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