BOR ROMAN

Roman is a bonsai enthusiast for many years now and he has a nice garden with beautiful niwaki trees. He is also a member of TORA international bonsai school and hosted the school workshops for many times. In October 2014 we were in his garden again and he took a nice pine for the workshop. When I saw this pine for the first time, I was thinking: what a great black pine! But then I realized that this is actually a red pine (Pinus sylvestris) with the character of a black one. Just exceptional! It has fantastic bark, roots are visible because rain washed out all the soil, great movement. Yamadori on its best! But yamadori usually has a lot of problems. And in that late October day we started to eliminate one by one. Pine was already styled once before by Roman, but he made some mistakes and we started again from scratch. 

Roman se z bonsaji ukvarja že vrsto let; njegov vrt je tudi poln čudovitih nivakijev. Je tudi član šole TORA in je naše delavnice že velikokrat gostil. Oktobra 2014 smo bili spet gostje v njegovem vrtu in za delavnico je izbral lep bor. Ko sem ta bor videl prvič, sem pomislil: dober črni bor! Potem pa sem spoznal, da gre v resnici za rdeči bor (Pinus sylvestris) s karakterjem črnega. Izjemno! Ima fantastično skorjo, korenine so razkrite, ker je dež izpral vso prst, krasno gibanje. Jamadori v vsej svoji lepoti! Toda jamadorji imajo običajno tudi veliko problemov. In tistega pozno-oktoberskega dne smo jih začeli drugega za drugim odpravljati. Roman je drevo enkrat že oblikoval, toda napravil nekaj napak in zato smo začeli znova. 

This photo (the oldest one I have of this tree) was taken when some work was already done ...

Roman working on his pine

We created an interesting line which was the main goal of first intervention. The result was interesting tree, all mistakes were eliminated, the branch structure was set, now the work on crown started. (Sorry for the bad photo, but we finished the work already in the dark ... )

Ustvarili smo zanimivo linijo, kar je bil tudi glavni cilj tega posega. Rezultat je bilo zanimivo drevo, napake odpravljene, struktura vej postavljena in delo na krošnji se lahko začne. (Opravičilo za slabo fotko, toda delo smo končali, ko se je že spustil mrak ...)

The result after first intervention (October 2014)

In spring 2015 Roman re-potted the tree in a first bonsai pot, pine reacted well and he brought it back to the workshop in January 2016. 

Spomladi 2015 je Roman drevo presadil v prvo bonsajsko posodo, bor je reagiral dobro in januarja 2016 ga je spet prinesel na delavnico. 

January 2016, pine is back on the table

We wired it again and with second styling the tree started to show all its potential. Of course, there are some years of work still waiting before this tree will be ready for exhibition, but Roman (and I too :-) ) is happy with such a quick progress so far.

Spet smo ga ožičili in z drugim oblikovanjem je že začel kazati ves svoj potencial. Seveda bo še nekaj let dela preden bo drevo pripravljeno za razstavo. Toda Roman (in tudi jaz :-) ) je z dosedanjim hitrim razvojem zadovoljen.

Pinus sylvestris after second styling, January 2016

Now the tree needs better pot, work on the crown will continue ...

Drevo zdaj potrebuje boljšo posodo, delo na krošnji pa se bo nadaljevalo ...

GREGOR

Here are two other examples of two well documented development of the trees. Both in Gregor Malik's collection and both worked on in TORA bonsai school sessions. It is very nice to see how trees styled in our school progress and becoming nice bonsai. It is the true purpose of our workshops: to bring trees from yamadori to exhibiting state of development. And along with this process student learn all necessary tehniques. The first example is a field elm which made a great progress in only four seasons.  Gregor collected it by himself and bring it to our workshop for the first time in March 2013. The tree has good nebari and great bark, but almost no tapering and no movement. But because elms are extremely good species for bonsai it was worth to try. So we set the future of the tree.

Tu sta še dva primera dobro dokumentiranih razvojev dreves. Obe drevesi sta iz zbirke Gregorja Malika in obe delani na delavnicah šole TORA. Zelo lepo je videti kako se drevesa oblikovana na naših delavnicah razvijajo in postajajo lepi bonsaji. To je tudi glavni namen naših srečanj: pripeljati drevesa od jamadorija do razstavne razvojne faze. Ob tem procesu se študentje učijo vseh potrebnih tehnik. Prvi primer je brest, ki je izjemen razvoj napravil v samo štirih letih. Gregor ga je sam izkopal in ga prvič prinesel na delavnico marca 2013. Drevo ima dober nebari in lepo skorjo, toda je skoraj brez ožanja in brez gibanja. Toda ker je brest zelo dobra vrsta za bonsai, je bilo vseeno vredno poskusiti. Torej smo začrtali prihodnost tega drevesa.

