sreda, 30. december 2015

ORIENTALIS

Carpinus orientalis is one of three Slovenian native hornbeam species and at the same time also the best one for bonsai. Small leaves and tiny shoots are perfect. This one was collected by Matej and later came to my collection. It has nice nebari and tapering and a lot of branches to choose from. The main fault is die-back area at the back of the tree's trunk. I'll deal with that in future development of the tree.
 
Kraški gaber (Carpinus orientalis) je ena od treh vrst gabra, ki raste na naših tleh, in hkrati najboljša za bonsaj. Majhni listi in drobni poganjki so idealni. Tega je izkopal Matej in je kasneje prišel v mojo zbirko. Ima dober nebari in ožanje in veliko vej, med katerimi se da izbirat. Največja pomanjkljivost je mrtvo območje na zadnjem delu debla, ampak s tem se bom ukvarjal v bodočnosti.
 
Carpinus orientalis before first styling, December 2015
 
At first photo you can see, how vigorous the tree is: it can grow up to one meter long shoots and the development of ramification is extremely quick. I made a selection of the branches and wired them all. At this stage of development is very important to pay attention to the structure of the branches: they must have tapering like trunk - from thick start at the base to thin ends.
 
Na prvi fotografiji je lepo videti, kako močno je drevo. Lahko požene tudi meter dolge poganjke in zato je razvoj razvejanosti zelo hiter. Napravil sem selekcijo vej in jih vse  ožičil. V tej fazi razvoja je zelo pomembno paziti na strukturo vej: podobno kot deblo morajo imeti ožanje, od debele baze do drobnih vejic na koncu.
 
Carpinus orientalis after first styling, December 2015
 
Tapering of branches is very important and difficult to achieve
 
In next season I'll try to improve nebari with some shoots and work on ramification; hornbeam will continue to grow in the same pot for one season more, I am planning to re-pot it into the first bonsai-pot in spring 2017.
 
Naslednjo sezono bom z nekaj poganjki skušal še izboljšati nebari in delal na razvejanosti. Gaber bo še eno sezono rasel v tej posodi, v prvo bonsajsko posodo ga nameravam presaditi spomladi 2017.
 
Carpinus orientalis before first styling (black background)

Carpinus orientalis after first styling (black background)

četrtek, 24. december 2015

BREST

Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia) is very common and widely spread species in commercial bonsai. Rare pieces in the West are good and quality is usually low. Nevertheless the Ulmus species are one of the best for bonsai use. We have three native species of Ulmus: glabra (Mountain elm), laevis (Long-penducle elm) and carpinifolia (Field elm). Ulmus has nice bark, small leaves, tiny shoots and is very vigorous: this are all great atributes for bonsai. This is a story about Field elm, nothing special, testing one, but just an example what can be done with elms. The tree came into the shop as gift from Gregor in winter 2014/15. I started to work on it in March 2015, so only 9 months ago.
 
Kitajski brest (Ulmus parvifolia) je običajna in zelo razširjena vrsta v komercialnem bonsaju. Le redki primerki na Zahodu pa so dobri in kvaliteta je nizka. Vseeno pa je brest kot vrstaena najboljših za bonsaj. V Sloveniji imamo tri avtohtone vrste brestov: glabra (gorski brest), laevis (dolgopecljasti brest) in carpinifolia (poljski brest). Brest ima lepo skorjo, majhne liste, drobne poganjke in poganja iz starega lesa: to so vse odlične lastnosti za bonsaj. To je zgodba o poljskem brestu, nič posebnega, gre bolj za test, toda je dober primer, kaj se da storiti z brestom. Drevo je v delavnico prišlo kot Gregorjevo darilo v zimi 2014/15. Z delom sem začel marca 2015, torej le 9 mesecev nazaj.
 
Ulmus carpinifolia, Field elm, March 2015
 
The main problem of this tree was nebari. It has reverse tapering, so I decided to use a radical technique: I take the tree out of the pot and dissected the lower part of the trunk. This was also a good test of how vigorous is this tree.
 
