OLIMPIJSKE

I feel very Olympic this days! ;-) This time I didn't travel to the site in Canada, but even in Ljubljana is more than enough work to do ... I didn't forget my trees. I am watching how snow is melting and how very known silhouettes are coming to the top.

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Te dni se počutim zelo olimpijsko! ;-) Tokrat sicer nisem na prizorišču v Kanadi, a tudi v Ljubljani je več kot dovolj dela ... Vseeno pa tudi na bonsaje nisem pozabil. Opazujem, kako se topi sneg in se naplano kažejo znane silhuete.

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Me and Tomaz were at Raje's place yesterday and we promised him that we'll take a good care about his trees. Some of them we'll repot, but special care will be taken about a great acer which will be also exhibited at exhibition in Mons.

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Včeraj sva se s Tomažem oglasila pri Rajetu in mu obljubila, da bova lepo skrbela za njegove ljubljenčke. Nekaj presajanja, največ pozornosti bova posvetila vrhunskemu javorju, ki bo nastopil tudi na razstavi v Monsu.

So, Raje did take farewell from bonsais, tomorrow he'll travel to the end of the world. His wish to get to the Nome on one of the most extreme competition on the world is unstoppable. We'll be with you in our thoughts, good luck!

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Skratka, Raje se je poslovil od bonsajev, jutri zjutraj potuje na konec sveta. Njegova želja doseči Nome na eni od najekstremnejših preizkušenj na svetu je neustavljiva. V mislih bomo s tabo, srečno!

EVA

It is happening too often: new bonsai owners are seeking for help and education after their bad experience: when their trees are already dead. It would be better if the order would be different.

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Vse prevečkrat se zgodi, da novopečeni lastniki bonsajev šele po prvi neprijetni izkušnji (beri: ko se jim podarjeno drevo posuši) poiščejo pomoč oz. se odločijo za izobraževanje. Vrstni red bi seveda moral biti obraten.

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Eva has a similar experience. Her pine (as a gift from her husband) died. Nevertheless she still loved bonsai trees and she came in Tora for basic workshop. We worked on Juniperus chinensis, one of the most used species in bonsaism. Our material - bush of course.

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Eva je doživela podobno izkušnjo. Propadel ji je podarjeni bor. Na srečo ji žilica ni dala miru, veselje do bonsajev je ostalo in tako je pristala v Tori. Na tečaju za začetnike. Delala sva na kitajskem brinu, eni najprimernejših bonsajskih vrst. Začetni materijal - grm seveda.

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There was a lot of cleaning, cutting, working on jins and in the end the most important thing - wiring.
On the basic workshops we emphasise wiring. This is a skill which is absolute need. After three hours of work Eva was delighted about her first bonsai. "I didn't believe, that from such a bush we can create something. I thought - what a crap of material he prepared for me," she admitted at the end. Makeover was perfect:

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Sledilo je veliko čiščenja, rezanja, obdelovanja džinov in na koncu najpomembnejše - žičenje.
Žičenju na tečajih za začetnike dajemo največji povdarek. To je veščina, brez katere enostavno ne gre. Tri ure kasneje se je Eva veselila svojega prvega bonsaja. "Nisem verjela, da iz tistega grma na začetku lahko kaj nastane. Mislila sem si - lej ga, kakšen materijal mi je podtaknil," je na koncu priznala. In bila nad svojim izdelkom navdušena. Preobrazba je bila popolna:

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This kind of juniperus will always look a little curly. But with the right care and with a right pot it could became a nice literati. But the future of this tree is lying in the Eva's hands!

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Ta vrsta brinov bo vedno izgledala nekoliko skuštrana. Toda drevo lahko s pravilno oskrbo in izbiro prave posode postane lep literati. Prihodnost pa je seveda v Evinih rokah!

TEČAJ

In Friday we'll do the wiring again! Basic workshop, Eva is coming. Because I still have one juniperus from Belgium left, there is still one free spot for the workshop. If anybody want to join to graceful women's hand - welcome. We'll start at 9.00!

V petek bomo spet navijali žico! Začetniški tečaj, v goste pride Eva. Ker je na zalogi še en brin, ki sem ga pripeljal iz Belgije, je prosto še eno mesto. Če bi se kdo želel pridružiti nežnim ženskim rokam na tečaju, je dobrodošel. Začnemo ob 9.00!

KLASIČNO

Spear time until spring is good for learning. And Tora is right place for that! This time Matevz come in for basic workshop, his wife gave him this workshop as a gift. Bravo! Matevz already take care for two "finished" bonsais, which he bought in Tora, but now was a time for learning. It would be better if the order would be opposite, but nothing is missed.

