Bonsai Tonight

Bay Island Bonsai’s 13th annual exhibit

After hosting ten exhibits in Hayward and two in Pleasanton, Bay Island Bonsai moved its annual exhibit to the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland, California. The 13th annual event was a big success, drawing crowds of experienced bonsai folk as well as many who are new to the art. As the Garden Center contains two large rooms, we displayed all large bonsai in one room and all small and medium sized bonsai in the other. I really liked the split. At previous exhibits, large, impressive, trees like the black pine below would invariably end up next to much smaller trees. It was tough for the smaller trees to compete. By presenting like-sized trees together, following the convention employed at the Kokufu exhibit in Japan, it was easier to appreciate every tree in the room.

At the center of the exhibit was an old roughbark Japanese black pine that belonged to Mas Imazumi. It has long been a favorite of mine.

Roughbark black pine – Chinese antique pot

About ten years ago the tree was much weaker than it is now. I expect its renewed health will lead to some styling enhancements in coming years.

One of the fullest trees in the exhibit was a prostrata juniper. The tree is large – and heavy! It is also well-balanced, suggesting clear movement to the right.

Prostrata juniper

A Western juniper, only a few years out of the ground, made an interesting contrast to the prostrata juniper. Its young foliage hints at the tree’s future shape, leaving the viewer to appreciate the interesting movement and deadwood characteristic of many collected Westerns.

Western juniper

Japanese black pine

Shimpaku

The blue atlas cedar below has been a fun project. I helped repot it more than ten years ago during its initial styling. Planted in a 20-plus gallon container, the tree taught me how useful a reciprocating saw can be during repotting season. Now far more refined, the tree is well on its way to become an impressive cedar bonsai.

Blue atlas cedar

Cork bark black pine

White pine

The semi-cascade white pine below is another favorite of mine. The delicate foliage provides a nice contrast to the heavy trunk. One of two white pines once affixed to a large stone by Yasuo Mitsuya, the pine has more recently found its home in a custom-built pot by Michael Hagedorn.

White pine – Michael Hagedorn pot

Scots pine

Shimpaku – old Yamaaki pot, Kinkazouin

Japanese black pine

Shimpaku – Chinese antique pot, check out the feet!

Japanese black pine

Japanese black pine – Chinese antique pot

Exposed root red pine

The exhibit featured deciduous bonsai as well. Although not as well-represented as the coniferous trees in the exhibit, the bare trees suggested that BIB members appreciate a wide variety of bonsai.

Stewartia – Michael Hagedorn pot

Trident maple

Ume

Ginkgo

Catlin elm

Star magnolia – Chinese antique pot

Japanese maple

Trident maple – Koyo pot

Japanese maple

The broadleaf evergreens, on the other hand, were simply not well-represented at this year’s exhibit. That will change in future exhibits. For now, here’s an olive that has only been trained as bonsai for a few years.

Olive – off to a great start

Mas Nakajima provided an installation of his suiseki art for the exhibit. I heard several explanations behind the arrangement, but my favorite comment about these stories belongs to Mas: “Too much story,” he said. The painting, and the stones, were a welcome addition to the exhibit.

Suiseki art by Mas Nakajima

Looking for directions

I had a lot of fun setting up Bay Island Bonsai’s exhibit this year. Having recently returned from Japan, I found myself looking at trees in a very different light than I had before the visit. I now get much more enjoyment from flowering and fruiting trees, and I’m even more fascinated by the idea of balance in bonsai. On that note, I’ve really appreciated the recent discussions about whether certain trees point left or right. If an idea as simple as direction can lead to such rich discussions, either the trees in question – or our understanding of said trees – offer opportunities for improvement.

The crabapple below provided some much appreciated color to BIB’s exhibit. Discussion arose, however, as to the direction of the tree. More and more, I skip past the idea of which way a given tree points and start asking which way the tree could or should point. In other words, what can be done to a tree to enhance its balance or to clarify its direction?

Crabapple

The main branches on my trident maple are fairly horizontal and somewhat similar in size. Over time I plan to vary the angles at which the primary branches extend from the trunk and create more differentiation in branch size to improve the tree’s balance. I hope that in time to make it clear that the tree moves to the left.

Trident maple – antique Chinese pot

A number of nice shimpaku made it into this year’s exhibit, including the two well-balanced trees below. Both get their sense of direction from the trunk more than from the foliage. Although people often respond strongly to direction of the upper part of the trunk or the foliage, it’s typically not enough to outweigh the sense of direction provided by the lower trunk.

Shohin shimpaku

Kifu shimpaku

A small red pine provided an interesting example. The first branch indicates strong movement to the left. The foliage suggests movement to the right. It’s tough to say which way the trunk leads the eye.

Red pine – nanban pot

I’ve always enjoyed this tree. For the exhibit, it was placed on the left side of the display, but Boon suggested that in the future it could go the other way. Tilting the tree slightly to the left made it clear that the tree has good potential to point left. Some minor branch work could complete the makeover.

Red pine – tilted

Next week I’ll post photos of trees that more clearly know where they are going.