BOR M

I collected this red pine five years ago at local hills. After four years in pot it was more then ready for first styling. So I decided to give this tree to Andrea Melloni to style it this spring during VI. International bonsai exhibition in Ljubljana. It was a little late for styling as it was already first weekend in June.

 

Ta rdeči bor sem izkopal pred petimi leti v lokalnih hribih. Po štirih letih v posodi je bil več kot pripravljen za prvo oblikovanje. Odločil sem se, da ga ponudim Andrei Melloniju, ki naj bi ga oblikoval med demonstracijo na VI. Mednarodni razstavi v Ljubljani. Za oblikovanje je bilo že nekoliko pozno, saj je bil to že prvi konec tedna v juniju.  

 

Pine before work (Photo: Roland Petek)

 

Before work, at delicious cappuccino we, me and Andrea, discuss the future of this old yamadori. We agree at almost all details (which line to choose, which branch to use etc.), but even if we wouldn't agree, Andrea is an artist which I completely trust. So he started to work.

 

Pred začetkom sva se z Andreo na kapučinu pogovorila o prihodnosti tega starega jamadorija. Strinjala sva se v skoraj vseh podrobnostih (katero linijo izbrati, katero vejo uporabiti idr.), pa tudi če se ne bi, Andrea je bonsajist, ki mu popolnoma zaupam. In tako se je lotil dela.

Andrea working on big jin created from main trunk (Photo: Roland Petek)

Tomaž Hafner assisted Andrea (Photo: Roland Petek)

The final result after demonstration (Photo: Roland Petek)

The result was elegant pine with interesting line and even more interesting jin which complemented the line of the trunk. Because Andrea cut almost 70% of green mass and did some major bendings many people expressed their concern that the tree will not survive. But as always in such cases the preparation of the tree before the demo is as important as after care. So after demo the tree was carefully looked after with right measures and there was no problem. Tree reacted very well with a lot of new buds but also with very long needles. After five months It was time for a new step.

 

Rezultat je bil eleganten bor z zanimivo linijo in še bolj zanimivim džinom, ki dopolnjuje linijo debla. Ker je Andrea porezal skoraj 70% zelenja in napravil nekaj konkretnih zvijanj, je kar nekaj ljudi izrazilo dvome, da bo drevo preživelo. Toda tako kot vedno v takšnih primerih je priprava drevesa pred posegom enako pomembna, kot je skrb za drevo po njem. Po demotu je bilo za drevo dobro poskrbljeno s pravim pristopom in tako težav ni bilo. Drevo je reagiralo zelo dobro, z veliko novih brstov, a tudi z zelo dolgimi iglicami. Po petih mesecih je bil čas za nov korak.  

 

I cut off all the wire and raffia, Gašper also cutted all old needles. The bark on this tree is really spectacular!

 

Porezal sem vso žico in rafijo, Gašper je porezal tudi vse stare iglice. Skorja na tem drevesu je res spektakularna!

 

 

The pine was fully wired again. The crown is more compact now and the structure is better. After first styling of Andrea Melloni I found the tree a little to toll, so I try to lower it. Of course the needles are too long and It will take some three or four years to get the proper needles back. In meanwhile I'll re-pot the tree in to bonsai pot. I am looking forward to work on this tree!

 

Bor je bil potem ponovno ožičen. Krišnja je zdaj bolj kompaktna in struktura boljša. Po prvem oblikovanju Andrea Mellonija se mi je bor zdel nekoliko previsok, zato sem ga skušal znižati. Iglice so seveda še predolge, toda za to, da bodo pognale kompaktne prave iglice bodo potrebna tri ali štiri leta. V tem času bom drevo presadil v bonsajsko posodo. Se že veselim dela na tem drevesu!

 

Pinus sylvestris, October 2014, black background

Pinus sylvestris, October 2014, white background

To be continued ...

Se nadaljuje ...

SMREKA IN BRIN

In this post I want to share with you two different projects; first I'll write about Miha's spruce. Miha M. collected this Picea abies some years ago on mountain pasture. It has many faults, but nevertheless this is yamadori material which is worth to deal with.  In recent years Miha already did a lot of work on it, this time he brought it to TORA atelier just to make another step - to wire it completely and to style it in a clean classical way.

Tokrat bi rad predstavil dva različna projekta; najprej bom pisal o Mihatovi smreki. Miha M. je to smreko izkopal pred leti na gorskem pašniku. Ima mnogo napak, a vseeno je to jamadori, na katerem se splača delati. V zadnjih letih je Miha na njej že opravil veliko dela, v TORA studio jo je prinesel zato, da bi napravili še en korak naprej v njenem razvoju - jo na novo ožičili in oblikovali v čistem, klasičnem slogu.