Največja težava tega drevesa je bil nebari. Imelo je celo nasprotno ožanje. Tako da sem se odločil za radikalno tehniko: drevo sem vzel iz posode in razcepil spodnji del debla. To je bil tudi dober test, koliko lahko drevo prenese. 
 
The problem was reverse tapering

The same area after work
 
After re-poting and work on the roots, I also made a selection of branches, then I wired all of them and started to work on structure of the branches. All in one day and the tree survived without a problem!
 
Po presajanju in delu na koreninah, sem napravil še selekcijo vej, ostale požičil in začel delati na strukturi vej. Vse v enem dnevu in drevo jepreživelo brez težav!
 
First step completed, March 2015
 
Elm reacted very well, after 9 months of growth it was time for the second step. I wired it fully again and just after one growing season the tree started to show the potential.
 
Brest je reagiral zelo dobro, po devetih mesecih je bil čas za drugi korak. Spet je bil v celoti ožičen in že samo po eni rastni sezoni je začel kazati ves svoj potencial.
 
Elm before second step, December 2015

Elm after second step, December 2015
 
In the future I'll concentrate on developing a proper roots for nebari, and also the transition between trunk and the top is still too obvious: the top must thicken a lot. This are main tasks for the future; I am planning to re-pot it in a bonsai pot in spring 2017.
 
V prihodnje se bom skoncentriral na razvoju korenin za nebari, tudi prehod med deblom in vrhom je še preveč očiten, vrh se mora odebeliti. To so glavne naloge za bodočnost. Presajanje v bonsajsko posodo načrtujem za pomlad 2017.
 
Elm (black background) before second step

Ulmus carpinifolia, December 2015 (black background)

ponedeljek, 14. december 2015

DELAVNICA

Ta teden se dobimo v četrtek, 17. decembra!

sobota, 12. december 2015

SMREKA BLAŽ

 
Another tree, another story, another friendship ... Blaž Jemec is one of the founding members of the Slovenian Bonsai Club; we started the club in 2003 and since then Blaž was always one of the most active members, we also became friends, not only bonsai friends. Blaž is now focusing also in other things in his life, not only bonsai, so he decided to reduce his collection of trees. So this big spruce became a part of my collection. Blaž, thank you again!
 
Novo drevo, nova zgodba, novo prijateljstvo ... Blaž Jemec je eden od ustanovnih članov Slovenskega bonsaj kluba. Ustanovili smo ga leta 2003 in Blaž je bil vedno med bolj aktivnimi člani; postala sva prijatelja, ne zgolj bonsajska prijatelja. Blaž se zdaj v življenju posveča tudi drugim stvarem, ne le bonsaju, zato se je odločil, da bo svojo zbirko dreves zmanjšal. Tako je njegova velika smreka postla del moje zbirke. Blaž, še enkrat hvala!
 
Blaž Jemec working on the same tree in 2010
 
Here is a story about this tree - as always, special trees have a special story! Spruce was collected by Blaž in Slovenian mountains, many years ago. It was meant to be styled for the first time in 2010 on workshop with Steve Tolley. But because of volcano eruption Steve couldn't fly to Slovenia, Blaž did it alone. This was the outcome.
 
Tu je zgodba tega drevesa - kot vedno, posebna drevesa imajo posebno zgodbo! Smreko je v hribih izkopal Blaž že pred leti. Prvič naj bi bila oblikovana leta 2010 na delavnici z Stevom Tolleyjem. Ker zaradi izbruha ognjenika Steve ni mogel prileteti v Slovenijo, jo je Blaž oblikoval sam. To je rezultat.
 
Spruce before work in 2010
 
After first work of Blaž, 2010
 
Blaž was not satisfied with it; but nevertheless the spruce grew strong and two years later it was re-potted into the first bonsai pot.
 
Blaž z rezultatom ni bil zadovoljen; smreka je vseeno močno pognala in dve leti kasneje je bila presajena v prvo bonsajsko posodo.
 
