Carolina Bonsai Expo

[jk_lewis]

I had time for a very few photos before we took our trees and went home. It was, as usual, a great show. Maybe folks can add to this thread.

I'll start with my little tree -- windswept trident raft. Walter said he liked it very much. That is followed by a very nice black pine, a landscape that won a prize, a pyracantha twin trunk, A small japanese maple, and then a gee-whiz juniper, whose greatest char, I think is the pot:

 

[JudyB]

Best part is the accessory of the small slab for the deadwood branch to land on! Great idea, well thought out for this display. Your windswept tree is looking great, and the BVF pyracantha is too. The landscape looks a bit staid to me... but maybe just a 2d observation.
I actually like the JBP. Glad you could get out and attend this, and thanks for the pics.

 

[Telperion]

Thanks for the pics!

 

[Robert E Holt]

The Japanese Maple didn't make the line-up? The rest are nice trees though.

 

[Adair M]

jkl,

I very liked your windswept trident! The only way to show it is bare of leaves. It looked great!

The second picture is of a JWP, not a Black. It's grafted just below the first branch.

The "fallen tree, broken pot" tree would have been much better if the slab was big enough to have both the pot and the bottom branch on it. I've seen some that would have been perfect. The smaller slab should have least been It also had what appeared to be a live vein going to that bottom branch, but there's no foliage. It should have been Jinned.

BVF's pyracantha is looking good, too. Several of us were discussing how a different pot might work. To bring out the red berries. Or maybe a white one to go with the spring flowers.

I got a surprize! I was just beginning to break down our display when Curt a Howard came in and said I won People's Choice! Totally unexpected!

​

 

[BMV Bonsai]

Here are a few photos that I took:

 

[Dav4]

Congrats Adair! Wish I could have been there....

 

[Eric Group]

I am just going through my pics... looks like I took about 130 this weekend!
First Walter Pall's Demo:
they were dealing with a Large Lodge Pole I think is what they said it was- Walter was a VERY entertaining speaker! I was excited to see him in person- always been one of my favorite artists!
First- what the two trees looked like when he began:

This was one he had styled like 15 years ago the last time he came to the Carolina Expo... I forget the Species now. sorry.. They didn't do nearly as much with this tree:
First angle change:
Discussing the second option:
Shari closeup.. Hard to make Deadwood look this cool by artificial means!

He went over some great info on wiring, balancing energy by needle plucking... How to tell when your tree is healthy and ready for work... Lots of great info! While they were doing some wiring and work on the tree that took a lot of time, Walter did a slide show presentation on the Fairy Tale Bonsai style.. so it was a bit more informative in interesting than most demos where you sit and quietly watch the person giving the demo do all this work for hours.. Walter kept talking about how he likes to entertain the crowd and he did a great job of it!

 

[BMV Bonsai]

Second tree was a Scott's Pine. Walter was indeed a character. Loved his energy and giggled to myself every time he was like "booooooooom" and made the perfect facial expression.

 

[Eric Group]

We settled on the first angle as the more dynamic option.. Walter had originally planned to tilt it the other way.. Made a few jokes about America being a Democracy... And wound up going with the first angle change to the left a bit... Jim Doyle was helping him and he had a young lady assisting as well and I apologize for not remembering her name. I had seen her in pics of some other demos Walter has done though, he said she has worked with him for a while.... It was an amazing amount of experience and talent on that stage at one time and the end result was impressive!
After adding wire:
Bending and setting the apex and a few other branches:

Looks pretty good right?

Walter did not like this branch:

He briefly contemplated thee removal.. the crowd seemed uneasy about the idea, tried to talk him out of it This decision was NOT a Democracy!
One of his best lines in the Demo came after some people let out a gasp as he removed the branch.. He basically talked about how sometimes you have to just have the balls to get in there and cut the damn branch! "If you cannot do that... Go do Ikebana" Is basically what he said... Classic!

 

[Eric Group]

A few last pics of them working on it... Stripping down the Jin, firing up thee blow torch...
And the money shot!

what a show!! Thanks Walter for giving us all much more than our money's worth!!

 

[Dav4]

Walter sure knows his way around a collected pine... a great bonsai talent and entertainer!

 

[Eric Group]

some pics of trees:
First some that were up for auction...

 

[Eric Group]

Now, on to the trees in the show:
A very clean, well done display IMO

Brad from Bonsai Learning Center had one of my favorites in the show!! I was torn between voting for this one or for Adair's in the People's choice vote... I am not sure I remember which one I voted for... I was lucky enough to meet some really cool people this weekend an Brad was one of them. he showed me some pics on his phone of the styling process for this tree... What a transformation!

 

[Eric Group]

 

[Waldo Street Pottery]

Thanks for sharing folks, wish I could have made it. Congrats Adair!

 

[Eric Group]

Annnnd... MY BOYS: John G and Ken did a great job with something innovative. It came out great, but was hard to photograph because of the background.. did my best trying to crop and edit... but you can see the trunks fine, and it should give you a god idea of what was going on here- a Carolina Swamp!
If you have never been to the NC Arboretum... well Shame on you! It is worth a trip. Asheville is one of thee most beautiful cities I have ever been to. an amazing culture and "vibe" about this place... It reminds me of Flagstaff Arizona, or a little "Hippie" town like that our west, but larger. There are touristy places to take the fam to- Biltmore and places like that... Gorgeous mountain scenery everywhere... Worth a trip from anywhere in the US IMO.

I hope to meet many more of you at this event next year! I had a blast! Didn't get to go back today... Stayed a t a buddy's house last night and was getting the "What time are you coming home again" texts from my wife, so... I just went on home instead of stopping by the show again. I would like to know which trees won Walter's Blue ribbon and stuff...

 

[Eric Group]

I had time for a very few photos before we took our trees and went home. It was, as usual, a great show. Maybe folks can add to this thread.

I'll start with my little tree -- windswept trident raft. Walter said he liked it very much. That is followed by a very nice black pine, a landscape that won a prize, a pyracantha twin trunk, A small japanese maple, and then a gee-whiz juniper, whose greatest char, I think is the pot:

I REALLY enjoyed your windswept Tridents as well! Very well done and a very difficult style to pull off effectively! Had your trees already dropped their leaves on their own, or were they defoliated for the show?

The Pyracantha Twin trunk was Brian Van Fleet's I believe! Stunning tree in person- great job to all of you who presented trees...

What a show! I am always excited to get to go- three years in a row for me now!

 

[Adair M]

This one hit the Best in Show and Peer awards:


It's had quite a couple weeks... It was also one of the ones tied for 3rd place at The Artisan's Cup!

 

[Eric Group]

This one hit the Best in Show and Peer awards:
View attachment 83726

It's had quite a couple weeks... It was also one of the ones tied for 3rd place at The Artisan's Cup!

Thanks!
That is a nice tree, and it looked familiar to me when I saw it... Speaks to the quality of the trees in this competition that this world class Bonsai was not even my favorite one!