Jan 24 2013

Drama! and We Haven’t Even Left Yet!!

Popped over to Phil’s place today to drop off my tree for the weekend and give him a hand lifting out his rather larger one. We are travelling in Phil’s van which he had unbelievably cleared of all the usual crap he carries about in it 🙂

His tree had to be secured at an angle to get it to fit and he spend a little time screwing wood around both trees to stop any movement.

Here’s a few photos.

We managed to get all this done and the van fully filled and I drove off to leave him to pop home. About a half hour later I got a call to say the van was dead and we were now stuck for transport. This started a frantic session of phone calls to the AA [That’s Automobile Assoc not Alcoholics Anon :-)] Stenna and a van hire company, to try and cover all options. We had a 5pm deadline to get things sorted one way or another. At 4,30pm after changing the boat time from first thing in the morning just in case, the AA guy found the fault and has made a temporary fix. No part available in Northern Ireland but we hope to make it as far as Carlisle tomorrow before it quits. The part awaits us there!

All very dramatic, lets hope it starts in the morning. A £27.50 part was better than a £300 van hire!!

Next Stop Willowbog Bonsai, fingers crossed everyone 😀

Jan 24 2013

Tree for the Weekend

This is the Scots Pine that I’ll be doing in the workshop with Ryan Neil next Sunday.

I did some prep and removed some of the older needles for wiring.

After needle removal

Even remembered to cover up to catch the needles 🙂

Jan 23 2013

I don’t know what’s more shocking, all the snow we have to negotiate to get there, or that fact that Peter gave the depth of snow in CM!! Had you down for an inches man. Must be after all his recent time in Belgium 🙂

Jan 23 2013

Not the only show in town, on the same weekend as Noelanders Bay Island Bonsai had their show. Fantastic quality. Worth a check out on Sam and KJ’s blog.

Sam & KJ's Suiseki Blog (水石)

The BIB show was this weekend and I must admit we had a great time visiting the show and seeing all of our friends and making new ones. KJ and I took a few snapshots to just give you a glance of what was there. This is a very small selection of photos.

I do want to add though come back in a few days as we post about one of the most artistic suiseki displays we have ever witnessed.

BIB Exhibit of Fine Bonsai 2013

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Jan 23 2013

Great interview with Owen Reich over on Bonsai Prelude. Check it out.

Bonsai Prelude

Two interviews in (almost) 1 week! Well I can’t promise to keep up this pace, but I’ve had unusual luck with two great bonsai artists taking a few moments to answer a few questions about all that they do. I’ve mentioned Owen on more than a few occasions, but for those of you that aren’t already familiar I’ll list a short bio below.

“The past 12 years of my life have revolved around the culture of plants.

My degree in Horticulture at UGA, 5 years of wholesale nursery management, and two years of formal study in Japan at Kouka-en under Keiichi Fujikawa, has culminated in the founding of Bonsai Unearthed in Nashville, TN.

My teaching style is laid back and practical. There are many “gray” areas in the world of bonsai, but navigating the murky waters is possible. While choosing a proper Kowatari period shirogochi pot for an ancient momiji…

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Jan 23 2013

OK, Very Pretty, Now GO AWAY!!

You can’t fail to have noticed the white stuff everywhere this week. All very nice but I want to see the back of it before we travel over to Willowbog Bonsai on Friday.

I’ve been lucky here to be honest. At sea level we rarely get much and at no point has it been more than a few inches. Pop over the hill to Belfast and it’s a lot worse. Most countries that are used to snow seem to cope with it but the UK is hopeless, everything grinds to a halt.

I did snap a few shots just to record the dates here on the blog. Always interesting to record when we get the snow and what the weather has been like. I is meant to be a Bonsai Diary after all and the weather plays a big part in how our trees grow.

Empty benches

Even in the greenhouse!

Jan 22 2013

Old Joe Yew Update

Time to rework this Yew called Old Joe after my Uncle. See HERE and HERE for background and older photos.

This is it now. Grown well in the last while. Decisions to be made about the future height of the tree. Initially keep tall for a bit of carving practice on a poor tree. Now as it fills out I might be tempted to create the tree from the bottom few branches. However, tall and straight is part of my memory of my uncle, decisions decisions.

Jan 21 2013

Some great trees heading to Japans top exhibitions, well worth a look and a blog follow for Tyler.

Tyler Sherrod Bonsai

This year’s Kokufu exhibition will be a little tougher for every hopeful as there are about 50 less trees being accepted. Many of you have been curious to why this is. Well it is because the building in which the show is typically held, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, has been renovated over the last few years. I believe they have added an escalator and a few other improvements to update the building. I know for sure that the last two years it was held in a typical business/residential building on something like the 16 floor. You would arrive on that floor and there the trees were. This year it is back at its normal location and it will the first time for me. So, the display area for the Kokufu trees will be smaller and less trees will fit. For that reason they have cut about 50 spaces/entries. Also for some reason I have not been…

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Jan 21 2013

Video

Merlins Noelanders Trophy Video

Jan 20 2013

Noelanders Trophy 2013 Winners

Trying to piece together the winners of this year’s Trophy. From what I can glean, this is it. If there’s any mistakes, or others I’ve missed, please let me know.