :-)

 

Kakorkoli, eno leto zorenja več ji ne bo škodilo :-) Povzetek: Pomembno je drevo na prvo oblikovanje dovolj dolgo pripravljati v trening posodi. Smreka potrebuje nenehno delo in vsaj dve žičenji na leto (februar, junij). Če nočete končati z kupčkom iglic samo na koncu vej, potem je potrebna nenehna selekcija brstov. Najboljši čas za to je junij, potem ko otrdijo vršički. In, seveda, ne pozabite ves čas med delom pršiti krošnje in svojih prstov! :-)

June 2014 - In garden, maturing for another year ...

TISA

After four years of work, I am presenting a yew-project, an urban jamadori from my brother's garden. That the bonsai is long-term art  we all already know, well with that tree things go particularly slow because it was necessary to set a completely new structure of the crown, from scratch. Tree was collected in March 2010 in my brother's garden. I was impressed with nebari, everything else was more or less boring:

 

Po štirih letih dela predstavljam projekt tise, gre za urbani jamadori iz bratovega vrta. Da je bonsajizem tek na dolge proge že itak vemo, no pri tem drevesu gredo stvari še posebej počasi, ker je bilo treba strukturo krošnje postaviti popolnoma na novo, iz nič. Drevo izkopano marca 2010 v bratovem vrtu na Primorskem. Navdušil me je nebari drevesa, vse ostalo je bilo bolj ali manj dolgočasno:

 

 

By June of the same year the tree grew so vigorously that in summer the cuting of lower branches that are unnecessarily constrained energy was already needed.

 

Do junija istega leta se je ukoreninila in tako veselo poganjala, da je bilo treba poleti že rezati odvečne spodnje veje, ki so po nepotrebnem tratile energijo:

 

 

 

Two years more passed before first styling, in February 2012 it was prepared for the first massacre. Sometimes it is necessary to do two steps back, that you can then make three forward. In Vrhnika, at workshop with Savini (Progetto Futuro) it started its bonsai story:

 

Do prve obdelave sta potem pretekli še dve leti, februarja 2012 je bila pripravljena za prvi masaker. Včasih je potrebno storiti dva koraka nazaj, da lahko potem naredimo tri naprej. Na Vrhniki, na delavnici z Savinijem (Progetto Futuro) je začela svojo bonsajsko pot:

 

 

With Enrico We set the first outlines of shari on otherwise boring trunk:

 

Z Enricom sva začrtala prve obrise šarija, ki naj bi razgibal sicer dolgočasno deblo:

 

 

And as that were not enough, I shaped the ten-jin with a chisel:

 

In kot da ne bi bilo dovolj, sem se z dletom lotil še vrha:

 

 

After this severe test I give a yew a year off, It grew nice, in March 2013 in Savinis workshop in Bologna we continued with work: extension and finishing of shari, the first basic wiring.

 

Po tej hudi preizkušnji je dobila leto dni počitka, se lepo obrasla, marca 2013 je v Savinijevi delavnici v Bologni doživela nadaljevanje: podaljševanje in dodelava šarijev, prvo žičenje osnovnih vej.

 

 

 

Also on this intervention It reacted nice and in June of the same year I finally started working on the details and arranging the crown. It started to show the first contours:

 

Tudi na ta poseg je lepo reagirala in že junija istega leta sem končno lahko začel delati na podrobnostih in urejanju krošnje. Začeli so se kazati prvi obrisi:

Work  on the details continuesof also this year. In the spring I re potted it from a large container into a smaller plastic (with Roland assistance) pot and reduced a root system. I am planning another repotting, this time in bonsai pot, in two years time. In last few days I cut all the wire off and did a re-styling of crown, another step further:

 

Delo na podrobnostih se nadaljuje tudi letos. Spomladi sem jo iz velikega kontejnerja ob Rolandovi pomoči presadil v pol manjšo posodo in ob tem zmanjšal koreninski sistem. Ponovno presajanje, takrat v bonsajsko posodo, načrtujem čez dve leti. V zadnjih dneh je bila razžičena in ponovno oblikovana, napravila je še korak naprej:

 

 

Development 2012-2014:

 

Razvoj 2012-2014:

P.S.: It was so nice morning ...

P.S.: In bilo je zelo lepo jutro ...

