Jan 26 2013

Demo Day

Anybody who was at the Ryan Neil demo today will no doubt back me up when I say just how enjoyable and educational a day it was.

Ryan certainly is every bit as good as the greater bonsai public say he is. I will be adding many of the 100’s of photos I have taken so far during this coming week. Just not possible to do it now with this internet connection. I will however share the before and after shots of the Taxus Cuspidata that Ryan worked on today. No easy option for Ryan, he wanted the best possible outcome for this year which involved seperating the live vein from the deadwood to allow the image to be compacted more bring the green bits closer to the wonderful deadwood.

Compare where the foliage in in the before photo to were it is in the after. Use the deadwood as a reference. As usual a photo does not do this tree justice.

Workshop tomorrow, after more red wine tonight 🙂

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 9 2013

Boat Booked!

That’s the boat booked for our trip over to Willowbog Bonsai on 25th January for the Ryan Neil Demo and Workshop.

Looking forward to getting over there and seeing some old friends and a few new ones to boot. Funny this internet carry on. I chat with folk every day who I’ve never met. It’s always interesting to actually meet them in the flesh and see if they match up with who you thought they were 🙂

I have my driver lined up, Phil is taking his van over as both our workshop trees are rather on the large side, however they might not be on the way back. If you follow this blog, you all know Phil ‘The Fingers’ Donnelly.

Joining us as a passenger on his first trip to Willowbog is Ben. I’m not sure he’s wise getting into a van for a long drive with Phil as these two constantly banter when together. I think I’ll have to sit in the middle 🙂

Ben will be gutted when he realizes that the chance of getting a mobile phone reception at Willowbog is practically zero! I think his expression will be similar to this 🙂

Or this 🙂

The children playing together 🙂

Enough about that pair, what I’m looking forward to is a good walk around Peter’s benches to get another look at some great bonsai.Here’s a gallery showing my last visit.

Nov 15 2012

Watched it, then watched it again!

A great video I watched over on the Capital Bonsai Blog with Ryan Neil talking about pines. A very interesting approach and an easy explaination about why you do it this way or that. Well, not that easy, I had to watch it twice 🙂 It never does any harm to refresh the memory.

Oct 25 2012

An Eye Opener

I use FlickR a lot for storing and hosting my photos to use here on the blog. I’ve gathered up some great bonsai contacts there and it’s always GOOD to see what everyone else is up to.

A few days ago, one of my American contacts, Openeye , posted two before and after images of two trees that he styled in a workshop with Ryan Neil of Mirai Bonsai Fame. As I’m doing a workshop with Ryan myself in January, I was delighted to see the quality of what was produced. Great material always helps but still, look at these 🙂

Well worth checking the rest of Mike’s [OPENEYE] Bonsai set on FlickR

Jul 9 2012

Who Has the Time…

to watch an hour and a half long youtube video of a bonsai demo?

Me apparently 🙂 I can currently do precious little else!!

Most demo videos are full of bits you want to fast forward. I have tried to edit a few in my time to make them more watchable. This one however, showing Ryan Neil styling a Pinyon Pine, was well worth the time spent in watching. I am so looking forward to watching Ryan live at Willowbog in January. He passes on a stunning amount of relevant information during a session. Some great points made in this video about raffia, guy wires and dynamic design. Toss in some Kimura tales, and you have 84 minutes well spent. [ well about 70 in reality :-)]

Jul 6 2012

Show Critique

Get the kettle on and then sit down and enjoy.I love watching this sort of show critique, especially when messers Neill and Noelanders know their stuff 🙂

Jun 22 2012

How Old Is It?

Just to prove that even the big names get asked that infuriating bonsai question, ‘How Old Is It?’

Looking forward to my workshop with Ryan in January.

Apr 11 2012

Sign Me Up

After some deliberation I have decided to miss out on the Noelanders Trophy next year. Just working out the cost and travel issues getting there from N Ireland was giving me a headache.

I have therefore opted to sign up for a workshop with Ryan Neil at Willowbog Bonsai instead 🙂 That gives me 10 months to try and find something decent to work on!!! I feel rather excited at the prospect already.

Feb 22 2012

Bonsai Mirai

Tony posted this on his blog and I just had to share it too. It’s video featuring Ryan Neil’s ‘Bonsai Mirai’ Nursery. A truly fantastic video, quality production and some absolutely stunning Bonsai. If this is what’s to come out of the USA in the coming years, we are in for a real treat. Yamadori to die for!! I’ve watched it 5 times!