Here are my more humble projects. A jm raft, three itoigawa whips I had around with nothing to do so I bent the hell out of them..only one got weak amazingly, jap. import chojubai in my favorite pot, procumbens.
With those Shimps, if you are going for that twisted trunk look you see in Japan, you should try to tighten up your bends even more- especially on the second one. The third looks like you are just going for a more standard informal look, but it reminds me of an S curve, And I would recommend you get a sharper turn somewhere in that one too! Don't mess with that first one for a while obviously-looks like he is struggling a little bit...
I love you man but the bends look contrived...you need to find a way to make them more believable. Usually, all it takes is a change in direction and not a "predictable continuous flow or spiral". You might need to put more guy wires in between to pull them or use thicker wires (and looped/wrapped tighter).
I had to laugh Eric and Dario, "I know"! Totally contrived. I just couldn't come up with something more interesting. I am not too happy with the S one either. Humm...
And I'm heading to a informal upright for the procumbens.
Brian, the yellow pot is my favorite pot too. With all the trees req. potting up this yr, I just went with Mica. I'm starting to get to the point of wanting some nice pots now.