So we shortened the trunk and made a selection of branches. Gregor then wired them all. 

Skrajšali smo deblo in napravili selekcijo vej. Gregor jih je potem vse ožičil.

Elm reacted well and after one growing season, in January 2014, it was time for the next step. Grega shortened the branches in order to make a nice structure and slowly started to build the crown.

Brest je dobro reagiral in po eni rastni sezoni, januarja 2014, je bil čas za nov korak. Grega je veje pokrajšal zaradi boljše strukture in začel počasi graditi krošnjo.

In January 2015 elm already showed first signs of good ramification. The work went on!

Januarja 2015 je brest začel kazati prve znake dobre razvejanosti. Delo se je nadaljevalo.!

In spring 2015 Grega re-pot the tree in a first bonsai pot, let it grow for another season and wired it again in January 2016. Then he brought it to the TORA workshop. Grega did a great job! We just adjusted first two branches and the result is great! Ramification is unbelievable for such a short time. The tree is almost ready for show. Just great! In the future, it will be re-potted in shallow pot a little wider than the present one.

Spomladi 2015 je Grega drevo presadil v prvo bonsajsko posodo, ga pustil še eno sezono rasti in ga ponovno ožičil jauarja 2016. Potem ga je prinesel na delavnico šole TORA. Grega je napravil odlično delo! Le spodnji dve veji smo malce popravili in rezultat je bil odličen! Razvejanost je za samo štiri leta razvoja neverjetna. Drevo je že skoraj pripravljeno za razstave. Odlično! V bodočnosti bo posajeno v nekoliko nižjo in širšo posodo.

Development 2013-2016

The other example is the development of Prunus mahaleb. The story started in the same year as elm's one. Grega brought the tree to the TORA workshop already potted into the shallow bonsai pot. The tree has great movement, tapering and a lot of dead-wood. We made the branch-selection and also the first styling was done.

Drug primer je razvoj rešeljike. Zgodba sega v isto leto kot zgodba bresta. Grega jo je na delavnico prinesel že posajeno v plitvo bonsajsko posodo. Drevo ima izjemno gibanje, ožanjein veliko suhega lesa. Napravili smo selekcijo vej in opravili prvo oblikovanje.

In December 2014, after a good growing season, we decided to shorten the trunk and wired all branches again.

Decembra 2014, po dobri rastni sezoni, smo se odločili za krajšanje debla in na novo ožičili vse veje.

In spring 2015 Grega re-potted the Prunus into very nice high-quality pot from Isabelia, which might be the final one. In January 2016 we did another styling and the tree already shows all its potential. The first right branch must still thicken a lot and the crown must mature, but with leaves on it is already showable. With these two trees Grega also show his great talent and I am proud that he is a student of TORA school! 

Spomladi 2015 je Grega rešeljiko presadil v lepo in kvalitetno bonsajsko posodo iz Isabelie, ki bi že lahko bila končna. Januarja 2016 smo napravili novo oblikovanje in drevo že kaže ves svoj potencial. Prva desna veja se mora še precej odebeliti in krošnja mora dozoreti. Toda z listi je drevo že primerno za kakšno razstavo. S tema drevesoma je Grega pokazal svoj velik talent in ponosen sem, da je del šole TORA!

Development 2013-2016

ZASAVC

It is nice to keep the history of the trees. I try to document development of every-single tree that goes trough our atelier. This is a story about development of Sašo's pine. The tree is far from being completed, but the progress is very good. The red or Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris) came to the atelier in March 2014.  Already well established in black container and ready to work. The tree has a nice nebari and good tachigari, but after first bend there was a long straight trunk - the main problem of the tree.

Zanimivo je spremljati zgodovino dreves. Skušam dokumentirati prav vsako drevo, ki pride v atelje. To je zgodba o Sašotovem boru. Drevo je daleč od tega, da bi bilo končano, toda razvoj je zelo dober. Rdeči bor (Pinus sylvestris) je prvič prišel v atelje marca 2014. Dobro vkoreninjen v črnem kontejnerju in pripravljen za delo. Drevo ima lep nebari in dober tačigari, toda po prvi krivini se je drevo nadaljevalo v dolgo, ravno deblo - glavno težavo tega drevesa.

Pinus sylvestris, March 2014

So, we first worked on this main problem. We used sawing technique to bend the trunk down. Sašo put the cutting paste on the sawing point and protected everything with moist cloth. Then we put the tree to rest. 

Najprej smo se torej posvetili temu problemu. Uporabili smo tehniko žaganja in skrivili deblo navzdol. Sašo je na mesto žaganja dal smolo in vse skupaj zaščitil z mokro krpo. Potem je drevo počivalo.