Spruce in first bonsai pot, 2012
 
Then Blaž came with an idea how to further style it. He drew a nice sketch and according to plan he bend the strong first branch down and made further cuts in crown.
 
Potem se je blaž odločil, da bo nadaljeval z oblikovanjem. Narisal je lepo skico in glede na načrt je močno spodnjo vejo ukrivil navzdol ter v krošnji opravil še nekaj dodatnih rezov.
 
Nice sketch by Blaž, 2013
 
Good job with bending the main branch in 2013
 
Now, by my opinion, Blaž made some mistakes. Firstly, the sketch is two-dimensional and the tree in nature will never look like sketch on the paper. So he cut off way too many branches on the right side; but he did a very good job with bending the main branch.
 
Blaž je, po mojem mnenju, takrat napravil nekaj napak. Prvič, skica je dvodimenzionalna in drevo v naravi ne bo nikoli izgledalo tako, kot skica na papirju. Tako je na desni strani porezal preveč vej; toda s krivljenjem glavne veje je napravil zelo dobro delo.
 
After wiring in 2013
 
The tree now came to the TORA atelier. It is very strong and healthy tree, so I decided to style it right away. It has nice nebari, fantastic tapering, old bark and compact green. I tried to follow original design as much as possible.
 
Drevo je zdaj prišlo v TORA atelje. Je zelo močno in zdravo, zato sem se odločil, da ga takoj oblikujem. Ima lep nebari, fntastično ožanje, staro skorjo in kompaktno zelenje. Kolikor je le mogoče sem skušal slediti originalnemu dizajnu.
 
In TORA atelier, December 2015
 
But soon enough it was clear, that some branches on the right side are missing. So I decided to form a second, small crown from secondary branch. This form of growth is common on old spruces in the mountain. With that, the main problem of styling was solved.
 
Toda kmalu je bilo jasno, da na desni strani manjkajo veje. Odločil sem se, da iz sekundarne veje oblikujem manjšo krošnjico. Ta način rasti je pri starih smrekah v gorah običajen. S tem je bila glavna težava oblikovanja rešena.
 
The problem is solved!
 
If one is just pinching the spruce's tips and not cutting and make selection, the result is puddle-like growth at the end of the branches, but the inner parts are without green. So, before I wired every single branch I also made a selection of growth. I also cut some surface roots, and made a nice little jin out of one of them. Nice little detail!
 
Če smreko zgolj vršičkamo in ne režemo ter opravljamo selekcije, je rezultat gosta rast iz enega mesta na koncu veje, toda notranjost je gola. Preden sem ožičil vsako najmanjšo vejico sem torej opravil selekcijo rasti. Odrezal sem tudi nekaj površinskih korenin, eno med njimi sem spremenil v majhen džin. Lepa podrobnost!
 
Branch with puddle-like growth

The same area after selection of growth and wiring

Some nice details

Little jin and old bark
 
Gašper, TORA international bonsai school apprentice cleaned the pot and it was time for shooting the final result. Spruce has nice clean lines, Gašper also mentioned that it looks so Chinese (It was not meant pejoratively). Maybe. But in one growing season the lines of pads will soften, the tree will be potted a little diper in the future, the moss will be added and the tree will be ready for the show! I can't wait for it!
 
Gašper, študent šole TORA je očistil posodo in bil je čas za fotografiranje rezultata. Smreka ima čiste linije, Gašper je omenil, da izgleda zelo Kitajska (pa ni bilo mišljeno slabšalno!). Mogoče. Toda v eni rastni sezoni se bodo linije oblačkov zmehčale, drevo bo posjeno nekoliko globlje v posodo, dodan bo mah in drevo bo pripravljeno za razstavo. Komaj čakam!
 
Gašper celaning the pot

Final image
 

četrtek, 26. november 2015

DVA VRHA

One can awake so many feelings with bonsai. Spruce in this article is a powerfull old survivor, which is telling us about years of storms, winds, cold, snowy winters and most of all, why is important to survive ... Aleš, who bring this spruce to atelier, is by age the oldest student of TORA school. Many times he talks about his collecting trips and how he enjoys them. How he feels invigorated after hours of hiking in great nature - it doesn't matter if he collects some trees or not.
 
