AusBonsai

Hi guys, my name is Matt, and I'm mostly a lurker here on AusBonsai. I have been studying bonsai, mostly on my own from book for the past 14 years. Mostly I've kept my unhealthy obsession with bonsai relatively private from the world.

This year in March I went to Japan to formalise my study for 3 months. Studying in Taishō-en under Nobuichi Urushibata. It was a fantastic experience and I'd love to go back 1, or 10 times again .

Before I left I put a few trees on lay-by but managed to work on the before I owned them. I'll be posting up some progressions of pines and adding to them in the years to come.

First up is a Bunjin style JBP.

This is how I found it at the nursery

In the summer of 2016 I fed it and cut the candles


I intentionally avoided wiring it as I had already organised to go to Japan

at this point I really want the tree to flow back towards the nebari, the difficulty is the main branch has shari all along it, making it very brittle, the live vein is thin, and won't handle being removed from the shari. The answer will probably lie in a year or two of strengthening the live vein, removing the deadwood, bracing the live vein, raffia, wire and bending. so we wait.

after I got back from Japan I could see the fruits of my labour, as the new buds had grown, and hardened off, coming back at the start of winter was very intentional, this meant I could plough into the styling.



Thinning



Wiring

after a week or two I photographed it on a backdrop. Unfortunately while I was away someone lost my professional backdrop and had to use a table cloth.



The apex area of the tree, needs a lot of work, but the ground work is there. The branches on the right side need to be grown out to give a more dramatic sweeping back; this is the image I want to create. Finally ill bend the main branch to face the right and expose the interesting bends in the trunk close to the foliage. Ill also tile the tree up a little more, giving it more hight. I'll also look at changing the tilt to get more movement out of the lower portion of the trunk.

Hope you all enjoy, I'll post up later in spring and show the bud growth.

Matt

Great score Matt. Great trunk movement. I think some fine tuning at apex and lower right but looks awesome as is..

Nice work and again, nice stock. Great thought processes on how to get the most out of it. Not having been to ninja bonsai training in Japan, I would never think to go all 'master class' and do some heavy bends, but this will resolve my only big constructive criticism of the tree. Also, I personally love those trees that flow right out to one side, only to be swept around tightly and brought back over the nebari - very, very dynamic.

Being a chicken and not willing to take on big bends, my suggestion would have been to lift the planting angle slightly more to the vertical, to help achieve that same balance correction and bring the foliage a little more over the base. But, your plan will likely work far better, but may be assisted by a slight lift to the planting angle as you have hinted at.

Keep us posted.


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Looking good Matt,
Here is a bit of a back ground to the tree for those interested.
viewtopic.php?f=131&t=9896

Regards

Tien

bonsaisensation wrote:Looking good Matt,
Here is a bit of a back ground to the tree for those interested.
viewtopic.php?f=131&t=9896

Regards

Tien

What happened tot he cascade?
I want!

Matt

I sold it two years ago Matt. One of my better works. I think it's in the hands of someone doesn't really do bonsai now. I'd wish to see it someday though.

Tien

Looks great. I'm glad you are sharing your interest in bonsai!

Good on you Matt, 14 years is a long time lurking in the dark. If you are waiting till you have all your trees "show ready" before exposing them, I can tell you it doesn't just happen like that. You'll be older than they are. It's time you brought some of your good work along to the club so we can all admire it. Great post. Cheers.

internode wrote:Good on you Matt, 14 years is a long time lurking in the dark. If you are waiting till you have all your trees "show ready" before exposing them, I can tell you it doesn't just happen like that. You'll be older than they are. It's time you brought some of your good work along to the club so we can all admire it. Great post. Cheers.

I have never really thought of it like that, I wasn't trying to hold back or not share my trees. I have 100s of trees in all stages of development. I have been participating in the club, both learning and teaching. I don't feel its necessary to be loud and vocal at the clubs, if people want information ill share with them. Come see me, ill be in double denim with a big wallet hanging out of my back pocket (all Japanese denim and leather )

Many people see a young guy at the club and think, oh he is new and couldn't offer any contributions. which is fine, they can have it that way. But I'm not about that.

Matt

P.s. I have exhibited bonsai at shows, perhaps prematurely, however when I think it's right I'll exhibit again. I'll post up more progressions when I get a chance.

An update; this photo is from late spring 2017. I wanted to get it photographed before candle pruning happened, that way i can show you guys a before and after.
not only the chronicling of the progression of the tree.




Thanks
Bunce

Thanks for the before shot Bunce, look forward to the after!
It's a great tree and as someone who has only recently acquired a couple of JBPs I'm interested in how things look throughout the season/year until I get a bit more first hand experience... I think like most things bonsai, they might get a tad addictive!

Hi Guys, its been a while since I posted, I think I forgot! anyway I took the tree to a workshop with Bjorn, many things were discussed, in the end we propped it up a bit, and adjusted the branches appropriately. Now in a stunning Gyozan pot (old tokoname).



Repotting black pines sets the back a bit, especially when changing potting medium. The tree was in an old pine mulch mix, which had broken down to mud basically, so I had to completely rinse the roots clean, and start again. The roots has puffed a bit because of this mix, but now all is well. I went into a medium sized mix of Akadama, Pumice, Scoria and a touch of charcoal to help with rehabilitation. The tree is happy now In this mix, and while it was set back, the candles have stolen and will produce a healthy flush this year that I think will be strong enough to decandle. Last year I did not decandle to save the trees health, so I lost a year.


bunce.