Pinus sylvestris, after first intervention, March 2014

Sašo admiring his job

Area of bending was protected with wet cloth

Detail of nebari and tachigari

After one growing season the tree was ready for the next step. In November 2014 we started with first styling. Sašo wired every branch; we also bend the ten-jin and first styling was completed.

Po eni rastni sezoni je bilo drevo pripravljeno na naslednji korak. Novembra 2014 smo opravili prvo oblikovanje. Sašo je požičil vse veje; ukrivili smo tudi tendžin in prvo oblikovanje je bilo končano.

Pinus sylvestris, November 2014

Sašo wired every-single branch

Pinus sylvestris, after first styling, November 2014

Sašo cut the wire off a little too soon and the tree came back to the atelier in January 2016. Pine reacted well, but new needles are long and soft which is normal in this phase of development. Already the next generation of the needles will be shorter and harder and then also the definition of the tree will be much better.

Sašo je žico porezal nekoliko prehitro in drevo je prišlo nazaj v atelje januarja 2016. Bor je dobro reagiral, toda iglice so dolge in mehke, kar je v tej fazi razvoja normalno. Že naslednja generacija iglic bo krajša in trša in takrat bo tudi definicija drevesa veliko boljša.

Pinus sylvestris, January 2016, all branches wired

Sašo and Gašper styling the pine

Pinus sylvestris, January 2016, after second styling

Second styling done. We improved some branch structure and nice future of this tree is set. It will be re-poted into the first bonsai pot in the upcoming spring. And the neverending story will go on! 

Drugo oblikovanje je končano. Izboljšali smo strukturo vej in pripravili drevo za prihodnost. V prvo bonsajsko posodo bo presajen to pomlad. In nikoli končana zgodba se bo nadaljevala!

GAŠPER

Gašper is TORA International Bonsai School's student and apprentice for a year now. Thanks to hard work He made a huge step forward in his technique and artistic approach. This is one of the projects finished in the last days - Yamadori Picea abies. The tree, collected by Jan Munda, was lying neglected in TORA's garden for more than a year. Now we decided to style it and put it among the offers! Spruce is already five years in this training pot, has nice nebari and tapering, interesting movement and very small needles. (Probably it is a sub-species Alpina). After he cleaned all the grass in the pot, Gašper start to work on it.

Gašper je študent ali, če hočete, vajenec v šoli TORA že eno leto. Trdo delo se kaže v velikem napredku: zelo je napredoval tako v tehničnem kot tudi umetniškem smislu. To je eden od projektov, ki jih je zaključil v zadnjih dneh - jamadori smreka, ki jo je izkopal Jan Munda in je že več kot leto pozabljena ležala v mojem vrtu. Odločil sem se, da jo oblikujemo in damo na prodaj! Smreka je že pet let v tej trening posodi, ima lep nebari in ožanje, zanimivo gibanje in zelo majhne iglice. (Verjetno gre za podvrsto Alpina). Potem, ko je oplel vso travo v posodi, se je Gašper lotil dela.

Picea abies, starting material

Gašper slowly working towards top of the tree

Yesterday, at a weekly workshop with a central group of students, Gašper finished the job. Last moves were carefully followed by other students, we had a kind of a demo! :-)

Včeraj, na redni tedenski delavnici centralne skupine, je Gašper dokončal delo. Zadnje poteze je opravil pred ostalimi študenti, imeli smo kar manjši demo! :-)

The top mus go!

 

After wiring and rough styling we usually put the trees in front of a solid background for better viewing. There he did the last adjustments in the crown.

Po žičenju in grobem oblikovanju drevesa običajno postavimo pred ozadje za boljši pregled. Tam je Gašper opravil še zadnje popravke v krošnji. 

After wiring the time for final adjustment has come

 

 Picea abies after first styling, January 2016

Job well done! Of course, this is not some first class material, but a good example of what can be done with fairly good tree. Dynamic lower part with good nebari, continued with more static, classical top. The future is set; in the spring we'll re-pot it into the first bonsai pot. 

Dobro opravljeno delo! Seveda ne gre za prvovrstni materijal, pa vendar dober primer, kaj se da napraviti iz primernega drevesa. Dinamični spodnji del drevesa z dobrim nebarijem se nadaljuje v bolj statični, klasični vrh. Bodočnost je začrtana; spomladi jo bomo presadili v prvo bonsajsko posodo.

Spruce is available for sell or trade!

Smreka je na prodaj!

DELAVNICA

Prva delavnica za centralno skupino v novem letu bo v torek, 5. januarja! Vabljeni!