Z bonsaji lahko vzbudimo toliko občutkov. Smreka iz tega članka je močna stara borka, ki nam pripoveduje o letih viharjev, vetrov, mraza, snega, a predvsem nam pripoveduje, zakaj jepomembno preživeti ... Aleš, ki je prinesel to smreko v atelje, je po letih najstarejši študent šole TORA. Velikokrat pripoveduje o svojih izletih, na katerih išče drevesa, in kako pri tem uživa. Kako se po urah hoje v krasni naravi počuti poživljenega - pa ni važno, ali kaj izkoplje ali ne. 
 
Aleš Krmelj working on spruce

Spruce as arrived in to atelier
 
This spruce is quite big; and as all such spruces it demands A LOT of wiring. This was the main task, but first we closely inspected the crown to see what is hiding inside.
 
Ta smreka je kar velika. In kot vse take smreke zahteva VELIKO žičenja. To je bila tudi glavna naloga, toda še prej smo pazljivo preučili krošnjo, da smo videli, kaj se skriva v njej.
 
Spruce, black background

Aleš spent many hours wiring alone ...

... or in company with other students
 
One of the options was to go with three crowns, but soon enough we decided to go just with two, because we want to expose some interesting details on this old tree and not cover everything with green.
 
Ena od opcij je celo bila, da bi uporabili tri krošnje, pa smo se kmalu premislili in smo uporabili le dve, saj smo hoteli poudariti zanimive podrobnosti na drevesu in ne vsega prekriti z zelenjem.
 
Detail of the point, where naturally bended branch is conected with trunk

Firts rough styling
 
After many hours of work the first styling is finished. The result is great and the tree has an even greater future. It has nice nebari, the main feature is of course naturaly bended branch turned in to second crown, with natural dead-wood. The tree tells us a story: once I stand tall, but lightning take off my top. So instead of that, I created a crown from my oldest branch. But I must also balance my trunk, so I produced another crown a little higher; this is now my real top ... Years of storms, winds, cold, snowy winters in the mountains also left a lot of scars on my bark ...
 
Po urah dela je prvo oblikovanje končano. Rezultat je dober in drevo ima lepo prihodnost. Ima dober nebari, glavna zanimivost pa je gotovo naravno zvita veja, spremenjena v drugo krošnjo, z naravnim mrtvim lesom. Drevo nam pripoveduje zgodbo: Nekoč sem bila visoka, toda strela mi je odbila vrh. Tako sem bila primorana v nov vrh spremeniti mojo najstarejšo vejo. Toda morala sem tudi uravnovesiti moje deblo, zato sem nekoliko višje pognala še eno krošnjo; ta je zdaj moj pravi vrh ... Leta neviht, vetrov, mraza in snega v hribih so na moji skorji pustila veliko brazgotin ...
 
 
Then we brought the branch closer to the trunk with guy wire
 
Also the top of the second crown was the brought closer with another guy wire. This is the final image, for now of course!
 

nedelja, 25. oktober 2015

KUROMATSU

This is another great tree from Rok's collection. Japanese black pine, Pinus Thunbergii, Kuromatsu. It was time for some autumn cleaning and wiring.
 
To je še eno izvrstno drevo iz Rokove zbirke. Japonski črni bor, Pinus thunbergii, Kuromatsu. Prišel je čas za jesensko čiščenje in žičenje.

Pinu thunbergii before intervention

Soon the workshop floor was full of old needles and candles. First selection of buds was done.

Kmalu so bila tla v delavnici polna starih iglic in sveč. Prva selekcija brstov je bila opravljena.

