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!

 

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!

 

OLEASTER IN SMREKA

TORA international bonsai school also takes care of some eminent collections. Collection of Rok Podlesnik is one of them for sure. This time I had the pleasure to work on big Olea oleaster. The tree came from Spain and was neglected at least two years. So it was about time to put it back on the right path.

 

Šola TORA skrbi tudi za nekaj pomembnih zbirk. Zbirka Roka Podlesnika je gotovo ena izmed njih. Tokrat sem imel priložnost delati na divji oljki. Drevo je prišlo iz Španije in bilo zanemarjeno vsaj zadnji dve leti. Torej je bil res že čas, da jo spet postavimo na pravo pot.

 

Olea oleaster, before

This was just a rough styling, because the time of the year is not the best one to work on Mediteranean species. We'll continue to work in the next growing season ...

 

To je bilo le grobo oblikovanje, saj letni čas ni ravno primeren za delo na sredozemskih vrstah. Z delom bomo nadaljevali v naslednji rastni sezoni.

 

Olea oleaster, after rough styling

 

The next project I want to show is Alpine Picea abies of Aleš Krmelj. He is one of the students of TORA school. Yesterday he completed the second step on this interesting tree. The first step was made in December 2014. Aleš brought the tree into the atelier two years after collecting. The tree has nice natural shari and some interesting movement, but still needed some preparation before first styling.

 

Naslednji projekt, ki bi ga rad predstavil, je smreka Aleša Krmelja. Aleš je eden od študentov šole TORA. Včeraj je končal z drugim korakom na tem zanimivem drevesu. Prvi korak je bil narejen decembra 2014. Aleš je drevo v atelje prinesel dve leti po izkopu. Ima lep naraven šari in zanimivo gibanje, a vseeno je potrebovalo nekaj priprave na prvo oblikovanje.

 

Pieca abies, before intervention, December 2014

 

We decided to put two bendings in to the straight branch. Because the branch is very old and thick we used special technique. After bending we protected the area with moist cloth.

 

Odločili smo se, da ravno vejo na dveh mestih skrivimo. Ker je veja zelo stara in debela, smo uporabili posebno tehniko. Po krivljenju, smo območje zaščitili z mokro krpo.

Protected area of the bending

Aleš working

 

Aleš brought the tree back 10 months later, It was well ready for the next step. He wired it and then we styled it for the first time. The result is very interesting spruce with a lot of drama, some nice movement and dead-wood.

 

Po 10-ih mesecih je Aleš drevo prinesel nazaj, bilo je pripravljeno na naslednji korak. Ožičil ga je in potem smo ga prvič oblikovali. Rezultat je zanimiva smreka z veliko drame, zanimivega gibanja in mrtvega lesa.

 

Picea abies, October 2015, before styling. Bending area is well healed

 

Never forget to spray when working on spruce!

Picea abies, October 2015, after first styling

 

During the next growing season the tree will be carefully maintained, in spring 2017 it will be re-potted into a bonsai pot. If everything will go according to the plan of course.

 

Naslednjo rastno sezono bo skrbno vzdrževana, spomladi 2017 pa bo, če bo šlo vse po načrtih seveda, presajena v bonsajsko posodo.

BRIN M

Gašper, TORA international bonsai school apprentice, was wiring this Juniper for the last few days. And he did a great job!

 

Gašper, študent šole TORA, se je zadnje dni posvečal žičenju tega brina. In opravil je zelo dobro delo!

 

Gašper working

 

The story of this Juniperus virginana started in October 2011. My dear friend Hans van Meer was guest of our club and during workshop with him I was working on this tree. Material was collected a few years earlier in Poland by another dear friend of mine - Marek Gajda. The line was set, now the real work on the tree started.

 

Zgodba tega Virginijskega brina se je začela oktobra 2011. Prijatelj Hans van Meer je bil takrat gost našega kluba in med delavnico z njim, sem delal na tem drevesu. Materijal je na Poljskem izkopal moj drug prijatelj - Marek Gajda. Linija je bila določena, zdaj se je začelo resno delo na drevesu.