 

Spruce as arrived to TORA atelier

 

So it take Miha three sessions of TORA international bonsai school to complete the wiring, and then we styled it.

Miha je za žičenje porabil tri večere, potem pa smo jo uredili.

 

Miha and Gašper discussing details

The spruce after

The result is very good. The tree already has a mature feeling, and gives to observer a calm, peaceful feeling.

Rezultat je zelo dober. Smreka deluje že zelo zrelo, v opazovalcu pa vzbuja občutek miru in stabilnosti.

 

Before/after

 

The other project is this Juniper pfitzeriana, urban yamadori collected by Tomaž R, found it's way in to my collection two years ago. I made a short film about first styling ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG17NtBYXKc ) After a nice growing season it was time for next step.

Drugi projekt je brin vrste pfitzeriana, gre za urbani jamadori, ki ga je izkopal Tomaž R. Pred dvema letoma je prišel v mojo zbirko. O prvem oblikovanju sem napravil kratek filmček ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG17NtBYXKc ). Po bujni rastni sezoni je bil čas za nov korak.

 

 Juniper after one growing season and before work

 

The TORA international bonsai school apprentice Gašper did most of the work. I am happy with a result, now the tree offers many options. I'll decide which way to go when the tree will be in much shallower pot!

Študent TORA šole Gašper je opravil večino dela. Z rezultatom sem zadovoljen, zdaj drevo ponuja obilo možnosti. Katero bom izbral, se bom odločil, ko bo brin presajen v mnogo plitvejšo posodo!

 

Gašper working

 

Juniper after, more static front

Juniper after, more dinamic front

Development January 2013-October 2014

PRIPRAVA

We have a lot of work in TORA International bonsai school this days! Students are coming, new and old trees are coming, so we are not bored! Some trees were cleaned and prepared for winter: this is Japanese white pine from Tomaž's collection. We cleaned all dead needles, cut some dead branches and turned them in to jins, we also added some wire on branches that weren't wired yet. The elegant tree is now in order again!

 

We also cut all the wire off on this Hinoki cypress, then cleaned all dead leaves and made some empty spaces in the crown. We let the sun and air in!

 

Furthermore we prepared a lot of new trees for future styling. Many times it is impossible to style the tree from start to finish in one step. If we over do it, the tree could die. This is often the case on demonstrations, when demonstrators are forced to complete their jobs. But in school we never put trees in risk. Instead we prepare trees even several seasons for final styling. There are two examples: first is Juniper, which will be styled in to nice cascade. But for now we just cut all branches that we'll not need. We cut more then half of green mass, so we decided that that is enough for one step. Now the tree will rest for one growing season, new shoots will grow and then the tree will be ready for final styling.

 

The same case with this Mugo pine. We select branches and did some major bendings to create main line. Next step will be done probably in one year time, if the pine will be ready.

 

 

This small Mugo was styled a little further, but we didn't wired all branches. We just created the main line and put the main branches in to position. The wiring was done by Tomaž R. Now the tree will rest.

 

 

There is another example - we prepared this Spruce this spring, tree rested during summer, Marko did take a great care about it, and now was ready for final styling:

 

Spruce as arrived to the studio, May 2014

May 2014, first step, we cut some branches and wired the main cascading branch

October 2014: Marco giving the final touch after first styling

So, in my opinion, is very important to prepare the tree for the styling. Also, some times, the tree doesn't allow us to style it all the way: maybe the branches are too long, or some thing else is the problem. And because there is no shortcuts in bonsai, one must wait. If we force the styling, we may create a pleasant silhouette, but the structure of the branches usually isn't good. And with that mistake we could ruin the tree ...

 

 

 

MS

Yesterday I was guest of Murska Sobota group, group of TORA International bonsai school in East part of country. I always feel welcomed there and this time was no different. Roman was a great host again! We worked on pines and did some re-styling. I was so busy that I hardly take any photo. But here are few glimpses:

 

Včeraj sem bil gost Murskosoboške skupine, skupine TORA šole iz vzhodnega dela naše lepe dežele. Tam se vedno počutim dobrodošlega in tudi tokrat ni bilo nič drugače. Roman se je spet izkazal kot izvrsten gostitelj! Delali smo na borih in naredili nekaj preoblikovanj. Bil sem tako zaposlen, da sem skoraj pozabil slikati. Toda tu je nekaj utrinkov:

 

This is a small Pinus sylvestris which was re-styled in almost finished state. The needles are short and ramification is OK. At the end the tree has a nice literati feeling with light crown, now it just need a proper pot!

