My 1st Azalea, advice needed

[Bruntyblue]

Hello all, this is my first proper post here and am looking for advice, my lovely partner has given me the go ahead to attempt turning these azalea's into bonsai, now she thinks they are about 30 yrs old and have been potted in these pots for at least 15yrs with no re-potting in that time. So I need advice right from the start here, do I just re-pot back into these pots after trimming the roots? or start reducing the pot size straight up, I also want to take cuttings from plants when trimming them up, so looking for chopping suggestions (virts?)

Here we go with some pics

this one is 500mm (20") high from soil to tallest point







this bend is 125mm (5") from soil



and a couple more of same area







This next one is 700mm (28") from soil to top and has multiple stems coming from soil











Looking forward to any replies and suggestions for these babies.

Rob

[shibui]

You should find that there will be roots on the trunks coming out of the ground on that 2nd one and you will be able to cut off trunks with even just a couple of roots and pot up as separate plants - much quicker and more sure than cuttings.
Azaleas will produce new shoots wherever you cut them so you can cut as much off as you like and they will just start growing again from whatever trunks you leave.