GORICA

Last Sunday I spent at the exhibition Mostra bonsai "Antica Contea di Gorizia", Italy, in good company of friends. The exhibition has attracted club members from far and near Gorizia and Trieste. The trees were placed in the chambers of the municipal palace in Gorizia; the atmosphere was certainly a special, but trees were somehow lost in all the decoration of rooms, exhibition shelves were without any background.

 

Nedeljo sem preživel v dobri družbi prijateljev na razstavi Mostra bonsai "Antica Contea di Gorizia". Razstava je privabila člane klubov iz širše okolice Gorice in Trsta. Drevesa so bila postavljena v sobane občinske palače v Gorici; vzdušje je gotovo posebno a bonsaji se nekako izgubijo v vsem okrasju soban, razstavne police so bile namreč brez ozadja.

 

 

For photography, the organizers have prepared a neat tokonoma, where the trees were able to show their beauty. Nik also represented Slovenia with his Cornus.

 

Za fotografiranje so organizatorji pripravili lično tokonomo, kjer so drevesa le lahko pokazala svojo lepoto. Slovenske barve je z drenom zastopal tudi Nik:

 

 

I put the Pelican on display, Chinese juniper, which is in top form and deserves admiration. Well, it has earned the title of the most beautiful tree selected by the visitors!

 

Jaz sem na ogled postavil Pelikana, kitajski brin, ki je v vrhunski formi in si zasluži občudovanje. No, prislužil si je tudi naslov najlepšega drevesa po izboru obiskovalcev!

 

Club of my first teacher Adriano Bonini has exhibited a powerful boxwood with already very mature crown. The preparation of the tree for the show was very good!

 

Klub mojega prvega učitelja Adriana Boninija je razstavljal mogočen pušpan z že zelo zrelo krošnjo. Tudi priprava na razstavo je bila opravljena kot se šika!

 

We spend the day mostly outside, where the workshops were held. Miha has brought spruce, with which we had more than enough work for the day, but still it was fun too!

 

Dan smo v večini preživeli zunaj, kjer so potekale delavnice. Miha je prinesel smreko, s katero smo imeli več kot dovolj dela za ves dan, pa še zabavno je bilo!

KUPITI ALI NE

At exhibitions I often herad the remark, saying that this or that tree was purchased. In the pejorative sense. It's like buying a tree allows the owner to simply put it on the shelf and effortlessly pick up the prize. The truth is, at least in my opinion, far different. In a year or even in a few months every bonsai without proper care will be turned into bush and the owner will be anything but proud of it. Here is an illustration of what I'm talking about:
 

Večkrat sem na razstavah ob kakem drevesu na policah slišal pripombo, češ to je bilo pa kupljeno. V slabšalnem smislu. Kot da bi nakup drevesa lastniku omogočal, da ga enostavno postavi na polico in brez truda pobere nagrado. Resnica je, vsaj po moje, vse prej kot drugačna. Vsak, prav vsak bonsaj, se bo ob neznanju tistega, ki zanj skrbi, v nekaj mesecih, da ne govorimo letih, spremenil v grm in bo lastniku vse prej kot v ponos. Tu je ilustracija tega, o čemer govorim:

 

Two years ago, Tomaž's Juniperus virginiana was styled for the first time. Material seemed interesting, so I wanted the tree to stay in my garden. But Tomaž took it and promissed that will take good care of it.

 

Pred dvema letoma je Tomažev virginijski brin doživel prvo preobrazbo. Materijal se mi je zdel zanimiv, zato sem si želel, da bi drevo ostalo v mojem vrtu. A Tomaž ga je odpeljal in obljubil, da bo zanj dobro skrbel.

 

Juniperus virginiana after first styling, November 2012

 

Unfortunately, Tomaž's life was not easy in these two years and the tree was his last concern. After two years, the tree came back to the studio and I was shocked by it's state: Instead of juniper in good form, perhaps even planted in the first bonsai pot, the tree was in very poor condition. Wires have been completely cuted into the bark, the branches at the top grew a lot and were very extended, the lower branches have begun to die.

