Juniperus Squamata..Blue Star Literati progression

[bodhidharma]

Hi all, here is my first entry into the comp. It started life as a collected tree 8 years ago at a height of 2 metres estimated age 25 years. its first incarnation was as an informal upright but it did not have any presence at all. The decision was made 3-4 years ago to change it to a literati and it is as you see it now through the progression photos. Future plans will include more carving, tighter and smaller foliage pads and some of the branches rearranged. A new pot by Trevor Wheeler, who is a local artist. I personally think this pot is to large for the tree and a smaller one seems to be in order. It will be returned to this pot after the comp as i think it keeps the tree healthier.

[Pup]

Bohdi I like the intial line, however in certain angles of veiwing I see conflict at the apex. It follows a straight line from the first branch ( ochieda hanging branch )

JMHO cheers Pup

[stymie]

If the envisaged carving reduces the apparent weight of the lower trunk, a more slender effect will be achieved. What is the current height please?

[bodhidharma]

Hi Stymie, the tree is 560mm high. I am going to endeavor to create more movement in the top area of the tree as regards Pups observation. I do not think i can reduce the lower half. Hopefully i can balance it with upper branch work. No matter what though it will be fun.

[bodhidharma]

Well, the tree has been sitting and i have been deciding its next incarnation and gaining more and more respect for the old Masters and their masterpieces. How they create them and their patience to persist with it and their insight leaves me in awe. Overcoming frustration and self doubt must give them a connection with the tree i have yet to experience. Having said that we must learn to listen to peoples experience and comments and take them into consideration and decipher the good from the bad. This, it seems, also takes great skill. First on Pup's comment that the branch angles were wrong is correct, and that has been a challenge to change. I have had to take a section of the end lower branch and jin it and manipulated the remaining section . Hopefully it has added to the tree. The amount of foliage that i took of was amazing. On Stymies comment that the trunk could be to large for Literati i have changed the viewing angle, which of course makes the tree look funny in its pot at the moment. Sort of like it is falling out. That will all change with its new pot and planting angle. I am learning that every tree has potential and with age and great perseverance and a little insight, we can change a tree for the better Thanks for your patience if you viewed this

[bodhidharma]

This tree is a difficult subject for me with its unruly habit and previous inexperienced styling. I collected the tree a long time ago when i first started Bonsai and the hand of inexperience shows out in its first styling job. Still, the tree has significant age and, quite frankly, i have an affection for the tree as it and i go back a long way. It looks respectable in its new pot and i will eventually get the foliage under control. The new jin work has yet to settle in and a Shari, which i have started, will continue up towards the top most jin. I have taken some bulk out of the trunk and there will be more when i complete the Shari work.

[Pup]

Another example of where we are heading, in the right direction. I have noticed the comment in Bohdi's last post in his other entry.
Until you start to style in the bunjingi style you feel it is easy, when you do it right it is then that you realise how much work you have put in.

The thought process is always working overtime. This will also be a nice tree given time.

Cheers Pup

[bodhidharma]

Hells Bells, this is difficult. When you hook into a tree and are trying to make it into a credible Bonsai you somehow need to bond with it. You have to go beyond the clutter of your mind and the conceptions of..what do i like... what do other people like. The rule in Literati is SIMPLICITY. How do you make an attention grabbing tree with SIMPLICITY. Simplicity and unclutteredness is how we should live our lives but in the twenty first century, the age of information overload, it is difficult to unburden the mind to see simple concepts. Intellect dictates, what do i like, what will other people like, and we cannot see the simplicity of something or the beauty of simplicity. So from that introduction you can see that i have become involved with The style of Simplicity and i am grappling with its nature. I still do not think i have embraced the concept with this tree but feel that i am tracking it down and the more i unburden the tree the more i understand the concept. I hope i still have some tree left at the end of this exercise.

[Ryan1979b]

I like that a lot more, its starting to come really well now

Keep up the good work

[jarryd]

gday mate looks really good and has come a very long way.

i think the overall image would be imporved if the apex leaned to the left i feel this would be more harmonious with the lower trunkline and bring the whole composition together

[stymie]

Since you changed the front Bodhi, I feel a little uneasy about the low jin poking toward me. You've got the feel of the bunjin style.

[bodhidharma]

I have not fitted the Jin into place. It is held on by wire. I need to look at it for a while and see if it fits the tree. I will play with it a lot more and decide if it is going to become part of the tree. From the photo i think i could make it less obtrusive.

On reading your post again Stymie do you mean the one on the trunk line or the wired on one

[stymie]

I was referring to the low down one which pokes at me.

[bodhidharma]

That one has been a pain for a while Stymie and i have tried to change it many times. I might finally concede that i cannot do anything with it and get rid of it once and for all

[bodhidharma]

I humbly present my Juniper for critiquing. I do not think i can tame the foliage but i will not give up at this stage. Balance, again balance is the key word and very difficult to achieve in the Literati style, very very difficult.