MIHA

It is always nice when a new member joins the Tora group. But this time a new member wasn't just anybody - Miha joined us in atelier! I am glad that he finally decided to come. He has really great material in his garden, so we can expect a quick progress and a great results from him. For now, he brought in the smallest tree from his collection of yamadoris - a compact mugo pine.

Vedno je lepo, ko se skupini Tora pridruži kak nov član. Ampak tokrat to ni bil kdorsibodi, ampak se nam je v ateljeju pridružil Miha! Vesel sem, da se je končno odločil, prebil led in prišel na delavnico. Glede na to, da ima izvrsten materijal, lahko pričakujemo hiter napredek in izjemne rezultate. Za uvod je prinesel najmanjše drevo iz svoje zbirke jamadorijev - kompaktno ruševje.

Because we are a school we don't hurry with work. After analysis of his tree Miha has a headache, but after that he worked on it with a pleasure. It was only enough time for work on deadwood; so the story of this tree will be continued at next workshops.

Glede na to, da gre za šolo, se nam z obdelavo nikamor ne mudi. Miho je po analizi drevesa bolela glava, kasneje pa se ga je z veseljem lotil. Časa je bilo dovolj le za delo na suhem lesu; zgodba se bo nadaljevala na naslednjih delavnicah.

Second Miha worked on his red pine, after that he joined Janez who wired another branch on his Japanese pine.  

Drugi Miha je delal na svojem rdečem boru, kanseje pa se je pridružil Janezu, ki je na japonskem boru natančno ožičil še eno vejo.

P.S.: See you tomorrow at SBK workshop in Solkan!

P.S.: Jutri se vidimo na delavnici SBK v Solkanu!

GOJOMACU

The members of the Tora school, we spent another pleasant evening. Working atmosphere in the workshop with good music, the smell of the trees and tea - one can hardly imagine anything better :-) Janez, Miha, Tomaž and a new member Urban came to this session. Urban came to refresh his knowledge from basic course and was working on a larch. Miha continued wiring his chamaecyparis, Tomaž continued his work on juniper, Janez started wiring his Japanese pine - Goyomatsu. We have corrected the position of the tree a little, in next few sessions Janez will be devoted to the precise wiring. Branch after branch, at the end the tree will be defined up to the last needle.

 

S člani šole Tora smo preživeli še en prijeten večer. Delovno vzdušje v delavnici ob dobri glasbi, vonju dreves in čaja - človek bi si težko zamislil kaj boljšega :-) Janez, Miha, Tomaž in novi član Urban, so prišli na tokratno seanso. Urban je prišel osveževat znanje z začetnega tečaja in je delal na macesnu. Miha je nadaljeval žičenje na pacipresi, Tomaž delo na brinu, Janez pa je začel z žičenjem na japonskem petigličnem boru, po japonsko gojomacu. Nekoliko smo popravili položaj drevesa v posodi, naslednjih nekaj seans pa se bo Janez posvetil natančnemu žičenju. Vejo po vejo, na koncu bo drevo zdefinirano do zadnje iglice.

 

Working atmosphere in the workshop ...

 

Tomaž working on Juniper

 

Janez started a detailed work on Goyomatsu

Just one branch finished - the rest 100 will be done in near future :-)

 

 

 

ERD

I spent the weekend in Erd near Budapest, I exhibited one tree at small but very high-quality exhibition organized by friends from Marczika bonsai studio. Very good show, very good place in the renovated gallery in Erd with excellent lighting and high quality trees: this was a nice weekend. Demonstrators were Vaclav Novak, Milan Karpišek, Adriano Bonini and Sandor Papp. How much effort, work, resources and time is needed to organize such an event can only know someone who has  already organized something like this by himself. Therefore, András, Sándor and Bálint - congratulations again!

 

Konec tedna sem preživel v Erdu blizu Budimpešte, razstavljal sem na manjši a zelo kvalitetni razstavi v organizaciji prijateljev iz studija Marczika. Zelo dobra razstava, zelo dober prostor v obnovljeni galeriji v Erdu z odlično osvetlitvijo, in visoka kvaliteta dreves, za mano je lep konec tedna. Demonstrirali so Vaclav Novak, Milan Karpišek, Adriano Bonini in Sandor Papp. Koliko truda, dela, sredstev in časa je potrebnih za organizacijo takšnega dogodka lahko ve samo nekdo, ki je kaj takega že organiziral sam. Zato András, Bálint in Sándor čestitke še enkrat!

 

Talking with old friends is always one of the best parts of the exhibition ...

Pogovor s starimi prijatelji je vedno boljši del razstave ...

 

Sandor Papp (with a girlfriend) is one of the three guys, who organized this great event

Sandor Papp (s prijateljico) je eden od trojice, ki je poskrbela za vrhunsko organizacijo

 

Renewed gallery in Erd hosted some 40 great bonsai trees

Obnovljena galerija v Erdu je gostila približno 40 vrhunskih bonsajev

 

For me one of the best in the exhibition - white pine by Sándor Papp

Zame eno najboljših dreves na razstavi - beli bor Sandorja Pappa

 

Larch by Vaclav Novak also impressed me

Navdušil me je tudi macesen Vaclava Novaka

 

Nik also represented Slovenia on the exhibition - here you can see Rozman father and son in the discussion about Nick juniper ...