 

Žal se je Tomažu v teh dveh letih življenje postavilo na glavo in drevo je bilo njegova zadnja skrb. Po dveh letih je drevo spet prišlo v atelje in nad stanjem sem bil šokiran: Namesto, da bi bi bil brin že praktično dokončan, morda celo posajen v prvo bonsajsko posodo, je bil v zelo slabem stanju. Žice so se že popolnoma zajedle v skorjo, vrhno zelenje je močno pognalo, veje so se zelo podaljšale, spodnje veje pa so začele odmirati.

 

After two years juniper returned to the studio in shocking state ...

 

The wire cut a deep scars

Instead of step forward, the juniper did two steps back. Again it was at the beginning, even at worse starting point then less than two years ago. It cost me a lot of work to put the tree back on the path, at least at the point that providing a good basis to work on. Crown is now too large, because the greenery is at least 10-15 cm more far from the trunk instead closer to the trunk. There will be a lot of work to make crown small enough so that thoughtful dynamic design will come to the fore.
 

Brin je namesto naprej, napravil dva koraka nazaj. Spet je bil na začetku oz. izhodišče je bilo slabše kot pred dvema letoma. Vložil sem veliko truda, da sem drevo spet vrnil v vsaj približno obliko, ki omogoča dobro izhodišče za delo naprej. Krošnja je zdaj prevelika, saj se je zelenje namesto, da bi se približalo deblo, od njega oddaljilo za vsaj 10-15 cm. Potrebna bodo leta dela, da bo krošnja dovolj majhna, zamišljen dinamičen dizajn pa bo prišel do izraza.    

 

Juniper back on the path .. The crown is much too big though. September 2014

 

So purchasing of bonsai is not a guarantee for success. I have already said that I do not devide material with respect to its origin, but simply and solely on the good or bad. Anyone who wants to put a tree in an enviable exhibition form, he has to show a wealth of feeling for design and bonsai knowledge.

 

Tu je bil torej dokaz, da nakup bonsaja ni garancija za uspeh. Sam sem že večkrat dejal, da materijala ne delim glede na njegov izvor, ampak zgolj in samo na dobrega ali slabega. Kdor hoče drevo spraviti v zavidljivo razstavno formo, mora tako ali tako pokazati obilico občutka in bonsajskega znanja.

NOVA SEZONA

International bonsai school Tora started a new season. At first meeting of central group we already did a lot of bending, wiring and other usual bonsai stuff. There are interesting autumn and winter ahead!

 

V mednarodni bonsajski šoli Tora smo začeli z novo sezono. Že na prvem srečanju centralne skupine smo opravili veliko krivljenja, žičenja in drugih običajnih bonsajskih del. Obeta se zanimiva jesen in zima!

 Miha started a new project with this Pinus sylvestris. First bending; now the tree must rest

 

 

 

P.S.: Next session of central group will be in THURSDAY, 18, September. Welcome!

 

P.S.: Naslednje srečanje centralne skupine bo v ČETRTEK, 18. septembra. Vabljeni!

VEJE

This Juniper from Rok's collection represented a big challenge; the condition was that during the styling no branches must be cut off. So I was left with not so many options. I followed the path set by others who worked on this tree before me. It is a neglected itoigawa juniper with good movement. A major problem: the branches are old and the greenery is far from the trunk. The long-term solution is grafting, but this time I tried to compact the tree by directing the branches and with searching for the best line.

 

Tale brin iz Rokove zbirke mi je predstavljal kar velik izziv, saj je bil pogoj, da pri oblikovanju ne odrežem nobene veje. Tako mi prav veliko možnosti ni ostalo, sledil sem poti, ki so jo pred mano na tem drevesu začrtali že drugi. Gre za zanemarjen brin vrste itoigava z dobrim gibanjem a veliko težavo: veje so stare in zelenje je daleč od debla. Dolgoročna rešitev je cepljenje, tokrat sem ga skušal skompaktirati z usmerjanjem vej in iskanjem linije.

