Ryan Neil visited Australia for the first time to attend AABC National Convention as the guest demonstrator. In all he did three demonstrations on 18th and 19th of May 2013 and also conducted workshops on 20th May 2013..

The first of his demonstrations was on a Juniper of good quality.

Juniper procumbens

This is the before look.

As Ryan work through the process of giving this raw stock direction he engaged the audience and sought their opinions on which way to style and which branches to keep etc.

Seeking an opinion of the front?

His skill in communicating with the audience was very good and particularly appreciated by those in attendance.

Asking the audience if they are sure this is the best side?

 During the demonstration he also educated those in attendance on how to work toward having the best tree possible.

Maybe this is a better front?

As he worked and chatted with the audience he also told stories of his time as an apprentice in Japan.

In two hours he did a great deal of work on this juniper, especially the amount of wiring he completed, showing us the skills he had learnt in Japan and had honed since becoming a full time professional.

A close-up of the wiring.

The product after two hours work.

Ryan, like the true professional he is, took the tree to another room to do some fine tuning after the demonstration was over.

The finished product – for now.

This tree was auctioned and I am sure the new owner is most pleased with the result.