Two years ago this month, Daisaku Nomoto did a demonstration at the Pacific Northwest Bonsai Clubs Association convention in Olympia, Washington. His helpers were Boon Manakitivipart, Matt Reel and Tyler Sherrod – quite a team! Here’s the finished product.
October, 2016
After the demo, I brought the tree home, repotted it in winter, and decandled it the following spring. Here’s what the tree looked like just over a year after the demo.
January, 2018
As Daisaku was in town at the time, I thought it would be fun for him to continue his work on the tree. Here’s what it looked like after he increased the main bend in the trunk.
After increasing the bend
The tree responded well to the work so I was able to decandle it again this past spring.
New planting angle – May, 2018
As luck would have it, Daisaku was again in town on his way to the National Exhibition in Rochester, New York, so I thought he could wrap up the basic styling he started two years before. Here’s how it now looks after Daisaku wired it last month.
October, 2018
I think this tree is a great example of how much a bonsai can change in a relatively short amount of time. The change would look even more dramatic if I had a photo of how the tree looked before the demo. (If anyone has a photo, do let me know!)
It’s also a good example of how the work that happens during a demonstration is just the first step towards realizing a design. It’ll be a few more years before this pine really fills in, but I expect future changes to be relatively subtle as the focus will be on branch selection, thinning, needle-pulling and decandling.
East Bay Bonsai Society’s 57th Annual Show this Weekend!
The East Bay Bonsai Society will be hosting it’s 57th Annual Show at the Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland, California, this weekend. The exhibit runs from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday. In addition to the exhibit, the event will feature club sales of bonsai and bonsai-related items. I’ll be doing demonstrations both days by from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
I’ll be working on a procumbens juniper Saturday and a Korean hornbeam Sunday. The juniper will be auctioned after the demo and the hornbeam will be raffled.
If you get the chance to come to Oakland this weekend, I’ll look forward to seeing you at the show!
