Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

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Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Bretts »

This thread is a discussion thread for the Literati Bungingi Contest.
You may Post trees for discussion that you think you might like to enter in the contest and discuss all manners of Literati and Bunjingi
Pup Stymie and Leigh have generously offered their time to help Run and Guide us through this endeavour.
It is important to show the utmost respect to any views put forward by them otherwise it may become difficult for them to guide us.
A separate thread will be started on the 1st of November for official entries.

Although this is a discussion thread it is an integral part of the contest so please read the Guidelines carefully before posting.


Guidelines

This contest is run to further our understanding and skills in creating and refining the Literati Bunjin style. As such the rules are a guide for us and the moderators/judges on how to rule and participate but the judges decision is final. As the aim is to learn how to create and maintain great literati bunjingi it is important to allow a wide range of material and discussion to show examples of what can be created with various stock. This is about Literati, Bungingi the trees and their transformation as much as the contestants. Discussion is encouraged.
The judges will decide on the winning entries by taking into account the guidelines and what has been accomplished in the year with chosen stock as well as what has been learnt or taught by the contestant in the process. As much as the final result of the submission.


There are two divisions with guidelines for contestants and judges below.

New stock consisting of.
Collected stock
Nursery Stock including pre-bonsai from specialist nurseries. Any mass produced pre-bonsai is allowed including pre-staked trees. The term mass produced relates to trees that have been given minimum individual styling consideration by the nurseryman. A picture of the upper limits of what is allowed will be shown for reference.
The trees should be acquired before the start date of the contest with full details of the acquisition including such things as date, place, cost involved and reason for the use of said stock.
It should have never been in a bonsai pot before the contest and a bonsai pot is optional at the end of the contest.

Aged styled stock
This is trees that have received individual styling considerations for any period of time whether in the literati style or not. It can be a finished tree that only needs refining and or maintenance or it could be a tree that needs a new direction. The trees may have been owned by other than the current owner but ownership at the start of the contest and for the duration of the contest must be the entrants. Full history off the tree should be given where possible.
The trees may or may not be in a bonsai pot at the start of the contest but will need to be in an appropriate pot at the end of the contest.

For all divisions

Once the tree is entered in the contest all work must be done by the entrants hands (including photo’s) but instruction by outside parties is acceptable and encouraged as long as full disclosure is given with explanation of why advice was sought and explanations given. Detailed progressive description of work carried out and why will be looked upon favourably (in both divisions) in the judging process.

Entries are limited to 2 entries in each division. Submissions may start from the 1st of November 09 and final entries must be submitted by the 1st of December 09. Entries must include all details listed above in the appropriate division. Work on the tree must not commence before photo entries are submitted. The finished entry must be submitted with all details and photos by the 31st of December 2010 stating that it is a completed submission.

The judges will separately give each entry a score out of 100 as stated taking all the guidelines into account such as Information of the tree supplied, Progressive reports with explanations, constructive discussion, progression in understanding, passing on knowledge to the group as well as the final result of work carried out.

Prizes!!!

At the moment we have a prize pool for each division of $100 voucher for Ledenta Bonsai Nursery and a commissioned pot from Brett
We also have 15 fertiliser baskets and 20 quality bonsai labels/tags to give out. Bodhidharma has kindly donated a set of Japanese branch cutters and trimming shears. Anybody wishing to add items to the prize pool should contact Steven, Bretts or FlyBri via PM.

Thanks to all the sponsors!
Last edited by FlyBri on October 20th, 2009, 5:17 am, edited 4 times in total.
Reason: Clarification
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Bretts »

I have moved Stymies last post from the other thread here to start it off.

By Stymie
Literati or Bunjin

I am avoiding the use of Japanese or Chinese terms apart from the subject names underlined so as to cause no confusion among those unfamiliar with such extravagancies.

Literati/Bunjin bonsai has no hard and fast rules and is therefore a difficult thing to describe.. It is generally accepted that the lower two thirds of the trunk should be free of foliage and significant branches although a long downward flowing branch can be an asset. Line is more important than mass of foliage or trunk taper. Many trees classed as literati have scarce taper at all but do have flowing or abrupt movement in the line. The lack of taper is not an essential feature nor is a feminine appearance. I illustrate this point here with a photograph of a magnificent tree with a masculine appearance and considerable taper which is nevertheless Literati/Bunjin.


stymie.jpg

An aesthetically pleasing aspect is always good but should preferably be achieved with a relatively sparse amount of foliage. Deciduous trees are less favourable on account of being comparatively brittle in general and having a tendency for upright growth. This does not preclude them from the title. They are just a little more difficult. Many of the dos and don’ts of bonsai are disregarded in Literati/.Bunjin. They are somewhat unusual and a ‘different’ look in the material can often be made into a feature. Even crossing branches.
Single trunk trees are usually planted in shallow round or oval containers of a size which would normally look right holding the top third of the tree only. This can make them unstable, particularly if the tree is slanting. The answer is to tie them down to the stand or bench in windy conditions. Trays are also accepted containers, particularly for multi-trunk compositions. All containers should be subsidiary to the tree and of a subdued colouration
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Jamie »

