Bonsai by the River 2015

[dansai]

Been a great day. Great talk and demo on Banksia integrifolia by Grant Bowie this morning. I swapped from grants to Chris' workshop so did a shohin today and advice on another tree.

Here it is in a Janet Selby pot. (Wonderful pots and a lovely lady)

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Tomorrow is a talk by Chris on minis including stock he has created by doing the technique described in Jow's post about growing stock like the Japanese. Followed by workshop with Grant. I have a gnarly Hakkaido elm and a Juniper prostrata to take along. I'll post photos of before and after.

[kachmica]

Registration is in under 10 mins.

Been in and got some great mini pots from penny Davis and 3 trees from Clinton Nesci, 2 of which I'll take to a workshop with Grant Bowie this afternoon. Also got a workshop with Chris Allnut tomorrow for which I brought stock with me for.

Already met some lovely people and looks like it will be a great weekend. Must say I'm a little bit excited

Mate all that Bonsai knowledge gained, an early "hit" at the sales table AND tucker laid on.
Worth much more than the dollars to attend.
Look forward to the posts of day two.

[dansai]

Here it is in a Janet Selby pot

Make that a Penny Davis pot. Sorry Penny.

[Elmar]

I am insanely jealous!

Would love to see some videos (not sure if there are copy right or demonstrators restrictions) - even if they are for sale ...

Nice little tree Dansai, love our native when they curl back on themselves...

Please bring on more pictures! Especially the little ones!

[phantom]

Dansai is that picture a before or after?

[dansai]

Hi Elmar. I don't think there was any video taken. I didn't even take photos of Grants work. I only had my phone so a bit hard to get good pics.

Hey Phantom. It's an after shot. It looks pretty shaggy at the moment as a lot of growth was left on for both strength and so as not to cut back into bare wood. Both Chris and Grant advocated leaving more growth on while developing and cut back later to growth closer in as that gets stronger. The silhouette of this one will end up being closer in than it is now with the apex just a little lower. The crouches of the fine branches are very weak so wiring is not really possible. The wire on the trunk is only moving the top slightly and with a twist. The curve in the trunk was already there. The other wires are just holding the foliage roughly in place. I'll let it grow strongly and cut back in to chase the foliage back into the trunk and then build it with clip and grow.

[dansai]

Thank you to all the people I met and those that organised and helped out with the event. Big thanks to Chris and Grant for their knowledge, experience and guidance. The event was very well run, everyone was incredibly friendly, with smiles and laughter almost constant, and I learnt and experienced heaps. My head has been full of Bonsai on the drive home and I just had a torchlight walk though my trees, seeing them with different eyes. Awesome experience, and look forward to next year.

[SteveW]

Folks, here are some pictures from the weekend festivities by the river.

Day 1
Somehow people didn't seemed too distracted by the view out the window.

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Grant carved the banksia with a small carving chisel and mallet.

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The afternoon saw 14 people workshopping their trees with Grant and Chris.
Or shopping at the sales table or at one of the 3 vendors (Lyn Smith, Penny Davis, and Nescis)

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Day 2
Chris covered the table in a spectacular array of wonderful small trees, then told us about the techniques used to develop them. Inspirational.

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Late morning was a very informative critique of the assembled display trees.

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The second afternoon saw more people workshopping their trees with Grant and Chris.

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And did I mention how we recovered from a hard day bonsai'ing?
Sorry, no pictures . . .

[Elmar]

Thank you Steve, looks like a good weekend!


Cheers
EZ