Monthly Archives: October 2015

Oct 31 2015

Spooky displays…and a zombie?

Nebari Bonsai

Halloween already! Seems like I was just repotting. When preparing for a class on display, I came across a few displays that were overtly themed, one can be credited to Nick Lenz:

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A cheeky graveyard:

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And a great Halloween-themed tokonome display:

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Then in a Kokufu book, one that was subtly very dark. What do you think, intentional?

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We’re big fans of The Walking Dead at our house. This summer, my daughter and I toured Senoia, GA, which was transformed into “Woodbury” on TWD, and currently hosts the set of Alexandria. It’s bizarre to stand on Main St. and remember the Governor’s horrific reign, and look down the street to see Alexandria’s wall that is central to this season…supposedly several states away, and in reality, less than several blocks away.

Kids don’t listen…

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and if they survive the zombie apocalypse…they might not survive prison!

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Why am I writing this in a…

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Oct 31 2015

Large trees from the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt

Oct 30 2015

Break the Rules

Well worth a watch this one. Great to hear someone explaining why sometimes a tree can be better by breaking the rules, especially working with yamadori.

Oct 26 2015

November Workshop Places

Some workshop places up for grabs!
On Saturday 28th November there’ll be a workshop hosted at my home in Ards running from 9.30am to 5pm. This is a joint venture between Phil Donnelly and myself aimed at offering bonsai enthusiasts the opportunity to develop their skills and bonsai techniques and improve the quality of their trees. In a relaxed atmosphere we aim to teach the fundamentals of bonsai as well as how to refine good trees making them all that they can be. By working in a group setting those taking part will not only learn from work they do on their own trees, but also on what other participants are doing beside them.
Both Phil and I will be delivering the content and work on the day to a maximum of 8 participants. That, if my fractions are correct is the same as a 4 to 1 workshop and guarantees you plenty of personal attention on the day. We are going to do a in-depth look at the pruning of deciduous trees both in development and in maintaining good ramification.
The workshop fee is £30 for the day, and this will include Soup/sausage roll lunch snack and tea/coffee during the day. Craic is free!
Some places are already booked  by our friends from Cork so if you are interested, please let me know asap to reserve your space.
Oct 25 2015

Shohin Larch Autumn Colours

Oct 23 2015

Lights, camera – bonsai!

Oct 22 2015
Video

Ryan Neil Demo at Bonsai San 2015

Thank You Bonsai Empire

Oct 21 2015

Bonsai Europa Videos

I’ve been adding some short videos of trees from Bonsai Europa 2015 to my Youtube Channel in case anyone wants a closer look. My son’s camcorder is a little iffy with lower light levels but I think they are still very viewable.

Here are the two longer clips showing a little of what the show was like and then some of the deciduous trees. Other trees can be found on my channel but sadly my battery ran out before I got to get them all. Apologies if the tree you wanted to see is missing.