 

Juniperus virginiana, October 2011, starting material

 

Author working on material

Juniperus virginiana after first styling, October 2011

Juniperus virginiana after first styling, October 2011

 

Two years and some dead branches later the tree was still in development, but progress was clearly visible. I also started to work on dead wood and live veins which, in the future, will help to add the movement in the lower part of the trunk.

 

Dve leti in nekaj odmrlih vej kasneje je bilo drevo še vedno v razvoju, toda napredek je bil jasno viden. Začel sem tudi z delom na mrtvem lesu in živih venah, ki bodo, v bodočnosti, pomagale dodati gibanje spodnjemu delu debla.

 

Juniperus virginiana, Jun 2013

 

Another two years later the tree has made another important step further. Gašper did a great job with the wiring! Meanwhile the Juniper was also re-potted, but now the real search for proper pot will begin. What do you think about the pot: classical half-cascade pot, maybe half-cascade pot with broken edge or even the moon-shaped pot?

 

Še dve leti kasneje je drevo napravilo še en pomemben korak naprej. Gašper je z žičenjem opravil odlično delo! Med tem je bil brin tudi presajen, toda zdaj se iskanje prave posode šele začenja. Kaj predlagate: klasično pol-kaskadno posodo, morda pol-kaskadno posodo z razbitim robom ali celo luno?

 

October 2015, white background

October 2015, black background

 

Four years after intial styling we still folow the original vision. And we are closer and closer to the ultimate goal!

 

Štiri leta po prvem oblikovanju še vedno sledimo zastavljeni poti. In z vsakim korakom smo bližje cilju! 

GLOG

Crataegus monogyna is the first tree in my garden this year which turned in to great autumn colours. Time to admire the work of nature!

Glog je prvo drevo v mojem vrtu to leto, ki se je preobleklo v čudovite jesenske barve. Čas za občudovanje dela narave!

Crataegus monogyna, March 2012, after collecting from the nature

OLEASTER

Autumn is slowly coming to the garden

Meanwhile in TORA atelier: Olea oleaster (wild olive) came in to the atelier from Rok's collection. It is a great material from Spain, chuhin size, but extremely neglected. So we put it back to right path. There were three possible fronts, first two are in favorite of existing dead-wood, but the movement is towards back, so we choose te last one.

 

Med tem v atelejeju TORA: Olea oleaster (divja oljka) je iz Rokove zbirke. Gre za krasen materijal iz Španije, čuhin velikosti, a žal zelo zanemarjen. Postavili smo ga nazaj na pravo pot. Za prednjo stran so bile tri možnosti, prvi dve bi v ospredje postavili že obstoječ mrtev les, toda gibanje je preveč nazaj, tako da sem izbral tretjo predno stran.

 

Possible front No.:1

Possible front No.:2

Possible front No.:3

Olea oleaster after styling

Dead-wood at the back

But also the front is great

 

Final result

 

The work on this oleaster was very hard, the wiring almost impossible, but I tried to do my best. Because this time of the year is not the best for work on Mediteranean species I didn't go all the way. I left a lot of work for next spring. But the tree is now back on the right path.

 

Delo natem oleastru je bilo zelo zahtevno, žičenje skoraj nemogoče. A dal sem vse od sebe. Ker tudi letni čas ni najboljši za delo na Sredozemskih vrstah, s posegom nisem pretiraval. Še veliko dela sem pustil za naslednjo pomlad. Toda drevo je zdaj nazaj na pravi poti.

 

The olive was styled in tipical "Spanish" style; there is still a lot of work to do on branch structure, but for now the tree must rest.

 

Oljka je bila oblikovana v tipično "Španskem" slogu; še veliko je dela s strukturo vej, toda zdaj mora drevo najprej počivati.

 

Next project ...

DELAVNICA

Redna tedenska delavnica bo tokrat v TOREK, 6. oktobra. Vabljeni!