ALRIGHT!!!!!! i am keen as!!!!!!!!

as for a tree that i will be entering this is one i have had for a while. bout 2 months. all i have done is a slip pot as i was thinking of growing it out. but didnt have much of an idea what to do with it. but i knew it had potential and i wanted a shimpaku for a long time.

i purchased this little fella from a local nursery for a total of $24.95 it is nothing massive, and doesnt look like much, i am hoping now to be able to turn this little shimp into something fantastic over the following year :D
my reason for choosing this one was that it had plenty of choice for trunk line, branching wasnt an issue as i was thinking of growing it on anyways.
i now have visions for this tree of what i would like to do over the next 12 months and hopefully with some guidance from the masters ;) we will get there to a respective literati tree.

the sizes on this are as follows. trunk at base is 20mm, height is aprrox. 300mm, width is approx 400mm with the trunks branching out like they are.
with the literati/bunjingi style in mind i am thinking i might go with a twin trunk style bunjingi. i do like that style of the discipline.
the other reason i have gone for this tree is that it is still young and maluable, bendable and will be easier to contort, now i know trying to age a tree like this in a year is a challenge but i am up for it :D :twisted: i will be trying to get some deadwood into it to :D

so let me know what you think of the stock. i will also be looking quite hard over the next few weeks to enter a second tree :D and as i dont have specialist nurseries for bonsai around here, i will have to hunt extra hard. maybe even collect and hope :D

regards jamie :D


ps. i havent taken to many shots of this as it is all pretty much the same and i have determined that this will be the best veiwing angle :D
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Bretts »

I was thinking of trying the spag moss wrap to get some age into the trunk of younger material. I might upset you Jamie by telling you that I found shimps' much the same as yours on special for about $5 each :|
That was after searching for a shimp everywhere for a few months. Bloody ausbonsaiers (ausbonsai enthusiests :lol: ) had even cleared Ray out of them after reading Jows thread about twisting them.
A day after I cut them up and repotted to grow out (shoot I didn't even twist one :| ) I thought they might have been alright for this.
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Jamie »

thats ok mate, i can only get so much stock around here. the nurseries dont carry a great deal of exotic and when they do you have to pay for it. but thats life, the closest specialist nursery to me is 4 hours away and they have shimps for the same price but a little bit smaller. i recently read that thread on twisting juni aswell and am completely amazed, i do have a wholesale nursery here that has 1-2 year old seedlings of squamata that i will probly be purchasing all of them in the next week or so, i am hoping to get a discount for bulk buy as they are $8 each, same size as the two small ones i used in my juniper fuse thread.

and yes i think that seedlings like that will be fine for this, i experimented a while back on a conifer, quite young maybe 2 YO i was trying to thicken the trunk artificially, i read it somewhere that i cant remember. but the technique involves putting slices vertically up the trunk with a sharp razor, what this does is it encourages the live cambium to swell and in turn creates a thicker trunk with shari, so this is probly a technique i will be using for this shimp, as i know how it works and the results it gives, the trick to it is not to put to many slices in, like i did the first time, i put probly 8 slices on the trunk which had a size of 20mm to begin with and it ended up with the live veins to about 30mm in about a year, it also added interesing effects. unfortunatly i left the tree in my mother in laws care and she didnt water it at all. so you can figure out what happened.

i will probly just put two thin slices running so far up the trunk to create this effect. one on one side and one on the opposite :D

this is something that could be done with the twisted shimps aswell :D

i hope this might give some people ideas.

regards jamie :D
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and growing trees for the future generations! 50+ year plans :D
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Bretts »

Here is one I have ear marked for literati since I got it a year ago. It was bought in a group purchase from a guy that bought it off Ray.
It was in a bad way when I got it as it was overpotted in bad soil. The owner was trying to grow the roots to make a root over rock as a feature in his garden :?
He paid $230 for it from ray and my group purchase was a bout 30% cheaper than what he paid so that means it cost me about $160 for it.
There is more to the story but anyway I reduced the soil to it's original root ball and nursed it for a year. I was very happy that no further branches died back. I have removed the soil from 1/3 of the root ball this year and repotted in akadama. I think it will need some major work and I am thinking it will need another year to recoup yet but I do really want to use it for this :(
pine.jpg
pine2.jpg
pine3.jpg
pine4.jpg
This shows the line of the trunk and main branches.
001.jpg
I am sure there is a literati in there some where But I haven't found it yet :)
Oh even though it has been around the block I believe this would still be able to be enterd into the New stock devision as no work has been carried out on it except for re-potting since it was purchased from Ray as a pre-bonsai but I will leave that upto the bosses to decide ;)
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Last edited by Bretts on October 18th, 2009, 3:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Pup »

I have just taken some pictures of Bunjingi ( Literati ) some are what are termed as traditional.
Some aren't but according to my Sensei are never the less Bunjingi.
I have been watching Casey win the Moto GP go the Aussie. So when I got here there were 5 PM's so they had to be read first.
As Mrs pup got on my case as there were too many unanswered emails. She likes it tidy :!: .
So I will go away and put them in my PC then post so it will give participants so I dea as to what I see as Bunjingi Stymie's one is OK too.

