Scenes from a Kondo workshop

I recently had the good fortune to attend a bonsai workshop run by Akio Kondo. In contrast to the last Kondo workshop I attended, this event was more pensive, more contemplative. My trees experienced no radical transformations. Instead, we spent time making plans for the future and talking about how and when to execute these plans. Not the most exciting bonsai work, but some of the most important work. Others in the workshop had similar experiences.

Contemplating kaede

Kondo had a number of suggestions for the trident maple above. Some branches were left long so they could thicken. Others were kept short. Long drooping branches were wired slightly upward. In a year or two, the long branches will be shortened to stubs and the process will begin again the following year.

A grafted prostrata juniper with wonderfully green shimpaku foliage showed up for styling. Trees benefit greatly from professional attention at this stage of development. Watching the tree shape up with help from a such a talented artist was a treat. Although the day ended before the tree was finished, I’m hoping I’ll see it completed before long.

Shimpaku

Kondo spent a long time making subtle adjustments to an old procumbens juniper. Cutting a bit of a branch here, wiring a branch there, Kondo performed fairly mundane work on the tree. We were surprised, when he finished, at the difference these small adjustments made. Although the tree will continue to improve as the branch pads develop, we now have a much better idea of what form the bonsai will take in the future.

Refining a branch pad

The matter of the front is still up for grabs a bit. The front pictured below is a good candidate, as is a similar front a few degrees to the left.

Sonare

The primary styling goal is to highlight the interesting movement in the trunk.

Sonare – trunk detail

The most radical step in the tree’s immediate future will be repotting. Setting the tree in a more appropriately sized – read: smaller – pot will make a world of difference.