MEDVODE

Past weekend I spent at VII. International bonsai exhibition in Medvode, Slovenia. The exhibition was organized by the Slovenian bonsai club (Slovenski bonsaj klub); first time in 12 years I was not the main organizer of this event, so for me this was just relaxing and enjoying time! Even though I was a moderator on demonstrations, this was a completely different experience as it was in past six editions of this event. After more than 10 years of presidency in 2014 I resigned as president of the club, to concentrate on my school and my trees.  After almost two years without president Nik Rozman took over. And he did a great job organizing the exhibition; even though at different and smaller venue than in previous years, the event was a success! The quality of the trees was good, we had a lot of visitors, the demos were interesting.

Minuli konec tedna sem preživel na VII. Mednarodni razstavi bonsajev, ki jo je v Medvodah organiziral Slovenski bonsaj klub. Prvič v 12-ih letih nisem bil glavni organizator, tako da sem tokrat lahko zgolj sproščeno užival. Čeprav sem bil moderator na demonstracijah, je bilo to vseeno povsem drugačno doživetje, kot na prejšnjih šestih izvedbah razstave. Po več kot desetih letih predsedovanja, sem leta 2014 odstopil s te funkcije, da bi se lažje posvetil moji šoli in drevesom. Po skoraj dveh letih brez predsednika v klubu, je vodstvo prevzel Nik Rozman. In kot organizator razstave se je izkazal: čeprav je bila na drugi in manjši lokaciji, kot v preteklih letih, je dogodek uspel. Kvaliteta dreves je bila dobra, imeli smo veliko obiskovalcev, demonstracije so bile zanimive.

I prepared three of my trees for exhibition; Juniperus chinensis 'Itoigawa' known as Pelican got one of the nominations, but probably the most great and emotional award I ever "win" was the award for years of my work in the club. This was a total surprise for me! Award and recognition from my fellow-bonsaists in Slovenian bonsai club means me a lot! We grew together as artists and we developed this art in our country. Thank you!

Za razstavo sem pripravil tri moja drevesa: Kitajski brin znan kot Pelikan je bil med nominiranimi. Toda verjetno največja in najbolj čustvena nagrada, kar sem jih kdaj prejel, je bilo priznanje za moje dolgoletno delo v klubu. Popolno presenečenje! Priznanje s strani kolegov bonsajistov v Slovenskem bonsj klubu mi res veliko pomeni! Skupaj smo odraščali kot bonsajisti in skupaj to umetnost v Sloveniji razvijali. Hvala!

Thank you guys!

Pelican prepared for exhibition in my tokonoma

Picea abies in tokonoma, before it was taken to the exhibition

My third entry: Pinus sylvestris

As I wrote before, the level of exhibited trees was quite high, maybe the exhibition would be even better if there would be 10 trees less on the shelves, selection even more strict, but this is just my opinion. Here are some photos from the exhibition and just some trees I liked the most.

Kot sem napisal že zgoraj, nivo razstavljenih dreves je bil dokaj visok, mogoče bi bila razstava še boljša, če bi bilo na policah deset dreves manj, selekcija še nekoliko ostrejša. Toda to je le moje mnenje. Tu je nekaj fotografij z razstave in le nekaj fotografij dreves, ki so mi bila najbolj všeč.

Pinus pentaphylla 'Zuisho' by Rajko Podgornik

Pinus thunbergii by Sandor Papp

Juniperus chinensis 'Itoigawa' by Rajko Podgornik

Prunus mahaleb by Aleš Zavodnik

See you all in two years! 

Se vidimo čez dve leti!

MUGO PINE

Finally time for another post has arrived! :-) Work in atelier doesn't stop and some time, after all hard work, is hard to find a motivation for post. I hope you'll still come back to check for new one's and I'll try to post more regularly. Here is a story of another mugo pine, Pinus mugo, yamadori from Slovenian Alps. Although I personally prefer Pinus sylvestris over mugo, this time I was attracted by this ancient tree, collected by Miha Oberstar, and so the tree came in to my possession. After one year of acclimatization (with mugo pines one can't be to careful and to patient) the tree was re-potted into first bonsai pot. The inclination was corrected, but because of roots the planned front didn't fit in to the pot right. 

Končno sem našel čas za nov prispevek. :-) Nenehno delo v ateljeju včasih vzame enregijo in motivacijo za nove zapise. Upam, da boste vseeno tu in tam preverili, če je kaj novega, jaz pa se bom trudil pisati bolj redno. Tu je zgodba o novem ruševju, Pinus mugo, jamadori iz naših gora. Čeprav imam raje rdeče bore kot ruševje, me je to starodavno drevo, ki ga je izkopal Miha Oberstar pritegnilo, in tako je pristalo v moji zbirki. Po enem letu aklimatizacije (z ruševjem človek nikoli ne more biti preveč previden in potrpežljiv) je bilo drevo presajeno v prvo bonsajsko posodo. Popravljen je bil nagib, zaradi korenin pa načrtovana sprednja stran ni na pravem mestu v posodi.  

Pinus mugo, August 2016, before first styling

After another year of resting and 5 years after collecting, the tree was ready for first styling. I studied this tree for more than a year, so there were no dilemmas about design. Here is the quick sketch I drew. And then the work started.

Po še enem letu počitka in 5 let po izkopu je bilo drevo pripravljeno na prvo obdelavo. Drevo sem v več kot enem letu dodobra preštudiral, tako da dvomov o dizajnu ni bilo. Na hitro sem pred oblikovanjem narisal skico in delo se je začelo.

After the needles were cut I lift the main trunk and fixed it with rebar. Then I wired all the branches and put them into position. At the end I cleaned the natural shari and shaped the jin. 

Potem, ko sem postrigel stare iglice sem dvignil glavno deblo in ga učvrstil z železno palico. Potem sem veje ožičil in jih usmeril v željeni položaj. Na koncu sem še očistil naravni šari in oblikoval džin.

I am pleased with the result! This will be a great bonsai! Working on this centuries old tree was a pure joy. Now the aftercare will be important and in few years the root-ball will be shortened so that the tree will fit in a proper pot (something like as in the sketch). Meanwhile the crown will mature and the tree will be ready for show! :-) 

Z rezultatom sem nadvse zadovoljen! To bo lep bonsaj! Delo na tem več kot sto let starem drevesu je bilo čisti užitek. Zdaj bo pomembna oskrba po oblikovalskem šoku; v nekaj letih bo koreninska gruda zmanjšana tako, da bo primerna za dobro posodo (nekaj takega, kot na skici). Med tem bo dozorela krošnja in drevo bo pripravljeno za razstavo! :-)

Pinus mugo, August 2016, after first styling

P.S.: New season of school is here. We'll meet in Wednesday, 7. September. All students of TORA international bonsai school and all who want to became one are welcomed! 

P.S.: Novo šolsko leto je tu. Dobimo se v sredo, 7. septembra. Dobrodošli vsi študentje šole TORA in vsi, ki bi to radi postali!