chinese penjin 1

[anttal63]

ok gang its discussion time. the photo of this penjin comes from the internet so its fair game. i would like to hear your opinions, your thoughts on how this was constructed and have any of you attempted this kind of thing? i think its an elm maybe chinese? i have this on my desk top as wallpaper the detail is amazing:D

[PeterW]

Very nice, Indonesian i would say, it has a Robert Steven influence.
The final is on in the Tennis Ant, dont ya know! I will comment tomorrow. See i do have a life! lol
Peter

[Jon Chown]

Thanks Antonio for bringing this up for discussion. It appears to me to be designed around one tree and I have to admit to a inclination towards this form of expression. For some reason, it appears to me to not be accepted by the more traditional bonsai artists and I feel that that is a shame.

I have to admit to 'having a go' at this but unfortunately in Queensdland there is a decided lack of availability of the large white marble trays. I have managed to purchase 2 rectangular ones but they are too small to be able to create any scene of significance. Perhaps I need to think outside the square and design something more Australian.

I believe that to be able to create the complete image with the tree is a lot harder to do than it looks and the equipment required to 'get it right' is also a little harder to obtain. By this statement I mean first finding the suitable rocks, stones or other background objects and secondly having the equipment to cut the rock so that they appear natural in their positions.

Enough from me, what do others feel.

Jon

[Leigh Taafe]

I had a crack at one of those of few years back - see if I can dig out a pic.

Cheers,
Leigh.

[anttal63]

* peter i believe this is from a chinese bonsai site and this is exactly where robert stevens is coming from. he is heavily influenced by the chinese.
* jon this kind of thing push's every button i have, looking at this i go from lighting up like a pinball machine to being swallowed whole. ( starting to sound like an erotic novel ) but so be it for the ones who cant drink from this cup. when doing penjin it is about expanding your mind and bringing the elements together to make a picture tell a story. you can buy precut rocks the thing is jon, you have to invest in enough that you can free hand jigsaw puzzle as you go.
* but THE TREE: how is it done exactly? what piece of stock was collected to do this?
* yes i know the tennis is on. its ok i can wait

[Jon Chown]

Obviously the artist has access to some interesting root stock and this stock sends up suckers or water shoots just like many of our natives (in particular the Casuarina). He then converts those shoots into trunks by encouraging their growth. The important issue is that he recognised the potential in the raw material in the first place and had the vision to create the scene.

Jon

[Leigh Taafe]

Pictures 008.jpg

Here is a very early pic of the setting. All of the junipers were planted among crevices in the rocks. I should have got a picture before I sold it about 2 years after this, I had shaped the trees and they had put on a lot more growth. Sorry about the background. This pic was taken pretty much straight after I put it together.

Cheers,
Leigh.

[stymie]

While we're mixing things up......does this count?

You can mix 'em.jpg

[Jon Chown]

Leigh, I love the tray where did you get one that size?

This one just doesn't work for me. The rocks look like they have just been placed to fill the space and provide pockets to plant the trees, and some of the rocks are balanced on top of others and look contrived (not natural). To me overall this display lacks a scene that I may have seen or can imagine.

Sorry for the negative critique Leigh, but I'm sure you can understand where I'm coming from.

Jon

[Jon Chown]

That's OK Don and quite possibly could be an English scene, but it doesn't quite cut it in comparison to the story that some of the Vietnamese, Indonesian and Taiwanese examples tell in my mind.

Jon

[Bretts]

I have enough trouble keeping my normal trees healthy, how do they keep the tray so clean?

Go Rodger,

[anttal63]

yep jon i think that too. a raft created from an old root full of suckers. so has anybody here attempted this kind of raft from a root stock?

[Leigh Taafe]

Leigh, I love the tray where did you get one that size?

This one just doesn't work for me. The rocks look like they have just been placed to fill the space and provide pockets to plant the trees, and some of the rocks are balanced on top of others and look contrived (not natural). To me overall this display lacks a scene that I may have seen or can imagine.

Sorry for the negative critique Leigh, but I'm sure you can understand where I'm coming from.

Hi Jon,

Got the tray of a mate by the name of Patrick - he brought them in from China - I got him to get 10 of them. They all sold very quickly!

Don't worry about the negative comments. There is a reason why this is the only one I have ever done!! I am in the classical Japanese mould of styling. But it was fun to give it a try. I never put a price on this one - but someone offered me $1000 for it - I couldnt refuse.

Cheers,
Leigh.

[anttal63]

thats a good sale leigh, mind you there's plenty of time and material used there. i would have liked to see that with a proper background. as is causes the clutter that may have otherwise shown this in a much better light.

[anttal63]

stymie yours too looks good but a bigger picture would have been great.