 

 

 

 

JUNIJ

On one of the last workshops in this part of the season (the school will be open until the end of June), we first focused on the theory of pintching and cutting tips on pine and spruce: when, how, and especially why we do it:

 

Na eni zadnjih delavnic v tem delu sezone (šola bo odprta še do konca junija) smo se najprej posvetili teoriji vršičkanja in rezanja vršičkov na borih in smrekah: kdaj, kako in predvsem zakaj to počnemo:

 

 

 

Miha then defoliated and re-wired his Prunus mahaleb, Jan worked on juniper, while Miha O. was meditating in my garden ... :-)

 

Miha je potem razlistal in na novo ožičil rešeliko, Jan je delal na brinu, Miha O. pa meditiral v mojem vrtu ... :-)

 

 

NAPREDEK ALI NE

Comments by an anonymous reader of my blog (is it really so difficult to sign with the name ... ;-)) from the previous post encouraged me to write about my views on the origin of bonsai material. Dear anonymous emphasized the fact that bonsai in Slovenia didn't develop at all, because most of the trees at the 6th International exhibition were imported anyway. So:
There are two types of bonsaist - those who swear that the "right" way  is only that one must find suitable material in nature, collect it, and style it to the exhibition level; and those who think that it is not important where the material comes from, if you can afford it is also OK to buy it, as long as it is good and provides good results. Among the latter I consider myself too, but, for example, I've also never heard  that Kimura ever worked on material which he collect himself  :-). I work with the same pleasure on trees that I collect myself and those I have imported or bought from a friend. As long as they are good :-) Anyway, it is logical to me that the imported material will not look very good, if a person who is dealing with it does not have enough knowledge. It dosen't matter if it is a juniper from import, or yamadori from the Slovenian Alps - to successfully deal with bonsai art knowledge and talent are necessary. Anyone who has a little experience with trees knows that after a few months or even years every bonsai let alone completely loses shape and it is necessary to restate exactly the same techniques as with a fresh yamadori. Below I will show two examples from my collection, which was presented at the last exhibition:

 

Komentarji anonimnega bralca mojega bloga (a se je res tako težko podpisat z imenom ... ;-) ) iz prejšnjega posta so me vzpodbudili k pisanju, ki ga ravnokar berete: o mojih pogledih na izvor bonsajskega materiala. Spoštovani anonimni se je namreč pridušal, da bonsajizem v Sloveniji ni nič napredoval, saj je bila večina dreves na 6. Mednarodni razstavi tako ali tako uvožena. Torej:

Poznamo dve vrsti bonsajistov - tiste, ki prisegajo na to, da je "prava" pot edino ta, da sam najdeš primeren materijal v naravi, ga izkoplješ, oblikuješ in dodelaš do razstavnega nivoja; in tiste, ki menijo, da ni pomembno, od kod materijal prihaja, če si ga lahko privoščijo, ga tudi z veseljem kupijo, le da je dober in omogoča dobre rezultate. Med slednje se prištevam tudi sam, pa tudi recimo za Kimuro še nisem slišal, da bi kdaj delal na materijalu, ki ga je sam izkopal in oblikoval :-). Z enakim veseljem delam na drevesih, ki sem jih izkopal sam ali pa sem jih uvozil ali odkupil od prijatelja. Samo da so dobri :-) Tako ali tako se mi zdi logično, da tudi uvožen materijal ne bo zgledal ravno dobro, če človek, ki se ukvarja z njim nima dovolj znanja. Naj si gre za kitajski brin iz uvoza, ali jamadori iz slovenskih Alp - za uspešno ukvarjanje z bonsajizmom je potrebno znanje in talent. Kdor ima vsaj malo izkušenj z drevesi ve, da vsak bonsaj že po nekaj mesecih, kaj šele letih povsem izgubi obliko in ga je potrebno na novo oblikovati s povsem enakimi tehnikami, kot bi oblikovali jamadori. Spodaj bom navedel dva primera iz moje zbirke, ki sta bila predstavljena tudi na zadnji razstavi:

 

Ficus retusa, material imported from Taiwan, in autumn of 2007 I bought the tree at Crespi's and started working on it. In seven years I have reached the high level of ramification, narrowing of the branches and ultimately the entire form. That is why I also exhibited it without leaves:

 

Fikus retusa, materijal uvožen iz Tajvana, jeseni 2007 sem ga kupil pri Crespiju in začel z delom. V sedmih letih sem dosegel zavidljivo stopnjo ramifikacije, ožanja vej in nenazadnje tudi celotne forme. Zato sem ga tudi razstavil brez listov:

 

Ficus as it was imported in December 2007

Ficus in spring 2013

Ficus at VI. International bonsai exhibiton in May 2014

 

 

Chinese juniper, imported from Japan in December 2011. I started with the work in the spring of 2012. During two seasons I've created the crown folowing my ideas, I also changed the commercial container with a superior Tokoname pot. I also improved some jins.
 

Kitajski brin, uvožen decembra 2011 iz Japonske, z delom sem začel spomladi 2012. V dveh sezonah sem krošnjo oblikoval po svoji zamisli, zamenjal komercialno z vrhunsko posodo tokoname. Izboljšal sem tudi nekaj džinov.

