OLEASTER IN SMREKA

TORA international bonsai school also takes care of some eminent collections. Collection of Rok Podlesnik is one of them for sure. This time I had the pleasure to work on big Olea oleaster. The tree came from Spain and was neglected at least two years. So it was about time to put it back on the right path.

 

Šola TORA skrbi tudi za nekaj pomembnih zbirk. Zbirka Roka Podlesnika je gotovo ena izmed njih. Tokrat sem imel priložnost delati na divji oljki. Drevo je prišlo iz Španije in bilo zanemarjeno vsaj zadnji dve leti. Torej je bil res že čas, da jo spet postavimo na pravo pot.

 

Olea oleaster, before

This was just a rough styling, because the time of the year is not the best one to work on Mediteranean species. We'll continue to work in the next growing season ...

 

To je bilo le grobo oblikovanje, saj letni čas ni ravno primeren za delo na sredozemskih vrstah. Z delom bomo nadaljevali v naslednji rastni sezoni.

 

Olea oleaster, after rough styling

 

The next project I want to show is Alpine Picea abies of Aleš Krmelj. He is one of the students of TORA school. Yesterday he completed the second step on this interesting tree. The first step was made in December 2014. Aleš brought the tree into the atelier two years after collecting. The tree has nice natural shari and some interesting movement, but still needed some preparation before first styling.

 

Naslednji projekt, ki bi ga rad predstavil, je smreka Aleša Krmelja. Aleš je eden od študentov šole TORA. Včeraj je končal z drugim korakom na tem zanimivem drevesu. Prvi korak je bil narejen decembra 2014. Aleš je drevo v atelje prinesel dve leti po izkopu. Ima lep naraven šari in zanimivo gibanje, a vseeno je potrebovalo nekaj priprave na prvo oblikovanje.

 

Pieca abies, before intervention, December 2014

 

We decided to put two bendings in to the straight branch. Because the branch is very old and thick we used special technique. After bending we protected the area with moist cloth.

 

Odločili smo se, da ravno vejo na dveh mestih skrivimo. Ker je veja zelo stara in debela, smo uporabili posebno tehniko. Po krivljenju, smo območje zaščitili z mokro krpo.

Protected area of the bending

Aleš working

 

Aleš brought the tree back 10 months later, It was well ready for the next step. He wired it and then we styled it for the first time. The result is very interesting spruce with a lot of drama, some nice movement and dead-wood.

 

Po 10-ih mesecih je Aleš drevo prinesel nazaj, bilo je pripravljeno na naslednji korak. Ožičil ga je in potem smo ga prvič oblikovali. Rezultat je zanimiva smreka z veliko drame, zanimivega gibanja in mrtvega lesa.

 

Picea abies, October 2015, before styling. Bending area is well healed

 

Never forget to spray when working on spruce!

Picea abies, October 2015, after first styling

 

During the next growing season the tree will be carefully maintained, in spring 2017 it will be re-potted into a bonsai pot. If everything will go according to the plan of course.

 

Naslednjo rastno sezono bo skrbno vzdrževana, spomladi 2017 pa bo, če bo šlo vse po načrtih seveda, presajena v bonsajsko posodo.

BRIN M

Gašper, TORA international bonsai school apprentice, was wiring this Juniper for the last few days. And he did a great job!

 

Gašper, študent šole TORA, se je zadnje dni posvečal žičenju tega brina. In opravil je zelo dobro delo!

 

Gašper working

 

The story of this Juniperus virginana started in October 2011. My dear friend Hans van Meer was guest of our club and during workshop with him I was working on this tree. Material was collected a few years earlier in Poland by another dear friend of mine - Marek Gajda. The line was set, now the real work on the tree started.

 

Zgodba tega Virginijskega brina se je začela oktobra 2011. Prijatelj Hans van Meer je bil takrat gost našega kluba in med delavnico z njim, sem delal na tem drevesu. Materijal je na Poljskem izkopal moj drug prijatelj - Marek Gajda. Linija je bila določena, zdaj se je začelo resno delo na drevesu.

 

Juniperus virginiana, October 2011, starting material

 

Author working on material

Juniperus virginiana after first styling, October 2011

Juniperus virginiana after first styling, October 2011

 

Two years and some dead branches later the tree was still in development, but progress was clearly visible. I also started to work on dead wood and live veins which, in the future, will help to add the movement in the lower part of the trunk.

 

Dve leti in nekaj odmrlih vej kasneje je bilo drevo še vedno v razvoju, toda napredek je bil jasno viden. Začel sem tudi z delom na mrtvem lesu in živih venah, ki bodo, v bodočnosti, pomagale dodati gibanje spodnjemu delu debla.

 

Juniperus virginiana, Jun 2013

 

Another two years later the tree has made another important step further. Gašper did a great job with the wiring! Meanwhile the Juniper was also re-potted, but now the real search for proper pot will begin. What do you think about the pot: classical half-cascade pot, maybe half-cascade pot with broken edge or even the moon-shaped pot?