 

To je manjši rdeči bor, ki je bil preoblikovan v skoraj končno podobo. Iglice so kratke in razvejanost je dobra. Na koncu drevo daje lep občutek literatija z lahko krošnjo, zdaj potebuje le še spodobno posodo!

 

 

The other pine is much bigger. Again it is a Sylvestris but it is a special one. It has very old bark and almost caracter of black pine. We did a complete re-styling, because the old form didn't do the justice to the tree. And also there was a lot of mistakes, like the lower branch was turned in to the top crossing other branches, the crown looked like umbrella. So there was a lot of work.

 

Drugi bor je veliko večji. Tudi ta je rdeči, vendar nekaj posebnega. Ima zelo staro skorjo in karakter črnega bora. Napravili smo popolno preoblikovanje, saj prejšnja oblika iz drevesa ni potegnila najbolšega, kar ponuja. Tu je bilo tudi veliko napak, npr. spodnja veja je bila dvignjena v vrh in križala vse ostale, krošnja je zgledala kot dežnik. Imeli smo veliko dela.

 

We started to bend the lower branch in to position

Because of some major bendings we didn't styled the tree all the way, we just concentrated on the main lines. And it turned out very well! Unfortunately the great day has faiding out and the light was not good anymore for photographing. The next step will be fine wiring of hole tree.

 

Ker je bilo potrebnega nekaj konkretnega zvijanja z oblikovanjem nismo šli do konca, zanimale so nas le glavne linije. In izšlo se je zelo dobro! Žal pa se je krasen dan poslavljal in svetloba za fotografiranje ni bila več primerna. V naslednjem koraku bomo ožičili celotno drevo.

 

 

Again, this was a great day in Prekmurje, see you all again soon!

 

To je bil nov krasen dan v Prekmurju, kmalu nasvidenje!

BOR ROK

Last week I was working on Pinus sylvestris from Rok's collection. It is not a classical material, but nevertheless have a good potential. The needles are already compact, but it can be done a lot more in a next few years. When it arrived to atelier it was without any wire and a kind a neglected.

 

Zadnji teden sem se ukvarjal z rdečim borom iz Rokove zbirke. Ne gre za klasičen materijal, ki pa ima vseeno velik potencial. Iglice so že kompaktne, vseeno pa se da v prihodnjih letih na kroošnji še veliko postoriti. V atelje je prišel neožičen in malce zanemarjen.

 

 

After several hours of needles cutting and after buds selection it was ready for wiring. Outcome is good and something special.

 

Po nekaj urah striženja iglic in selekciji brstov je bil pripravljen na žičenje. Rezultat je dober in nekaj posebnega.  

 

Meanwhile the students of TORA international bonsai school are working hard and results are better and better. Good work guys!

 

Med tem študentje v TORA mednarodni bonsajski šolo trdo delajo in rezultati so boljši in boljši. Fantje, dobro delo!

GORICA

Last Sunday I spent at the exhibition Mostra bonsai "Antica Contea di Gorizia", Italy, in good company of friends. The exhibition has attracted club members from far and near Gorizia and Trieste. The trees were placed in the chambers of the municipal palace in Gorizia; the atmosphere was certainly a special, but trees were somehow lost in all the decoration of rooms, exhibition shelves were without any background.

 

Nedeljo sem preživel v dobri družbi prijateljev na razstavi Mostra bonsai "Antica Contea di Gorizia". Razstava je privabila člane klubov iz širše okolice Gorice in Trsta. Drevesa so bila postavljena v sobane občinske palače v Gorici; vzdušje je gotovo posebno a bonsaji se nekako izgubijo v vsem okrasju soban, razstavne police so bile namreč brez ozadja.

 

 

For photography, the organizers have prepared a neat tokonoma, where the trees were able to show their beauty. Nik also represented Slovenia with his Cornus.

 

Za fotografiranje so organizatorji pripravili lično tokonomo, kjer so drevesa le lahko pokazala svojo lepoto. Slovenske barve je z drenom zastopal tudi Nik:

 

 

I put the Pelican on display, Chinese juniper, which is in top form and deserves admiration. Well, it has earned the title of the most beautiful tree selected by the visitors!

 

Jaz sem na ogled postavil Pelikana, kitajski brin, ki je v vrhunski formi in si zasluži občudovanje. No, prislužil si je tudi naslov najlepšega drevesa po izboru obiskovalcev!

 

Club of my first teacher Adriano Bonini has exhibited a powerful boxwood with already very mature crown. The preparation of the tree for the show was very good!