 
The tree has great bark, nebari, tachigari, first two branches are very thick and old, with old bark on them. We are talking quality here! :-)
 
Drevo ima izjemno skorjo, nebari, tačigari, prvi dve veji sta debeli in stari z starim lubjem na njih. Govorimo o kvaliteti! :-)
 



Also the pot is not bad. When dirty, It doesn't look special, but when cleaned and oiled, the pot is really good, already with some patina on it.

Tudi posoda ni slaba. Ko je umazana, niti ne izgleda nekaj posebnega, ko pa je očiščena in naoljena je res dobra, že z nekaj patine.


Pine is now ready for winter. Next season we'll concentrate on needles shortening and the the tree will be ready for show!
 
Bor je zdaj pripravljen na zimo. Naslednjo sezono se bomo osredotočili na krajšanje iglic in drevo bo pripravljeno na razstavo!
 

sobota, 24. oktober 2015

BOREC

This is a story about the first five years of future bonsai. A quite interesting story. I collected this Pinus sylvestris in spring 2010. It grew on a cliff and when I was returning from the mountain It slid from my shoulder and roll down into the valley. Many branches were broken and root system totally crumbled. Nevertheless the tree survived, although the main trunk didn't. In January 2013 I decided to make a first step. Because the main trun died, I tried to do something out of horizontal branch. Firstly, I wanted to pull up the branch and made the interesting trunk out of it. Because It was very thick I used the sawing technique. All went according to the plan.
 
To je zgodba o prvih petih letih bodočega bonsaja. Zanimiva zgodba. Ta rdeči bor sem izkopal spomladi 2010. Rastl je na pečini in ko sem se vračal mi je zdrsnil z ramena in se skotalil v dolino. Veliko vej je bilo polomljenih, koreninska gruda povsem raztreščena. Ne glede na vse, je drevo preživelo, čeprav glavno deblo ni. Januarja 2013 sem se odločil za prvi korak. Ker je glavno deblo odmrlo, sem skušal nekaj napraviti iz horizontalne veje. Najprej sem jo hotel potegniti navzgor in iz nje napraviti zanimivo deblo. Ker je zelo debela, sem uporabil tehniko žaganja. Vse je šlo po načrtu.
 
This is the oldest photo of this tree. The main trunk is dead and on horizontal branch the green mass is very sparse.

This branch must go up. Way up!
 
One year later tree grew vigorously and I felt that I could go on with styling. I cut the upper branch; but when I tried to bend another - the trunk brake at sawing point. Obviously it was not healed enough. So, after collecting, this was already second accident and again survival of the tree was at risk. After the accident, I immediately stopped working, put the cut paste on the wound and put the tree to rest.
 
Leto kasneje je drevo veselo rastlo in čutil sem, da lahko nadaljujem z oblikovanjem. Odrezal sem vrhnjo vejo; toda, ko sem želel zviti drugo - se je deblo na točki žaganja spet odprlo. Očitno rana še ni ila dovolj zaceljena. Po izkopu je bila to že druga nesreča s tem drevesom in njegovo reživetje je bilo spet pod vprašajem. Po nesreči sem takoj prenehal z delom, rano zamazal s cepilno smolo in drevo dal počivat.
 
One year later pine grew vigorously, look how far up the horizontal branch is. Unfortunatelly the wound opened again and the work was stopped
 
Another year later wound sealed and the tree survived again! So It was time for first serious styling. This time everything went according to the plan, and without accident.
 
Še eno leto kasneje je bila rana zaceljena in drevo je spet preživelo! Torej je prišel čas za prvo resno oblikovanje. Tokrat je vse šlo po planu in brez nesreč. 

Pinus sylvestris before first styling

After first styling
 
The tree has a lot of interesting details, a lot of scars, which will always remind me about this story and about how strong this pine is. It is a true survivor!
 
Drevo ima veliko zanimivih podrobnosti, veliko brazgotin, ki me bodo vedno spominjale na to zgodbo in tudi na to, kako močan je ta bor. Pravi borec!

Ultimate training

Live and dead trunk joined at the base


Pinus sylvestris, October 2015

Development January 2013 - October 2015. Yes, it is the same tree!