 

Še dve leti kasneje je drevo napravilo še en pomemben korak naprej. Gašper je z žičenjem opravil odlično delo! Med tem je bil brin tudi presajen, toda zdaj se iskanje prave posode šele začenja. Kaj predlagate: klasično pol-kaskadno posodo, morda pol-kaskadno posodo z razbitim robom ali celo luno?

 

October 2015, white background

October 2015, black background

 

Four years after intial styling we still folow the original vision. And we are closer and closer to the ultimate goal!

 

Štiri leta po prvem oblikovanju še vedno sledimo zastavljeni poti. In z vsakim korakom smo bližje cilju! 

GLOG

Crataegus monogyna is the first tree in my garden this year which turned in to great autumn colours. Time to admire the work of nature!

Glog je prvo drevo v mojem vrtu to leto, ki se je preobleklo v čudovite jesenske barve. Čas za občudovanje dela narave!

Crataegus monogyna, March 2012, after collecting from the nature

OLEASTER

Autumn is slowly coming to the garden

Meanwhile in TORA atelier: Olea oleaster (wild olive) came in to the atelier from Rok's collection. It is a great material from Spain, chuhin size, but extremely neglected. So we put it back to right path. There were three possible fronts, first two are in favorite of existing dead-wood, but the movement is towards back, so we choose te last one.

 

Med tem v atelejeju TORA: Olea oleaster (divja oljka) je iz Rokove zbirke. Gre za krasen materijal iz Španije, čuhin velikosti, a žal zelo zanemarjen. Postavili smo ga nazaj na pravo pot. Za prednjo stran so bile tri možnosti, prvi dve bi v ospredje postavili že obstoječ mrtev les, toda gibanje je preveč nazaj, tako da sem izbral tretjo predno stran.

 

Possible front No.:1

Possible front No.:2

Possible front No.:3

Olea oleaster after styling

Dead-wood at the back

But also the front is great

 

Final result

 

The work on this oleaster was very hard, the wiring almost impossible, but I tried to do my best. Because this time of the year is not the best for work on Mediteranean species I didn't go all the way. I left a lot of work for next spring. But the tree is now back on the right path.

 

Delo natem oleastru je bilo zelo zahtevno, žičenje skoraj nemogoče. A dal sem vse od sebe. Ker tudi letni čas ni najboljši za delo na Sredozemskih vrstah, s posegom nisem pretiraval. Še veliko dela sem pustil za naslednjo pomlad. Toda drevo je zdaj nazaj na pravi poti.

 

The olive was styled in tipical "Spanish" style; there is still a lot of work to do on branch structure, but for now the tree must rest.

 

Oljka je bila oblikovana v tipično "Španskem" slogu; še veliko je dela s strukturo vej, toda zdaj mora drevo najprej počivati.

 

Next project ...

DELAVNICA

Redna tedenska delavnica bo tokrat v TOREK, 6. oktobra. Vabljeni!

CHUHIN SMREKA

TORA international bonsai school is back in business :-) After a short break due to a trip to China the normal schedule is back in order. Peter, one of my students, bring his nice little spruce to the atelier. Spruce has nice tapering and movement, It is strong and is ready to work on.

 

Mednarodna bonsajska šola TORA je spet operativna :-) Po krajšem premoru zaradi potovanja na Kitajsko je spet v veljavi običajen urnik. Peter, eden naših od študentov, je v atelje prinesel krasno majhno smreko. Smreka ima lepo ožanje in gibanje, je močna in pripravljena za delo.

 

Picea abies, before first styling

 

After analysis, we came up with two possible solutions: one is upright and the other is half-cascade tree. We made a quick sketch:

 

Po analizi sva imela dve možni rešitvi: prva je pokončno in druga pol kaskadno drevo. Na hitro sva skicirala možni rešitvi:

 

Two possible solutions

 

Because we want that the natural shari at the first curve became a focal point of this tree, we decided to go with a half-cascade solution, even though is a little harder to achieve and will need more time to mature. It brings more character out of the material than an upright one.

 

Ker sva hotela, da naraven šari v prvi krivini postane osrednja točka tega drevesa, sva se odločila za pol kaskado; pa čeprav jo bo težje izvesti in bo potrebovala več časa za zorenje. Ampak iz materijala izvleče več karakterja, koz pokončna.

 

This will be the focal point of the future bonsai

 

So we started to work. First, we bring the future top closer to the main trunk, then Peter start to clean and wire the tree.

 

Zagnala sva se v delo. Najprej sva bodoči vrh pripeljala bližje glavnemu deblu, potem je Peter začel čistiti in žičiti drevo.

 

Peter adjusting last details

 

This is the final result after first styling. This will be a fine chuhin-size han-kengai! Can't wait to see how it will develop! 

 

To je rezultat po prvem oblikovanju. To bo odlična pol kaskada (han-kengai) čuhin velikosti! Se že veselim njenega razvoja!