 

Juinper as arrived in my atelier in April 2012

Juniper and author in Jun 2013

Juniper at VI. International bonsai exhibition, May 2014 (Photo: Roland Petek)

 

 

Are these cases evidence of knowledge and progress, or should this knowledge be used on the yamadori with Slovenian origin to convince the Anonymous that bonsai in Slovenia is progressing :-)? Everyone knows the answer and everyone goes his own way. For me, not one nor the other way is not "right" and the only one. Just choose any way that suits you best and enjoy it. But the fact is that the two trees showed here progressed in the past years, if anyone likes it or not! :-)
 

So taki primeri dokaz znanja in napredka, ali bi moral to isto znanje uporabiti na jamadorijih slovenskega izvora, da bi tudi Anonimnega prepričal, da bonsajizem v Sloveniji napreduje :-) ? Vsak zase ve odgovor in tudi gre svojo pot. Zame ne ena ne druga pot nista "pravi" in edino zveličavni. Vsak pač izbere pot, ki mu najbolj ustreza in v njej uživa. Dejstvo pa je, da sta obe drevesi v teh letih napredovali, pa če je to komu všeč ali pa ne! :-) 

 

PS: At the next meeting of the Central group of Tora bonsai school we will talk about pinching and cutting tips at pine and spruce. When, how, and especially why. All students are welcome!

 

P.S.: Na naslednjem srečanju centralne skupine šole Tora bomo govorili o vršičkanju in rezanju vršičkov pri borih in smrekah. Kdaj, koliko in predvsem zakaj. Vsi študenti vabljeni!

RAZSTAVA - VTISI

VI. International Bonsai Exhibition is officialy closed. This one was the best ever. Without a doubt. Quality of trees, mostly Slovenian ones, was on really high level. The result of excellent work over the past ten years in Slovenia. Level was quite comparable to many " best " European exhibition. Two days we enjoyed world-class demonstrations, Nik and as well as both foreign demonstrator Sandor Papp and Andrea Melloni, were great. Anyone who missed the event, may regret it!

 

Za nami je VI. Mednarodna razstava bonsajev. Najboljša doslej. Brez dvoma. Kvaliteta dreves, večinoma slovenskih, je bila na res visokem nivoju. Rezultat odličnega dela zadnjih deset let v Sloveniji. Nivo je bil povsem primerljiv z marsikatero "najboljšo" evropsko razstavo. Dva dni smo lahko uživali v vrhunskih demonstracijah, Nik in pa tudi oba tuja demonstratorja Sandor Papp in Andrea Melloni, so navdušili. Kdor je dogodek zamudil, mu je lahko žal!

Results of Saturday demos from Melloni and Papp (Sorry Nik, I don't have a photo of your tree ...I was too buisy ...)

 

 

Sandor Papp with his assistant Blaž after the Sunday demo

 

And these were unfortunately a lot. Even before exhibition I had the feeling that promotion does not run as it should and that we will end up disappointed with the number of visitors. So we did. On Saturday really small number of visitors, on Sunday was slightly better. But still below expectations and far from the figures that we have achieved in previous exhibitions. Even tough the event is excellent, without promotion the results are bad.

 

In teh je bilo žal veliko. Že pred razstavo sem imel občutek, da promocija ne poteka tako, kot bi morala in da bomo na koncu nad obiskom razočarani. Tako se je tudi zgodilo. V soboto res majhen odziv obiskovalcev, v nedeljo je bilo nekoliko bolje. A še vedno pod pričakovanji in daleč od številk, ki smo jih dosegali na prejšnjih razstavah. Brez promocije pač ne gre, pa naj bo dogodek še tako vrhunski.

 

 

Among other trees I have also exhibited defoliated ficus. Nice composition with lily in flowrs has attracted a lot of attention. Well, the prize was given to another tree of mine, but it's not as important, more important are the compliments and recognition of those whose opinions mean a lot to me.

 

Med drugimi drevesi sem razstavil tudi razlistan fikus. Posrečena kompozicija s cvetočo lilijo je pritegnila veliko pozornosti. No, nagrado je dobilo drugo moje drevo, ampak to ni toliko pomembno, pomembnejši so komplimenti in priznanja tistih, katerih mnenja mi veliko pomenijo.

 

 

 

Due to the input energy, stress and everything else, I'll need a few days of regeneration. Finally I understand that I can not and do not want to accept the role of organizer anymore. For various reasons. We will discuss this in the coming days in the club. Nevertheless : It was unforgettable, excellent bonsai event on which we can all be proud of ! Thank you all!

 

Zaradi vse vložene energije, stresa in vsega ostalega, bom potreboval še nekaj dni regeneracije. Dokončno mi je jasno, da vloge organizatorja nočem in ne morem več sprejeti. Iz različnih razlogov. O tem bomo v prihodnjih dneh govorili v klubu. Kljub vsemu: To je bil nepozaben, vrhunski bonsajski dogodek, na katerega smo lahko vsi ponosni! Hvala vsem, ki ste sodelovali!