BVF's US National Bonsai Exhibition Entry

[Brian Van Fleet]

Here is the display I'm preparing to send to the New York show in 2 weeks, though the accent plant will receive a haircut first...



Tree: Japanese Maple, 'shishio improved' from nursery stock, in training since 2002, 28" tall
Pot: Japanese Tokoname by Yamafusa, 17"x12"x2.75"
Stand: Chinese Rosewood

Accent Plant: Fern
Accent Pot: Byron Myrick
Ji-ita: Sam Lee





Enjoy!

 

[Dav4]

Beautiful, Brian. Wish I could be there to see it in person. Love the pot, too...real nice tree/pot combo.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Thanks Dave. Wish I could be there too!

 

[edprocoat]

Ok, first off, it took me a full minute to figure out what BVF's meant! Then the old eyes seen your name! Good luck with the show, its a winner in my eyes already. Naturally the tree, pot and stand stick out, I was wondering about the backdrop as its perfect for the display, I assume its part of the whole? Either way good job.

ed

 

[Smoke]

Nice entry, What is 'shishio improved' ? Never heard that.

 

[Victrinia Ridgeway]

Beautiful!!! Just beautiful... I think it's all individually and collectively lovely....

Thanks for sharing!

V

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Nice entry, What is 'shishio improved' ? Never heard that.

Thanks, don't know about the cultivar, other than the name, and it starts bright red. The tree came from Gary Wood about 10 years ago, so maybe he knows.

Also, please add any display critique, Al, et al. I am confident with bonsai, displays are quite different. Nearly convinced the accent goes to the left...

 

[Ron Dennis]

Beautiful!

Suggest you print out photos of the accent on the left and on the right. place them side by side and then decide.

 

[Ang3lfir3]

fantastic Brian.... it looks great ....

I prefer the companion on the right myself tho I would consider turning the ji ita 180 degrees .... not sure if that would help but it might make the action feel more circular ...

 

[Umeboshi]

Looking good Brian! I can't wait to see it in all of its glory at Rochester in June.

 

[goosetown]

I'm usually not much for Maples, but that's absolutely gorgeous. Good luck to you.

An honest question, not a critique (again, I have no experience with Maples): is the decision to leave the lowermost right branches purely an aesthetic choice? Part of me wouldn't want to touch it, and the other part is juuuuuuuuuuuust curious what it would look like with a uniform skirt. I have a feeling it would look like it came straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.

I also think the all-over moss is underappreciated and looks great contrasting against the light bark. Obviously, that's not an easy thing to pull off looking that good. Kudos all around.

 

[daygan]

is the decision to leave the lowermost right branches purely an aesthetic choice?

Not that I can answer for Brian, but that is an aesthetic placement for which there is a guideline. In general, we want to stagger branches, because "bar-branching" (two branches on exactly the same level leaving the trunk in opposite directions) isn't really as common naturally, and the most basic idea in bonsai is that you want your bonsai to look like a natural, full-szed tree. Staggering means, of course, that there will always be one lowest branch on one side or the other that is lower than the other side. Also, I think another reason for this guideline's genesis, back when people were starting to develop guidelines for bonsai way back when, is that uniformity , regardless of whether it exists in nature or not, generally gives a viewer a feeling of human-imposed order and artificial-ness, which is not what we want to relay with our bonsai. That's just a personal opinion - we'd have to ask those aged guideline-makers what they were really thinking to be sure, but, well, they're not around anymore

And Brian - this tree is looking very nice! And the whole display looks nice as well, though I don't know anything about rules for displaying bonsai with accent plants (except everything that Al wrote on Victrina's thread, which I haven't entirely digested yet) so I can't give any kind of a professional opinion, but it looks nice

 

[fore]

Very nice Brian, the maple looks great. And for what it's worth, I too like the fern on the right. Good Luck at the show!!

 

[sam]

nice, brian. your tree looks so healthy and vibrant. congratulations for being selected to show at the national. thanks for the plug.

best wishes, sam

 

[Kirk]

Nicely done, Brian. Everything looks wonderful. I would prefer the accent to be placed on the right side since the movement of the tree is in that direction. When its placed on the left, it looks like the maple is trying to escape from the fern.

Best always,
Kirk

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I'm usually not much for Maples, but that's absolutely gorgeous. Good luck to you.

An honest question, not a critique (again, I have no experience with Maples): is the decision to leave the lowermost right branches purely an aesthetic choice? Part of me wouldn't want to touch it, and the other part is juuuuuuuuuuuust curious what it would look like with a uniform skirt. I have a feeling it would look like it came straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.

I also think the all-over moss is underappreciated and looks great contrasting against the light bark. Obviously, that's not an easy thing to pull off looking that good. Kudos all around.

Thank you. You posed an insightful question, one that I pondered a couple years ago here. I know the branch isn't in the long-term design plan, but for now it works. Maybe in part because it's not something you'd often see in bonsai, but would in nature. Maybe because it makes people stop and wonder why it's there.

 

[goosetown]

Thank you. You posed an insightful question, one that I pondered a couple years ago here. I know the branch isn't in the long-term design plan, but for now it works. Maybe in part because it's not something you'd often see in bonsai, but would in nature. Maybe because it makes people stop and wonder why it's there.

That last line really brings it home and seems to be the happiest way I can think of to answer the question. Also makes a lot of sense in light of daygan's insight into "uniformity", which is something I actively guard against in my junipers. Any way you slice it, it's a beautiful specimen - and man, how far it's come since you posed the question about its lower branch a few years ago. And it wasn't too shabby at all back then.

 

[Smoke]

Right now your tree moves to the right and your accent moves to the left. These movements move your eyes right out of the picture. You want your eye to go to the red dot and do that by way of the tree moving to the left and the accent moving to the right, as in the yellow.

If this is the front of the tree then put the tree on the left and the accent to the right. Turn the accent so it points to the center of the display....or better still...

Create an accent that:
1. is smaller and does not extend beyond the height of the stand
2. contains a plant that can be cropped close and is therefore uni-directional and does not have to be turned in a fasion so as to accentuate the display.

Watch the colors of the components. this is still spring time and summer is not for three weeks and even then it should be light and cheery. This display would be good for fall.

1. dark stand.
2. dark pot
3. dark accent pot in the same color range as the foliage on the tree and accent plant
4. dark bordered ji-ita.
Overall a very dark subdued expression for spring. While I totaly understand that unlike Japan and not being professionals and again not having all the time a working man would want to practise his hobby, I understand that having a spring pot and a fall color pot would be ideal. This pot works nice with fall colors. A nice off white pot woud be appropriate for spring, even a celedon or light yellow pot works well with maples. The dark blue and dark green accent pot do nothing for lightening the feel in this display. It feels heavy and sluggish.

I might suggest some rodohypoxis for an accent just to get some color in this puppy.

 

[Ang3lfir3]

for those listening to this and my Vic's threads .... you can get the basics of this information by reading the late Willi Benz's book on bonsai, kusamano and suiseki it will give you a great place to begin to understand how, where and when along with some of the basic principles of display (circular motion .... etc) its a good place to start ....


http://www.amazon.com/Bonsai-Kusama...3222/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338337875&sr=8-1

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Thanks for taking the time to comment Al. You're 100% right, and I didn't consider wood/pot colors to compliment springtime. The pot is gorgeous with the tree's bright red spring color, and orange fall color, but is rather dark for summer. Maybe subconsciously I was trying to lighten the display with the variegated fern and lighter accent pot, knowing I won't have a lighter stand or pot for this show. I'll be poking around for more options for the accent plant with these thoughts in mind. Definitely thinking it's time to start looking at some more stands...I like having options!