Feb 16 2014

Flights Booked for BSA Exhibition

That’s my flights from Belfast booked for the 7th – 9th March for my trip over to the British Shohin Association’s Exhibition at Willowbog Bonsai.

I had planned to travel by boat with a few others and then realised that I had booked leave from work on the wrong weekend!! I was unable to add extra days around the actual weekend for travelling and have now opted to fly over to cut down on travel time. A big thank you to Peter Snart for assisting me with my travel alterations!!

So this means that I will be catching up with some old friends and meeting some new ones. I’m really looking forward to it, it’s shaping up to be an excellent exhibition. I have one tree for entry in the Deciduous Chuhin Class. I was able to sent it over with Peter last weekend, a bit hard to carry on the plane!

I’m looking forward to having a catch up with Peter Warren and John Armitage. I will also have the pleasure of meeting Valentin Brose for the first time. The programme for the weekend looks action packed as well.

So who’s going to this years Exhibition?

Sep 27 2013

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BSA Exhibition 2014

Aug 13 2012

Shohin UK Exhibition 2013

Thought I’d share this here for all those UK based enthusiasts. In fact, that’s rather restrictive, feel free to attend from wherever you are!

I have cut and pasted the below info from the Facebook page recently set up. I have clicked the ‘Maybe’ button for attendance but I’ll have to wait until closer to the time before I know if I can attend. Seeing who is doing the organising, I can assure you that this will be a quality event.

On behalf of the organising team, I am pleased to announce that an exciting national UK Shohin Bonsai show dedicated to smaller bonsai, will be held on Sunday, March 24th 2013. This exciting national event is being organised by Mark & Ritta Cooper and Bob Bailey, with the support of the Bristol Bonsai Society, the British Shohin Association, and the Federation of British Bonsai Societies.
This will be the only UK national exhibition dedicated to Shohin bonsai in 2013 and will be a “must visit event” for all Shohin Bonsai enthusiasts.

The venue is the recently refurbished Failand Village Hall, near Bristol, UK, which is located just a few miles from Junction 19 on the M5. The postcode is BS8 3TS. The nearby historic and culturally vibrant town of Bristol has a wealth of tourist attractions for those who may wish to make an extended vacation. Bristol airport is only 15minutes away from the venue.

This national show is open to everyone and is specifically for Mame, Shohin and Chuhin size bonsai only. It is our ambition to set high standards, both for exhibits and for the standard of display. We would be very happy to welcome visitors and exhibitors from continental Europe.

NB as a helpful guide for exhibitors:-
•Mame size guide is approximately 10cm from soil surface
•Shohin size guide is approximately 20cm from soil surface
•Chuhin size guide is approximately 45cm maximum from soil surface

Facilities will be provided to display trees to a high standard. Exhibit tables will be covered in high quality black cloth. Background screens for exhibits will be provided, with the cloth being off white in colour with the facility to be able to use pin fixings to hang scrolls if required. Lighting at the venue is very good.

There will be a selection process for exhibits, so please do request details for an application to exhibit as soon as possible. The closing date for applications to exhibit is the 1st January 2013. There will be many awards and trophies presented and details of awards will be announced nearer the time.

Many Bonsai traders offering quality goods relevant to the theme of the event will be in attendance and further details will follow soon. Light refreshments will also be available.

Further information will be made available as plans for the event develop.
To request further details, or to express an interest in this event as a potential exhibitor, please contact Mark Cooper at shohin.uk@btinternet.com

Aug 3 2012

BSA Journal

Got my issue of the BSA Journal yesterday and was amazed that my little Chuhin Maple got four pages.

You’ve seen all the photos here on the blog before as I have recounted the trees story so far. As was pointed out by Fiona at the end of the article, the tree was the victim of some sort of pest attack this Spring and it lost branches. It is recovering better than anticipated with budding close to most of of the removed branches, therefore I hope that it will not be a Shohin next show!! 🙂

Mar 5 2012

Little Cascade Ivy Preperation

I’m bring this little Ivy over to the BSA show as well. Not much good on it’s own but it might just help fill out a display for someone else. Being an unusual variety it’ll hopefully add a little interest too.

I had to replace the old moss and tidy up a few leaves that were pointing the wrong way. The very nature of Ivy’s growth means that they a a little unkempt, but I rather like this little fellow.

As lifted out of the Winter quarters, weeds and all!

I removed all the old moss.

As rots had grown into the old moss I trimmed them and gave it a general tidy up before I applied the new moss.

Ready to go. The photo doesn’t do the little fellow justice, but they rarely do.

Mar 4 2012

Chuhin Maple Show Preperation

I’m taking this Maple with me to the BSA Exhibition next Friday in the off chance that it’s up to the mark for the display. I had to do a little work to get it in order. This is it to start with.

Some little dead stubs had to be cut out to keep it tidy.

Next up I gave it a good soaking in a container of water.

I then scraped off the lose mix from the soil surface to make way for the moss.

Moss at the ready I made a start with getting it applied.

I used 3 different types of moss collected from three different sites. By mixing them up as you plant it, you make a more interesting surface.

I like to add a little moss with seed heads to the back of the pot. I think it helps add depth to the overall composition.

Next step was to water in the moss and get rid of any debris from the surface, then give it another press down.

Job Done, hopefully it’ll make the cut.

Mar 2 2012

One week from now….

I’ll be getting on the boat to head over to the BSA Exhibition.

It’s been great to hear from folk on the forums who are making the trip up to Willowbog, quite a few by the looks of it. Looking forward to meeting some old friends [Boxy :-)] and some new ones. Quite a few that I know from the world wide web as well but have as yet never met face to face. God help them when they see my face 😀

Feb 13 2012

4 weeks to go….

.. until the British Shohin Association 6th Exhibition at Willowbog Bonsai. Unless things change dramatically, I fully intend to be there.

Here is the latest report/update direct from the BSA.

4 WEEKS TO GO

Oct 29 2011

BSA Website & Blog

The New British Shohin Association Website and Blog is now up and running. Lots of great images in the gallery to flick through for all the shohin lovers out there.

It is now easy to join as well. I have been threatening to do it for years and took the plunge today and paid via paypal. I tried to get over to the Shohin Off Show this year, but a death in the family changed all my plans. However I do plan to make it over to the 2012 Show.

Link to site by clicking on the image below.