California Shohin Seminar
It’s hard to create a good shohin display. With larger trees, we work to find trees, pots, stands, and accents that work well together. With shohin, the same is true but the number of trees can jump to 6 or more. When done well, shohin displays create truly unique experiences. Here are more photos from this year’s California Shohin Seminar, the biennial event held in Santa Nella, CA.
Shohin display
Even in smaller displays it’s hard to get trees that point the right way and complement each other well. The display below does a good job of mixing broadleaf, deciduous, and coniferous bonsai.
Shohin display
Shohin olive bonsai
Root over rock shohin trident maple
The tree above points clearly to the right making it a good fit for the left side of the display. But beyond that, the tree’s silhouette provides a bit of dissonance. It’s well done and very well ramified, but there’s little transition between the trunk and fine branches. I’ve thought about how I might develop it differently and can’t say that I’ve come up with much. It’s an interesting little tree.
Shohin bonsai display
Shohin bonsai display
More simple than the traditional box stands, single tree stands are a great way to show off a tree. I like this stand’s curved support and the way it creates an asymmetrical display.
Shohin juniper with accent
A few trees fell into the large shohin or chuhin categories. These larger trees were excellent.
Mendocino cypress
In sharp contrast to many of the antique pots featured in the exhibit, at least one contemporary pot made a colorful statement. It would be fun to see how these pots are received when they too become antiques.
Shohin ume bonsai in Bunzan pot
Another well-done chuhin bonsai.
Needle juniper bonsai
From what I can tell, the Hotel de Oro really gets into hosting the seminar. Even the front desk provides an excellent, albeit unorthodox, bonsai display.
Ilex serrata with service bell and Missions in California
Accenting itself
Last month’s California Shohin Seminar was a delight. Plenty of workshops, demonstrations, and vendors, plus a great exhibit of shohin bonsai. One display element that caught my attention was an accent plant – a wonderful mix of overflowing foliage on a relatively large slab.
Accent plant
I believe this accent would make a great compliment to many bonsai displays. I was curious which tree the accent was paired with when I noticed that the accent complemented not a tree but a scroll. Or the scroll complemented the accent – it’s hard to say which. Needless to say, the two work well together.
Accent/scroll display
I appreciate that the exhibit featured several less traditional displays like the one above and I look forward to seeing more of the like in the future.
Bonsai groves
People love groves. While individual bonsai trees can tend toward the abstract, groves remain accessible. When leading friends through bonsai exhibits, I make sure to stop by any groves as they are sure to leave an impression.
This year a couple of groves stood out at BIB’s 11th annual exhibit. One, a rock-planting with Kingsville Boxwood – and figurine.
“Pandora” – Kingsville Boxwood
Yes, Boon was taken by the film Avatar. A few days before the exhibit, he planted several boxwood on a rock and topped it off with moss. For the display, he mounted the stone on plexiglass pedestals. Soon after a Na’vi figurine appeared.
Na’vi Eytukan
Yes, we’ve been trained to shun such folly. And yes, there was controversy. Did it bother me? I’ll admit no little dissonance, but add that the trees, moss, and stone successfully held my attention.
As did a beech grove a couple aisles over. The trees are a great mix of large and small. The moss-work is excellent.
Beech grove – buna – fagus crenata
I think one reason groves are so captivating is their ability to draw us in – away from the day-to-day and into their own sphere of influence. Not unlike a movie.
The next thing you know, you look a little closer and begin to pick up the details.
Soon you start to imagine that it really is a little forest.
A single tree catches your attention. Up close, the details are compelling.
When you look up, you feel you’re in the forest.
You spot a clearing and head towards it.
You arrive at the clearing.
And for that brief moment, you get a break from the people, the noise, and the shuffle that make up the big world we live in.
Accent plants
Accent plants can make a good bonsai display great. Bright accents can enliven a somber display; subtle accents can temper displays that are rife with color. They are the final element enlisted to enhance a display’s balance.
Unlike bonsai, there are few rules governing proper use. The primary guide I like to keep in mind is that accent plants must be full. Like skimpy trees, skimpy accents draw attention to what’s missing. And as accents are meant to complement and enhance displays, they need to be full.
Seasonal accents are often appreciated. Fortunately, because we tend to use accents that look good at exhibit time, we’re more likely to pick appropriate accents than we are inappropriate ones.
The following accent plants were displayed at BIB’s 11th annual exhibit.
Native to wet, shaded places in Japan, this accent is a good fit for an antique tile.
Large accents complement large displays.
Reddish sedum provides good contrast color.
It’s perfectly acceptable for accents to spill outside of the pot.
There are a few important rules about accent placement. The greatest of these is direction. Accents always complement a specific element of a display. If that element is to the accent’s left, it better point left. While this isn’t an issue for evenly shaped accents, it becomes very important for more directional accents like the fern below.
Rabbit foot fern
Accents can be displayed on a variety of items, from stands to slabs to ceramics to bamboo. The rule here is that the accent must not be displayed on a stand more formal than the stand for the bonsai it complements. Which makes sense, unless the point is to highlight the accent and downplay the bonsai – an unusual case. Quince slabs are some of my favorites.
Quince slab
Slab with sedum accent. The slab could be a bit bigger – or the accent smaller.
Accents can be a lot of fun. Visitors to bonsai exhibits have likely seen junipers before. They’re less likely to have seen these:
Swelling buds
Moss and flower on lava rock
Accent for shohin
Chicks and hens
I’ve found that well-planted accents can look good for years with little effort. I’ve been using an ajuga now for almost 10 years that requires little more than removing a few brown leaves each year. Other creations require more time and effort. Well-planted accents can look good right out of the gates. But if an accent looks a bit skimpy, don’t hesitate to try again next year – it might be just right.
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