Another Ben Oki Azalea

[Mellow Mullet]

A shameless rip-off of a BVF thread...


I was going through some old photos the other day on my computer and also my cell phone (I got a new one) and I came across these pictures that were taken at a Ben Oki workshop that my bonsai club sponsored. I had taken a Satsuki "Gumpo" that I had gotten at the flea market. Here are the pictures:

Ben at work:



The carnage and a Ben's concept for the tree:


If you have ever been to one of Ben's workshop, you know that most prebonsai material gets cut back to nothing, leaving the uninitiated with a WTF kinda feeling, much like the one that I had that night.

Fast Forward to now, I don't exactly remember when I attended the workshop but it was at least four years ago, and here is the tree:











As you can see, some of Ben's vision is coming to pass. Sometimes it is hard to see the bonsai in the plant, but with planning and an expert eye, I think there could be a bonsai in most stock. Sadly, Ben does not make the rounds anymore, he was a yearly feature for our club and I will miss him.

 

[GrimLore]

Thank you! Also nice to share that it was not beneath Ben Oki to work on and envision a good plant from Nursery stock, in this case a Flea Market purchase... He was traditional but non-traditional at the same time, a real visionary

Grimmy