 

Juniperus chinensis as arrived in studio, September 2014

 

Considerable work has been done: repairing of the trunk-line and branches, editing the top, work on dead-wood ... I didn't go all the way with the wiring, because this is only a transitional phase. Now the real work on tree begins. When the thick wire and guy-wires will do their work, there will be more than enough time for details. Also watering and fertilizing will be very important ... And of course the new pot, as this is too deep and too narrow.

 

Opravljenega je bilo kar nekaj dela: popravljanje linije debla in vej, urejanje vrha, urejanje suhega lesa ... Z žičenjem nisem šel do konca, saj je to zgolj prehodna faza. Zdaj se delo na drevesu šele začne. Ko bodo debele žice in napenjalne žice opravile svoje, bo še več kot dovolj časa za podrobnosti. A pomembno bo tudi zalivanje in gnojenje ... Pa seveda nova posoda, saj je ta pregloboka in preozka.

 

Juniperus chinensis after work, September 2014

Virtual without ugly white pole ...

NOVA SEZONA

In Wednesday we'll start a new season. All students of TORA bonsai school are welcome from 2 pm on. We'll do a small demo on pine!

V sredo 10. septembra začenjamo s sezono 2014/15. Vabljeni vsi študentje šole TORA. Od 14-ih naprej manjši demo na boru!

RDEČA KASKADA

After a few months of break Sašo returned into the studio with a new enthusiasm. In spring he brought in the red pine, good, but demanding yamadori. We did the analysis and we roughly outlined the future of the tree; pine remained in the care of the Tora bonsai school over the summer, and with controled fertilising and watering gaining strength. Today, however, we worked on it for real. The tree is distinguished by wonderful details, old flaky bark and outstanding movement. Crown consisted of three branches:

 

Sašo se je po nekaj mesecih premora z novim elanom vrnil v atelje. Že spomladi je v analizo prinesel rdeč bor, dober, a zahteven jamadori. Takrat sva na grobo začrtala prihodnost drevesa; bor je potem čez poletje ostal v oskrbi v Tori, pod nadzorovanim gnojenjem in zalivanjem pridobival na moči. Danes pa sva se ga lotila zares. Drevo odlikujejo krasni detajli, stara luskasta skorja in izjemno gibanje. Krošnjo so tvorile tri veje:

 

Pinus sylvetris, material, September 2014

Since this is a kifu size bonsai we decided to build the crown from one branch, the other two branches were cut off and turned in to jins:

 

Ker gre za bonsaj kifu velikosti sva se odločila, da krošnjo zgradiva iz ene, ostali dve veji pa odreževa in spremeniva v džin:

 

Pinus sylvestris, after cutting off the branches - the great movement is visible

 

Then bending of the basic branch and wiring followed. Sašo learn about wiring, the basic skill that enables styling, for the first time and he did it very good. After more than five hours of work the first styling is complete, the result is good:
 

Sledilo je krivljenje osnovne veje in žičenje. Sašo se je prvič pobližje spoznal s to osnovno veščino, ki omogoča oblikovanje, in se zelo dobro znašel. Po dobrih petih urah dela je prvo oblikovanje končano, rezultat pa dober:

 

Pinus sylvestris after first styling, September 2014

 

Pinus sylvestris, white background

Pinus sylvestris with happy owner

 

In the future the crown will be even more compact, with more open space; movement and the details on the trunk are too interesting to be covered by green. By the spring Sašo will need to find a suitable pot ...

 

V prihodnosti bo krošnja še kompaktenjša, z več praznega prostora, gibanje in detalji na deblu so namreč preveč zanimivi, da bi ga prekrivalo zelenje. Do spomladi bo treba poiskati tudi primerno posodo ...