 

Picea abies after first styling

GUANGZHOU

Guangzhou is a Southern China's Megapolis located in the Pearl river delta, formerly known as Canton, province Guangdong. Guangzhou is the third largest Chinese city and the largest city in South Central China. In 2014 the city's administrative area was estimated to have a population of 13.08 million. Some estimates place the population of the entire Pearl River Delta Mega City built-up area as high as 44 million including Guangzhou's nine urban districts. Guangzhou is part of one of the most populous metropolitan agglomerations on Earth. This past week Guangzhou hosted BCI and Asia-Pacific bonsai convention and I was invited there by the organizers. This are my impressions:

 

Guangžou je Južno Kitajski megapolis v delti Biserne reke, nekoč znan tudi kot Kanton, v provinci Guangdong. Guangžou je tretje največje Kitajsko mesto in največje v Južnocentralni Kitajski. Leta 2014 je ožje mesto imelo 13,08 miljonov prebivalcev. Ocenjujejo, da je v celotnem poseljenem delu delte Biserne reke, ki vključuje Guangžou in njegovih devet predmestij, kar 44 milijonov ljudi. Guangžou je del najbolj poseljenega mestnega področja na Zemlji. Prejšnji teden je mesto gostilo BCI in Azijsko-Pacifiško bonsajsko konvencijo. Tja so me povabili organizatorji. Tu je nekaj mojih vtisov:

 

Guangzhou by night

Canton tower, with 600 m third tallest in the world

 

 

I am regular traveler and I travel all over the world. Not so many cities impressed me, but Guangzhou is one of them: by its sheer size, for European conditions everything is so big and megalomaniacal, including number of people. Even the BCI convention was biggest so far and organizers did a great job! In Sun Yat-Sen memorial park they put on the show almost 300 great trees, all influenced by the famous Lingnan bonsai school. As everything in China the bonsai trees (Penjing) are really big too! The presentation of the trees was not so great as we are used to in Europe or in Japan, but nevertheless the trees were great. The majority of them were tropical broadleaves species like Ficus, Segeretia, Podocarpus, Bougauinvillea and Murraya. The lines and especially ramification on some trees were fantastic, for our European taste (trained by Japanese school) there were to much of figurines under them and also pots were not so good. But as I wrote before: this was a fantastic show with great trees and I was really glad that I have the opportunity to study them and to learn about Lingnan school.

 

Kar veliko potujem po celem svetu in ni veliko mest, ki bi name napravila vtis. Ampak Guangžou ga je: z svojo velikostjo, za naše razmere je vse ogromno in megalomansko, tudi število ljudi. Celo BCI konvencija je bila največja do zdaj in organizatorji so se odrezali! V spominskem parku Suna Jat-Sena je bilo na ogled 300 krasnih dreves, vsa v slogu slavne Lingnan šole. Kot vse na Kitajskem, so tudi drevesa (Pendžing) zelo velika! Predstavitev dreves ni bila na takšnem nivoju, kot smo ga vajeni v Evropi ali na Japonskem, toda ne glede na to, so bila drevesa krasna. Večino so predstavljali tropski listavci vrst kot so Ficus, Segeretia, Podocarpus, Bougauinvillea in Murraya. Linije in še posebej razvejanost na nekaterih drevesih je bila fantastična, za naš Evropski okus (šolan Japonsko) je bilo pod njimi preveč figuric, tudi posode niso bile najboljše. Toda, kot sem že zapisal: to je bila krasna razstava z izjemnimi drevesi in vesel sem, da sem jih imel priložnost študirati in se učiti o Lingnanski šoli. 

 

Sun Yat-Sen memorial park

 

Exhibition under the shadow of skyscrapers

 

 

 

There were also shohin  compositions

Judges at work

Author at exhibition

 

 

The Science Musem was the venue for Suiseki (Ornamental or Viewing stone) exhibition and also the venue for demonstrations and lectures.

 

Muzej znanosti je bil prizorišče razstave suisekijev, tam so bile tudi razstave in predavanja.

 

Demonstrations

 

Demonstrations were folowed also by Japanese delegation with Kunio Kobayashi

Suiseki (Viewing stone) exhibition

 

Organizers also prepared excursions for us, we visited four bonsai-gardens in or near Guangzhou. Learning, meeting new friends, I had a really great time in Guangzhou! Big thanks to the organizers! 

 

Organizatorji so za nas pripravili tudi ekskurzije, obiskali smo štiri bonsajske vrtove v ali v bližini Guangžouja. Učenje, spoznavanje novih prijateljev, za mano je krasen teden! Hvala organizatorjem!

 

P.S.: I am preparing a lecture about this trip. We'll met in TORA school in Wensday, 30th of September! Welcome!  

 

P.S.: Pripravljam predavanje z veliko več fotografijami. Dobimo se v TORI, v sredo 30. septembra ob 17-ih. Vstopnina bo, prosim za prijave!