Nov 15 2014

One to One – Larch

I had Ben here for a one to one session today. He brought this big Japanese Larch with him. He collected it with us a few years ago and it had grown strongly under his care. This is the tree as collected.

This was it at 12pm today. The session saw us having to make a few decisions.

Ben was keen to make a twin trunk image but the two main trunks were both similar in size and thickness. We talked through the options and eliminated the faults leaving everything else for wiring.

A few bends were added to improve the trunk line to the apex and we shaped it to create this first styling image, and as you can see, it’s a twin trunk, just not the trunk that was expected.

This was it at 5pm.

Before and after

Nov 15 2014

Tony’s Garden

Most of these have probably appeared on Facebook over the last week but I’ll share anyway. These where taken in Tony’s garden. It was great to see some of these trees in the flesh having only seen them in photos and websites over the years. It’s hard to not be impressed with the quality of the Yews in his collection but what most interested me was the quality of the ramification on the Hawthorn. Also nice to see some humble projects being worked on as well with rock plantings catching my eye. I only wish I’d seen it in Summer for a closer look at the accents, my other passion. Most were already in their Winter state. A few pots here as well that caught my eye.

Nov 14 2014

Up at Allotments

Tony gave us a look at his yamadori collection at his allotment. If only he had the forethought to arrange a dry day. 🙂 Thankfully Sunday saw a blue sky. These are some of the snaps taken over a few visits, some very exciting trees, especially some of the demo trees set aside for Bonsai Europa 2015 .

Nov 13 2014

Gallery

and of course… Mr Tickle

This gallery contains 21 photos.

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Nov 13 2014

Burrs Artists in Action – John Armitage

The shohin man turned out some amazing trees at the weekend, you could see him being drawn to every small tree in the room 🙂

Nov 12 2014

Burrs Artists in Action – Rob Atkinson

The big fella was busy for the two days and keen to help and dispense advice. A man with a true love of bonsai.

Nov 12 2014

Burrs Artists In Action – Pavel Slovák

Language isn’t a barrier in bonsai as art is universal. Pavel was a top bloke and a true artist.

Nov 11 2014

Gallery

Burrs Artists In Action – Terry Foster

This gallery contains 12 photos.

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Nov 10 2014

Back To Reality

After a weekend away at Burrs I finally made it back to home at 11pm last night. I wish I had booked today off work but sadly I had to trudge in this morning. I’m only now able to wade through about 800 photos and video clips taken over the 3 days. I’ll be posting some of these during the week to show some of the exploits, wonders, weirdos, and even a few trees for the event 🙂

Tony invited me as a guest to Burrs back in March, an offer I’d be silly to turn down. I had heard a lot about Burrs from many sources, some were great reviews but some were not so complimentary. I’m a great believer in making my own mind up. My own verdict, I can truly state that Burrs is a great environment for bonsai learning, one of the best I have experienced in 20 years. As you know I count friendship as a major part of bonsai and Burrs has also added to that experience. I have made many new friends, some old ones met for a catch up and a few folk who I talk to on a weekly basis on the net that I was able to finally meet in the flesh. Looking back the nay sayers, in the main were those who had never been to Burrs, I think that says it all! Make your own mind up, sign up for 2015.

To Mr & Mrs T, thank you yet again for a great weekend, your hospitality was second to none and I truly enjoyed every second of it, well maybe not the early morning noises coming through the wall of Burrs room!!, but you know what I mean. 🙂

Here are a few sample photos but many more to follow as I wade though the folder. I think these capture a little of what the weekend was all about.

Nov 7 2014

Syohin Bonsai Kitakyusyu Branch Exhibition

Sharing these courtesy of Nekotoban Bonsai Days Blog which you should all be following if you are a lover of Shohin Bonsai. She has been doing the rounds of Shohin Exhibitions in Japan, many of which we rarely see here in the west. This is a great insight into display and quality at more local exhibitions in Japan.