Slovenske barve je na razstavi zastopal tudi Nik - tule oče in sin Rozman v razpravi o razstavljenem Nikovem brinu ...

 

Just some details ...

Še dve podrobnosti ...

 

PS: When I came home, I was greeted by destruction in the courtyard: magnolia has crashed under the weight of snow and crashed on the shelves. Luckily this time I was careful and I removed bonsai trees before departure ... It was close!

 

P.S.: Ko sem prišel domov, me je na dvorišču pričakalo razdejanje: magnolija se je zrušila pod težo snega in zgrmela na police. Na srečo sem bil tokrat previden in sem bonsaje izpod drevesa umaknil že pred odhodom ... Tokrat je šlo za las!

 

 



DELAVNICA IN PREDAVANJE

Dejan brought  pine to the atelier, we work on this tree already three years. We removed all the raffia and plastic tape from the tree, anchor wire was replaced with an ordinary wire in places where it was necessary. We refined one jin, cut some needles and prepared the tree for the winter.

Dejan je v atelje prinesel bor, na katerem delava že tretje leto. Z drevesa sva odstranila vso rafijo in plastične trakove, sidrne žice pa zamenjala z navito žico, tam kjer je bilo to sploh še potrebno. Dodelala en džin, razredčila krošnjo in drevo pripravila na prezimovanje.

Bad nebari remains the main problem of this tree, we'll try to improve it in the spring at re-poting. During the summer  pine reacted with slightly longer needles (because of the good care) and this going to be Dejan challenge - in two seasons he will try to put crown back in balance so that all needles will be about the same length. So the form and definition of the tree wil be balanced again.

Glavni problem tega drevesa ostaja slab nebari, ki ga bova z Dejanom skušala vsaj nekoliko izboljšati spomladi ob presajanju. Bor je čez poletje na dobro oskrbo odreagiral z nekoliko daljšimi iglicami in tudi to bo za Dejana izziv - da v dveh sezonah v krošnji spet vzpostavi ravnovesje in bodo vse iglice približno enako dolge. Tako bo tudi forma drevesa veliko bolj skladna in zdefinirana.  

In the afternoon we carried out a very interesting lecture. I lectured on the over-wintering, Matej presented his impressions of one month training in Japan in a very picturesque manner. He presented his feelings and also some new skills, which he learned in the Aichi-en nursery in Nagoya.

Popoldne smo v okviru Tore izvedli še zelo zanimivo predavanje. Jaz sem predaval o prezimovanju dreves, Matej pa je na zelo slikovit način predstavil svoje vtise z enomesečnega šolanja na Japonskem. Predstavil nam je svoje občutke in tudi nekaj novega znanja, ki ga je pridobil v drevesnici Aiči-en v Nagoji.

Since the response was very good, Tora school will organize similar courses also in the future.

Ker je bil odziv zelo dober, bomo v šoli Tora tudi v prihodnje še organizirali podobna predavanja.

JAMADORI

These days we are enjoying the exceptional weather. I used every spare moment to hike in the mountains, where I enjoyed the breathtaking views: valleys covered with white sea of clouds, the peaks of the Alps are covered with the first snow, larches are pure gold, above all this deep blue sky. Of course I also take advantage of good weather for searching for yamadori and some trees enrich my collection. I hate posting pictures of fresh yamadoris because you never know whether the tree decided to participate or not. This time I'll make an exception - this beech has not yet been touched by no hand, but it is practically finished bonsai :-) Perfect naturalistic style ;-) Well, if it will come to life in the spring, we'll start the path towards true bonsai. But style of this tree will not be questioned - it is born han-kengai!

Te dni uživamo v izjemnem vremenu. Vsak prosti trenutek sem izkoristil za pohajkovanje v visokogorju, kjer so razgledi dih jemajoči: doline pokrite z belim morjem megle, vrhovi Alp so pokriti s prvim snegom, macesni zlatijo, zgoraj pa se bohoti globoko modro nebo. Seveda sem lepo vreme izkoristil tudi za iskanje jamadorijev in nekaj dreves je obogatilo mojo zbirko. Slik jamadorijev nerad objavljam, ker človek nikoli ne ve, ali se bo drevo odločilo sodelovati ali ne. Tokrat bom napravil izjemo - te bukve se še ni dotaknila nobena roka, pa je že praktično dokončan bonsaj :-) Popoln naturalističen slog ;-) No ja, če bo spomladi oživela, bova začela pot k pravemu bonsaju. Res pa je, da pri tem drevesu slog oblikovanja ne bo vprašljiv - rojena polkaskada!

 

Detail of ancient trunk

 

 

P.S.: Don't forget tommorow's lecture!

 

P.S.: Ne pozabite na jutrišnje predavanje!

