Display « Bonsai Tonight

Three-point displays

Posted in Display, Exhibits by xwires on February 1, 2011

Eighteen inches, give or take, counts for a lot at Bay Island Bonsai exhibits. Generally, trees between 8″ and 18″ tall are considered medium bonsai and are exhibited in “three-point displays” – displays with two trees and one accent plant.

Composing these displays requires care. If you haven’t set up a medium display before, imagine the following. First, find a show pot for your favorite chuhin (12″-18″) or kifu (8″-12″) sized bonsai. Then find a stand for the tree. Then try to locate a second tree that compliments the first. Conifers or evergreen broadleaf, for example, complement deciduous trees well. Try to ensure that the second tree is somewhat larger or smaller than the first – displaying two trees that are the same size can look funny. Next, find a show pot and stand for the second tree. Add one small accent plant with stand.

With the proper elements at hand, the trick becomes arranging them in an acceptable fashion. The trees should either point to each other, or both should point to the accent. One tree should be closer to the back of the table, the other toward the front.

It’s quite a puzzle, all told. When done well, the results are beautiful and balanced. Here are a few of the three-point displays shown at Bay Island Bonsai’s recent exhibit.

Shimpaku and potentilla

Japanese flowering quince ‘chojubai’ and sawara cypress

Japanese red pine and olive

Weeping cherry and hinoki

Japanese five-needle pine and weeping cherry

Corkbark elm and shimpaku

Trident maple and Japanese black pine

Sierra juniper and olive

Corkbark elm and procumbens juniper

Root over rock Japanese maple and accent

Japanese beech and California juniper

Flowering plum and Japanese black pine

Tagged with: art, BIB, bonsai, Display, exhibit

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More from GSBF Convention Exhibit

Posted in Display, Exhibits by xwires on November 12, 2010

Golden State Bonsai Federation XXXIII Convention Exhibit

Posted in Display, Exhibits by xwires on November 5, 2010

Golden State Bonsai Federation XXXIII Convention Exhibit

The Golden State Bonsai Federation (GSBF) held their 33rd Annual Convention, “New Faces,” last weekend in Santa Clara, California. As always, the Convention featured a bonsai and suiseki exhibit. Bonsai were displayed in formal arrangements with accents – suiseki displays book-cased the bonsai at opposite ends of the room.

Although the exhibit was not large, it did a good job of representing California bonsai with trees from different parts of the state. I hope in future years the exhibit can grow larger. California is host to many bonsai clubs and has many fine trees, making the GSBF convention an excellent venue for showcasing the state’s collections for bonsai enthusiasts and the general public alike.

For those who couldn’t make it this year, here are photos of the trees in the exhibit.

California juniper

Trident maple

Crabapple

Hinoki

California juniper

Montezuma cypress

Chinese quince

Japanese black pine

Coast Redwood

California Live Oak

Boxwood

Mendocino Cypress

Shimpaku, Olive

Shohin bonsai display – Japanese black pine, white pine, trident maple, azalea, cryptomeria, and shimpaku

Who do we have to thank for assembling this exhibit? One of the convention’s “New Faces” – Peter Tea. In addition to chairing the Display Committee, Peter led a Japanese black pine workshop at the event.

Peter Tea

After studying bonsai with growing intensity for almost 10 years and starting his business, Peter Tea Bonsai, Peter is planning to continue his study in Japan next year. Which is great – Peter does outstanding work today and is aiming to do even better work tomorrow – a wonderful goal for any of us in bonsai.

Tagged with: art, bonsai, Display, exhibit, GSBF, plants

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Sacramento Bonsai Club – 64th Annual Show

Posted in Display, Exhibits by xwires on May 4, 2010

Sacramento Bonsai Club’s 64th Annual Show

The Sacramento Bonsai Club held their 64th annual show this past weekend at the Sacramento Buddhist Church. The event left quite an impression. The exhibit showed how fun a spring show can be. The suiseki displays were a super addition to the show. And the 40 or so happi-coated club members were one of the nicest bonsai groups I’ve run into. Sacramento Bonsai Club is doing great after 64 years.

Boon Manakitivipart provided demonstrations both days and the event was well-attended. As the Sunday demonstration cleared most of the exhibit, I had a chance to to take some pictures.

The juniper below is one of two Members’ Choice Award winners at the show.

Members’ Choice Award – Juniper

The trident maple bonsai display below is a good example of some of the well-thought out displays. I like the addition of the pale-blue – almost Kokufu-felt blue – screen behind the display. It’s a nice way to highlight the relationships among display elements and it does a good job of obscuring the backdrop support.

Trident maple

A number of trees were in full-bloom for the show. The satsuki azalea below was the brightest.

Satsuki azalea

As I walked into the exhibit, I met Greg McDonald, a club member that contributed several trees to the show. Like his brother Jay, Greg has some great deciduous trees, including the hawthorn below.

Hawthorn

Greg’s unsure about the variety of this hawthorn – not a big surprise considering the size of the crataegus genus, but an anomalie for a hawthorn enthusiast like Greg. He’s also doing a great job with the oaks below.