AusBonsai

Too sadly, fire has been the topic of much to much of everyday lives in the past weeks.

Many years ago, I was made aware of someone who used fire as a prunning method on some Australian natives without any real outcome.

But, I do believe a bonsai artist will find fire scarring as a major feature to be incorporated in appropriate styles. Has anyone tried or seen it done ?

G'day Mr. BradleyBradley,

Pup uses a blow torch on some of his Melaleuca. You can see an example here.
Also, FlyBri has an excellent example of a uniquely Australian bonsai which has a 'fire' theme.

Mr. Fly, care to share it with us?

Steven

Thanks for the reply mate

I tried a search, but I find the search function was not very helpful (could be me?)

If Pup manages to read this, I would like to know how often the tree needs to be re-burnt in order to maintain the appearance.

BB

At Hobbyco shops you can get a pencil 'blow torch' which offers a delicate flame to burn the wood without damaging foliage. [About $15] I watched a demonstration where a pine was heavily jinned and a torch [larger than the pencil one] was used to burn off the frayed wood which definitely is faster and does not consume a $10 dremel wire brush in the process.

Another pine tree, being styled by Walter Pall, had the jin blackened to give the effect of a lightening strike and it was very effective.

I had carved and worked on a clump style baeckea with the idea of the main branch, totally jinned and carved, would be blackened with the 'story' being a bushfire had damaged one side of the clump leaving several blackened stumps and trunks and the tree's resilence had allowed it to overcome the fire and regrow. All was going well and I was ready to fire away when I decided to rehome the tree due to size and weight. But this treatment can be done and would look quite effective. So try it out!

This is way off topic, but save yourself a fortune by not buying dremel bits from the hardware store. Instead go jeweler supply shops, such as House of Jewelery and buy jewelers bits. They are exactly the same as dremel, 1/5 the price, and 20x the diversity to choose from.

Paul

What would you think about the use of a large burnt tree stump - (now dead & no regrowth) - as a main feature with along with few new saplings in a compostion?

A story of the death of the parent & rebirth/new life in it's children.

mrbradleybradley wrote:Thanks for the reply mate

I tried a search, but I find the search function was not very helpful (could be me?)

If Pup manages to read this, I would like to know how often the tree needs to be re-burnt in order to maintain the appearance.

BB

Bradley I do it for two reasons the most important in my book is to harden the wood once that has been done it is much like Lime Sulphur. When needed.
The other reason is so it brings out the movement in the dry wood so you can see the cracks and crevices that make it more realistic. I do wire brush to test for hardness when I feel it softening I will give it another severe burn. This sounds strong, but I do all my burning with utmost care.
I hope this is of help Pup

63pmp wrote:This is way off topic, but save yourself a fortune by not buying dremel bits from the hardware store. Instead go jeweler supply shops, such as House of Jewelery and buy jewelers bits. They are exactly the same as dremel, 1/5 the price, and 20x the diversity to choose from.

Paul

Thanks for the tip Pal always looking out for that sort of thing.Pup

Some 15 or more years ago a friend did a composition with all large trees burned and dead, burned and fallen trunks on the ground, scorched black soil and new pine seedlings emerging from the charred soil. It was a very effective composition.
I will try to look through some very old shots to find it.
Jerry

mrbradleybradley wrote:What would you think about the use of a large burnt tree stump - (now dead & no regrowth) - as a main feature with along with few new saplings in a compostion?

A story of the death of the parent & rebirth/new life in it's children.

Gday MrBradleyBradley!

Do you mean something like this?
The rest of the story can be found in this bonsaiTALK thread (you may need to register there to see the pics). I hope to provide a full update here at AusBonsai in the next couple of days.

Thanks.

Fly.

Jerry Meislik wrote:Some 15 or more years ago a friend did a composition with all large trees burned and dead, burned and fallen trunks on the ground, scorched black soil and new pine seedlings emerging from the charred soil. It was a very effective composition.
I will try to look through some very old shots to find it.
Jerry

That would be greatly appreciated

FlyBri wrote:

mrbradleybradley wrote:What would you think about the use of a large burnt tree stump - (now dead & no regrowth) - as a main feature with along with few new saplings in a compostion?

A story of the death of the parent & rebirth/new life in it's children.

Gday MrBradleyBradley!

Do you mean something like this?

Euc_Fire_Stump_01.jpg

The rest of the story can be found in this bonsaiTALK thread (you may need to register there to see the pics). I hope to provide a full update here at AusBonsai in the next couple of days.

Thanks.

Fly.

Interesting. If I did not live in a country with a seasonal fire history, the story might be harder to follow

A friend and bonsai artist Dean Bull created this fire scene showing dead mother trees and tiny seedlings, hard to see in photo, growing from a burned out soil surface.
It's a very effective scene.
Jerry Meislik

I agree Jerry, a very effective scene. Are the tree's still alive and growing or is it a sculptural piece?
Regards,
Steven

Hi Steven,
The large black trunks are totally dead. Only very small seedlings at the base of the trees are alive. These seedlings show regeneration of the forest in its earliest stages.
Dean has done a later design showing the forest growing up as immature trees twenty years after the fire.
Jerry