One of the best things about taking part in a BIG show is that you get to view the exhibition when it is quiet. On entering the exhibition the very first tree was this amazing Scots pine by David Benavente.
The maturity of the bark and branches, the tiny needles, density of the foliage pads and sensitive styling make THIS TREE my favourite… and one that I would kill for to have in my collection.
I have known David for quite a few years… being fortunate that at the last Ginkgo Award of getting up close and personal to this pine… and… I cannot find anything that i would change, its pretty damn near perfect.
That is not to say the winner was not an amazing tree… its just that… I like this one more
We have managed to get off lightly with the harsh freeze for now. Here is a video I made this morning of the snow in my garden. I leave the hawthorns out all year, this encourages the aged bark that is so desirable, and they are really tough trees. Yews I always have at least one freeze because Yews are a winter tree, the needles simply glow after a cold snap! I also leave out my Scots pine.
The worst weather we have ever experienced was last year when we had one night at -17c and 9 days of -10c. for now its 5c… quite warm compared to the rest of Europe… Pavel Slovak tells me it is -26c in Czech!
I have know many of the members of Wirral Bonsai Society for quite a few years and have spoken there on a few occasions. A truly active club and a model for others to follow. They have an annual show who’s quality is extremely high.
“New members are always welcome, just come along to one of our monthly meetings at the RAFA club. You can even ‘try us out’ for a few months before you decide on joining as an official member. The meetings are informal (there’s a bar!) and the club members are (mostly) friendly, approachable and happy to pass on guidance and information to anybody interested in bonsai- whatever your level of experience.”
I recommend anyone who is interested in joining a very active club and is within an hours drive to consider Wirral. one of the best in the North West of the UK
In November this year I will be hosting the Burrs VII, Burrs Workshops was introduced as a new way of learning the art of bonsai, in a purpose built training centre, huge warm and well lit workshop, full catering and expert help from some of Europe’s top award winning Bonsai artists.
The reason that Burrs is so successful is based on simple ideals. Employ the best bonsai artists, encourage participants to be open minded to possibilities, sharing of ideas and techniques and Time. The most important being Time… Burrs starts on Friday evening and ends on Sunday afternoon, more than enough time to complete a large tree, forest group or lengthy work on any number of trees.
Here is what participants have said about the workshops
“I want to thank all of the people at Burrs this year – my debut appearance. I was made most welcome from the moment I arrived. Many people offered me advice on my trees, bonsai in general … and life in general! Many more people tried to improve my poor wiring technique, I was well fed (thank you so much to Carolyn), I’ve made new contacts/friends, I have already met a couple of particularly great Burrs people after the event and intend to build on that and my head is still spinning with everything I learned.”Matt Addie aspiring bonsai artist
“Burrs is like no other bonsai event I have ever attended, I struggle to find suitable adjectives to describe how unique an experience it is. I guess for me the best way to describe it is that 30 or so people fill the room with passion for Bonsai, for the whole weekend, and you have to experience that to appreciate it. This is what makes Burrs unique. You can learn so much without even working a tree.John Pitt Bonsai Artist & Potter.
“If Carlsberg did Bonsai Workshops they would not even get close to a Burrs weekend”.Please please pencil me in for the next November workshop”Andy (Stone Monkey) Pearson
Burrs workshops have grown from strength to strength over the last seven year,many
great bonsai have started their life at Burrs, and many participants have been inspired to create great bonsai. I am fortunate to have Terry Foster one of the UK’s most talented bonsai artist as my right hand man, and Carolyn (my amazing wife) who handles all the administration and catering (there is a whole new blog post in itself!)
Burrs VII is set to be the biggest and best yet with 15 participants already signed up. Take a look at the poster and Video’s and book your place before it’s too late.
I forgot to mention… Burrs Bonsai Workshops is probably the best fun weekend you will have in bonsai.
Last year I visited Mirek for the second year in a row, Mirek is a good friend of Pavel Slovak’s in the Czech Republic. Mirek has a fine collection of bonsai and yamadori. Here is his garden in the rain, 20 minutes later the sun came out and the trees were well watered… the sun shines on the righteous.
Mark Cooper has kindly shared his excellent photos of Shohin (20 cm / 8 inch high), Kifu (around 25-35cm / 10-14 inches) and then some Chuhin (maximum 45cm / 18 inch), shown at Noelanders Trophy 2012, in Belgium. All photos is the courtesy of Mark Cooper (Copyright).
This has to be the best Noelanders Trophy XIII experience video EVER, if you have never been to this event…THIS video sure sums up the experience, its from Le Bonsaï Club du Léman Not an exhibition bonsai in site, just travel, friends, coffee, beer, fun and laughter…I love it… and I must make sure I do the same very event I go to!
I was never happy with the viewing position of the tree in the pot, I commissioned Gordon Duffett to create a new pot that would enable me to rotate the tree and make the image more dynamic. Take time to watch the movie of the re-potting, there are a few surprises!
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I have had this tree for over 15 years, its know as ‘The Fat Guy’ (because I have a hawthorn called ‘The Tall Guy”)
We have so many great bonsai potters in Europe my particular favourite being Gordon Duffett. The tradition of craft pottery in the UK is particularly strong so it is no surprise that here in the UK we have such a wealth of talent that we can tap into… here is the rub! We spend years on creating our trees, getting them to show standard yet failing at the final fence because the pot we choose simply does not match the tree.
Here are two examples. The first is David Barlows Noelanders winning Beech raft, the original show pot was a cheap Chinese pot, the colour was wrong, the pot was ‘ungainly’ and the size simply too big. The final Gordon Duffett pot is perfect, given as a gift to David by Terry Foster (because Terry knew that it was perfect and was happy that it worked so well) the second is my ‘Fat Guy’ hawthorn.
This tree fitted so tightly in the first pot that the orientation was not good, the tree needed to be rotated 20 degrees to improve the movement of the trunk. The new Pot (also by Duffett) is deeper by 5cm/2″ and the sides of the pot have a slight taper… this add ‘lightness’ to the image.
I will be posting a movie of repotting the hawthorn here on this website
One of the best things about taking part in a BIG show is that you get to view the exhibition when it is quiet. On entering the exhibition the very first tree was this amazing Scots pine by David Benavente.
We have managed to get off lightly with the harsh freeze for now. Here is a video I made this morning of the snow in my garden. I leave the hawthorns out all year, this encourages the aged bark that is so desirable, and they are really tough trees. Yews I always have at least one freeze because Yews are a winter tree, the needles simply glow after a cold snap! I also leave out my Scots pine.