Čas do spomladanskih opravil je najbolje nameniti učenju. In Tora je pravi kraj za to! Tokrat je bil na začetnem tečaju Matevž, ki mu je šolanje podarila žena. Bravo, bravo. Matevž že skrbi za dva "dokončana" bonsaja, ki ju je kupil v Tori, zdaj pa je prišel še na izobraževanje. Vrstni red je sicer obraten pravemu, ampak nič še ni zamujenega.

We worked on one of the junipers I did bring from Belgium. This is a good learning material! Matevz likes deciduous trees more, as he said, but wiring is the same on every species.

Delala sva na enem od kitajskih brinov, ki sem jih za ta namen pripeljal iz Belgije. Odličen učni materijal! Matevžu so sicer bližje listavci, vsaj tako pravi, žičenje je pa itak na vseh drevesih enako.

"I didn't think, that there is so much work," he admitted at the end. But he also said that he'll be back for sure. We also spoke about actual theme from SBK forum, about different approaches. In Tora I am teaching a classical, Japanese bonsai, but every student can then take a direction which he like the most.

"Nisem si mislil, da je toliko dela, " je na koncu piriznal, a v isti sapi dodal, da se zagotovo še vidimo. Dotaknila sva se tudi aktualne teme o različnih pristopih, ki se je vnela na forumu SBK. V Tori učimo klasični, japonski bonsaj, vsak študent pa se lahko v nadaljevanju odloči za smer, ki mu najbolj leži.

POKAL

One of the most important weekends in first part of the season is over: XI. Noelanders Trophy in Zolder, Belgium. Raje was the first Slovenian who exhibit his tree there, you can find his impressions at his blog , some of my photos you can find at SBK web page. Of course I enjoyed the exhibition, but for me the exhibition was not the most important event. The most important was meeting with Enrico Savini: Tora is becoming a branch of his school Progetto Futuro! We'll start in the autumn, but if you are interested you can already sign in - there will be room for 10 students!

Za mano je eden najpomembnejših bonsajističnih koncev tedna prvega dela sezone: XI. Noelanders Trophy v Zolderju v Belgiji. Raje je kot prvi SLovenec tam razstavljal svoje drevo, njegove vtise lahko najdete na njegovem blogu , nekaj mojih slik pa tudi na strani SBK. Jasno, da sem nadvse užival, a najpomembnejši dogodek tega konca tedna zame ni bila razstava, temveč dogovor z Enricom Savinijem. Tora postaja podružnica njegove šole Progetto Futuro! Začeli bomo jeseni; že zdaj pa zbiramo prijave vseh, ki jih to zanima. Prostora bo za 10 študentov!

The winner of the Noelanders Trophy is opening the brunch of his school in Slovenia!

Zmagovalec Noelanders Trophyja podružnico svoje šole odpira tudi v Sloveniji!

LED

Sight as can be seen on the photo below would frighten me on the beginning of my bonsai career: oh, my tree has friezed! But now the iced future jin on the juniperus named Warsaw only means curiosity and pleasant esthetic sight. Now I know, that hard trees can not be hurt by cold. In 20 years I didn't lost a single bonsai due to cold. Not cold, the winter drought is dangerous.

Pogled na prizor, ki ga lahko vidite na spodnji sliki, bi me na začetku moje bonsajistične poti prestrašil: joj, moje drevo je zamrznilo! Zdaj pa v led okovani prihodnji džin na brinu imenovanem Varšava opazujem kot zanimivost, kot prijetno estetsko doživetje. Vem, da prezimnotrdnim drevesom mraz ne more do živega. V 20-ih letih mi zaradi mraza ni propdale še niti en bonsaj. Nevarna je zimska suša in ne mraz.

In the end of the week we are going to Noelanders Trophy. See you in Belgium!

Sicer pa odštevam dneve do odhoda na Noelanders Trophy. Se vidimo v Belgiji!

VIDEO

We have fun in Tora today. Tomaz, Andrej and Primoz were here for a workshop and we enjoyed bonsaism. Instead of words and photographs you can see a video for the first time here on my blog. This is just a kind of testing ...

Danes smo se imeli v Tori spet fajn. Na delavnco so prišli Tomaž, Andrej in Primož in uživali smo v bonsaizmu. Sicer pa namesto besed in fotografij tokrat prvič objavljam kar video zapis. Tako za pokušino ...