 

Klub mojega prvega učitelja Adriana Boninija je razstavljal mogočen pušpan z že zelo zrelo krošnjo. Tudi priprava na razstavo je bila opravljena kot se šika!

 

We spend the day mostly outside, where the workshops were held. Miha has brought spruce, with which we had more than enough work for the day, but still it was fun too!

 

Dan smo v večini preživeli zunaj, kjer so potekale delavnice. Miha je prinesel smreko, s katero smo imeli več kot dovolj dela za ves dan, pa še zabavno je bilo!

KUPITI ALI NE

At exhibitions I often herad the remark, saying that this or that tree was purchased. In the pejorative sense. It's like buying a tree allows the owner to simply put it on the shelf and effortlessly pick up the prize. The truth is, at least in my opinion, far different. In a year or even in a few months every bonsai without proper care will be turned into bush and the owner will be anything but proud of it. Here is an illustration of what I'm talking about:
 

Večkrat sem na razstavah ob kakem drevesu na policah slišal pripombo, češ to je bilo pa kupljeno. V slabšalnem smislu. Kot da bi nakup drevesa lastniku omogočal, da ga enostavno postavi na polico in brez truda pobere nagrado. Resnica je, vsaj po moje, vse prej kot drugačna. Vsak, prav vsak bonsaj, se bo ob neznanju tistega, ki zanj skrbi, v nekaj mesecih, da ne govorimo letih, spremenil v grm in bo lastniku vse prej kot v ponos. Tu je ilustracija tega, o čemer govorim:

 

Two years ago, Tomaž's Juniperus virginiana was styled for the first time. Material seemed interesting, so I wanted the tree to stay in my garden. But Tomaž took it and promissed that will take good care of it.

 

Pred dvema letoma je Tomažev virginijski brin doživel prvo preobrazbo. Materijal se mi je zdel zanimiv, zato sem si želel, da bi drevo ostalo v mojem vrtu. A Tomaž ga je odpeljal in obljubil, da bo zanj dobro skrbel.

 

Juniperus virginiana after first styling, November 2012

 

Unfortunately, Tomaž's life was not easy in these two years and the tree was his last concern. After two years, the tree came back to the studio and I was shocked by it's state: Instead of juniper in good form, perhaps even planted in the first bonsai pot, the tree was in very poor condition. Wires have been completely cuted into the bark, the branches at the top grew a lot and were very extended, the lower branches have begun to die.

 

Žal se je Tomažu v teh dveh letih življenje postavilo na glavo in drevo je bilo njegova zadnja skrb. Po dveh letih je drevo spet prišlo v atelje in nad stanjem sem bil šokiran: Namesto, da bi bi bil brin že praktično dokončan, morda celo posajen v prvo bonsajsko posodo, je bil v zelo slabem stanju. Žice so se že popolnoma zajedle v skorjo, vrhno zelenje je močno pognalo, veje so se zelo podaljšale, spodnje veje pa so začele odmirati.

 

After two years juniper returned to the studio in shocking state ...

 

The wire cut a deep scars

Instead of step forward, the juniper did two steps back. Again it was at the beginning, even at worse starting point then less than two years ago. It cost me a lot of work to put the tree back on the path, at least at the point that providing a good basis to work on. Crown is now too large, because the greenery is at least 10-15 cm more far from the trunk instead closer to the trunk. There will be a lot of work to make crown small enough so that thoughtful dynamic design will come to the fore.
 

Brin je namesto naprej, napravil dva koraka nazaj. Spet je bil na začetku oz. izhodišče je bilo slabše kot pred dvema letoma. Vložil sem veliko truda, da sem drevo spet vrnil v vsaj približno obliko, ki omogoča dobro izhodišče za delo naprej. Krošnja je zdaj prevelika, saj se je zelenje namesto, da bi se približalo deblo, od njega oddaljilo za vsaj 10-15 cm. Potrebna bodo leta dela, da bo krošnja dovolj majhna, zamišljen dinamičen dizajn pa bo prišel do izraza.    

 

Juniper back on the path .. The crown is much too big though. September 2014

 

So purchasing of bonsai is not a guarantee for success. I have already said that I do not devide material with respect to its origin, but simply and solely on the good or bad. Anyone who wants to put a tree in an enviable exhibition form, he has to show a wealth of feeling for design and bonsai knowledge.

 

Tu je bil torej dokaz, da nakup bonsaja ni garancija za uspeh. Sam sem že večkrat dejal, da materijala ne delim glede na njegov izvor, ampak zgolj in samo na dobrega ali slabega. Kdor hoče drevo spraviti v zavidljivo razstavno formo, mora tako ali tako pokazati obilico občutka in bonsajskega znanja.