Pup ;)
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Bretts »

Great Pup
This was a $3 starter from ray almost 5 years ago. My second ever bonsai and still alive Ya!
After a few wrong ID's I did work out what spiecies it was but i forgot again. It might even be an aussie native? It has pretty little white flowers. Maybe someone here might know what it is.
Here it is just after I potted it up :oops: :lol:
lit3.jpg
And here it is today
lit1.jpg
lit2.jpg
I have an idea of where I think the literati is in here

This would be enterd in the aged division
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Pup »

I have now loaded them and had my lunch so there is not much chance of Mrs Pup disturbing me.
As I said some traditional some not and one undergoing repairs after the neighbours cat tried to catch a Bird that was perched on it.
If the cat is caught it will not make to the pound.

Here then are the tree's. You are free to ask question's and they will be answered to the best of my ability :?
P1070793.JPG
P1070795.JPG
P1070796.JPG
P1070797.JPG
P1070799.JPG
P1070800.JPG
P1070811.JPG
As I said some are thinking outside the square, but none the less according to my Sensei Bunjingi. :? Pup
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Jamie »

they all look great pup :D one thing i am a bit confused about is that from my understanding of the style foliage is to be kept minimal. now on the one in particular i am talking about, there is no foliage for atleast 2/3s of the way up which i see is right but the foliage on top looks "top heavy" to me? is this just how it is for now and needs to be thinned or is this the way the tree is actually??

the tree i am talking bout is the first one you posted, the juniper procumbens.

thanks for the answer in advance :D


jamie :D
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Pup »

Jamie, this is one of those tree's where it can be light on foliage or as you perceive heavy. If you have access to any of the pictures of the Japanese trees.
You will notice some of them are full. This was, I was told 4 years ago too naked :!: needed more foliage. :)
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Jamie »

ahhh, yeah that is one thing i have noticed on the style, some are quite heavy in the foliage and some are very sparce, in my opinion of what i perceive i think there is a fine balence between to much and to little but i think, in my opinion more on the sparcer side looks right for these, dont get me wrong i love the tree/s you have posted and would be happy to own any one of them :D :mrgreen:


regards jamie :D
SHOHIN YAKUZA!!!
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and growing trees for the future generations! 50+ year plans :D
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Pup »

jamie111 wrote:ahhh, yeah that is one thing i have noticed on the style, some are quite heavy in the foliage and some are very sparce, in my opinion of what i perceive i think there is a fine balence between to much and to little but i think, in my opinion more on the sparcer side looks right for these, dont get me wrong i love the tree/s you have posted and would be happy to own any one of them :D :mrgreen:


regards jamie :D
I am glad they are your thoughts Jamie. As we have said with this style you think out side the square. While we are here your Avatar would make a wonderful one :!:
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Jamie »

Pup wrote:
I am glad they are your thoughts Jamie. As we have said with this style you think out side the square. While we are here your Avatar would make a wonderful one :!:

ahh haha. that it would mate, unfortunatly i would have a major battle on my hands to do something like that, i think you know what it is like with the boss on ya back saying it looks great leave it alone :lol: heck it took me three years to talk the missus into letting me chop into the hoop pine i have :lol:

on another note with my avatar though, i have seriously been considering taking the top off via airlayer.. i think that would make a nice tree. it looks a bit to tall with that top section. just gotta figure out how to airlayer around curves and branches coming from the point :D
i will take some close ups of what i am talking about and post tomorrow, maybe you could give me some tips??? you all know i appreciate the input and advice, i dont know where i would be with out you guys on here :D

regards jamie :D
SHOHIN YAKUZA!!!
:twisted: taking the top half of trees of since 2005! :twisted:
and growing trees for the future generations! 50+ year plans :D
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Re: Aus Bonsai Literati Bunjingi Competition.

Post by Bretts »

Where do you hide all these trees Pup I thought we had seen most of them by now but these are almost all new to me I think.
Great Literati I like them alot. Your comment that you where told the top tree needed more foliage is intresting.
Can you elaborate on this a bit more.
If you have access to any of the pictures of the Japanese trees.
Hmm now I think about it I think that tree I posted the other day may be fairly heavy on foliage.
You mentioned the other day that a magazine had extensive articles or pictures of literati could you tell us wich one that was.
Thanks

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Who Wrote this poem

We bid each other farewell beside the hill,
As day meets dusk, I close the wooden gate.
Next year, in spring, there will be green grass again,
But will my honoured friend return?
It's too bad your in such a hurry cause the stories I could tell you, Bushels and baskets of stories, hole crates full of stories. But if you can spare a moment I will tell you one story.
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