 

 

 

PREDAVANJE

This time regular weekly workshop of the Tora group passed in the laid-back atmosphere, first we listened with interest about Raje's adventures in Brazil, where he was part of the crew of his wife Ruth: she competed at Jungle Marathon:

 

Tokratna redna tedenska delavnica skupine Tora je minila v ležernem vzdušju; najprej smo z zanimanjem poslušali Rajetove dogodivščine iz Brazilije, kjer je na Jungle maratonu spremljal Ruth:

 

 

Despite of the work on the trees we did not miss a single detail ...

 

Kljub delu na drevesih nismo izpustili nobene podrobnosti ...

 

 

Janez continued with his work on dead-wood on mugo pine:

 

Janez je nadaljeval delo na suhem lesu svojega ruševja:

 

 

Miha cut off all the wire on the spruce with great nebari and tappering, he prepared it for next steps:

 

Miha je razžičil smreko z odličnim nebarijem in ožanjem, ter jo pripravil na nadaljevanje dela:

 

 

Tomaž helped me to work on juniper, it started it's way in to bonsai last year:

 

Tomaž mi je pomagal na brinu, ki je svojo bonsajistično pot začel  že lani:

 

 

From his rich treasury of yamadoris Matej brought a great mugo pine with a lot of movement and natural dead wood:

 

Matej pa je iz svoje bogate zakladnice jamadorijev na delavnico prinesel odlično ruševje z ogromno gibanja in naravnega suhega lesa:

 

 

Quality of trees at the workshops of the Tora group is at an enviable level. We are not in a hurry, in the first place, the survival of the tree matters. Step by step. This is a school. We are facing a long winter now and the trees will slowly get the form until the spring, some of them will be also prepared for the exhibitions. But in the next few years you can expect masterpieces from the Tora studio!

 

Kakovost dreves na delavnicah skupine Tora je na zavidljivi ravni. Z obdelavo se nam nikamor ne mudi, na prvem mestu je preživetje drevesa. Korak za korakom. To je šola. Pred nami je dolga zima in drevesa bodo do spomladi počasi dobivala obliko, kakšno bo do spomladi tudi dokončno pripravljeno na razstave. Seveda pa lahko prave mojstrovine iz ateljeja Tora pričakujemo v nekaj prihodnjih letih!

 

P.S.: Do not miss: On Wednesday, 24 October, at the regular weekly Tora workshops, we will prepare two lectures: Matej will present his impressions from a one-month training in Japan, Tomaž will briefly lectured on how to winter bonsai. Start of lectures at 18.00 in Reš nursery. Admission is 5 euros. For all information please contact tora.bonsai@gmail.com or call 041 241224 . WELCOME!

 

P.S.: Nikakor ne smete zamuditi: V sredo, 24. oktobra, bomo v okviru rednih tedenskih delavnic šole Tora izvedli dve predavanji: Matej bo predstavil svoje vtise z enomesečnega šolanja na Japonskem, Tomaž pa na kratko predaval o prezimovanju bonsajev. Začetek predavanj ob 18.00 v predavalnici vrtnarije Reš. Vstopnina je 5 eur. Za vse informacije pišite na tora.bonsai@gmail.com ali pokličite 041 241224. VABLJENI!!!

TA VISOKI

Work on this juniper started almost exactly a year ago. This is one of Tomaž's many junipers, urban yamadoris. One option was to create a tree from the first right branch. But because Tomaž wanted a tall tree, we changed the plan. In the first phase we only bend the first branch.

 

Delo na tem brinu sva s Tomažem začela skoraj natančno pred letom dni. Gre za enega njegovih številnih brinov, urbanih jamadorijev. Ena od možnosti za oblikovenje, ki se je ponujala, je bila oblikovati drevo samo iz prve desne veje. Toda, ker si je Tomaž želel visoko drevo, sva načrt spremenila. V prvi fazi sva skrivila le prvo vejo.

 

September 2011: there was an option to create a tree from one branch

 

Yesterday we completed the job. Tomaž did all the wiring at home, in the studio we've just shaped the crown and refined a few little things.

 

Včeraj sva dokončala oblikovanje. Tomaž je doma že prej brin do konca ožičil, v ateljeju sva ga le oblikovala in dodelala še nekaj malenkosti.

 

 

 

October 2012: end of first phase

 

 

The tree has a beautiful nebari and in the first part has a nice tapering, so the bottom half of the tree looks old and is OK. The problem is in the upper part, which is apparently much younger than the bottom. In fact, too younger. We'll try to solve this problem in the future with a slightly richer crown in the upper part, which will hide the thin line of the trunk. Of course, there is still a lot of work on dead wood and first of all finding suitable pot!

 

Drevo ima lep nebari in v prvem delu zelo dobro ožanje, skratka spodnja polovica drevesa zgleda staro in je OK. Problem je v zgornjem delu, ki je že na videz veliko mlajši od spodnjega. V bistvu preveč. Težavo bova v prihodnje skušala rešiti z nekoliko bogatejšo krošnjo v zgornjem delu, ki bo skrila tanko linijo debla. Tomaža seveda čaka še veliko dela na suhem lesu in iskanje primerne posode!