Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
So here is a project I've been working on since '06 and I'd say I'm at about the halfway point. This is a Zelkova that belonged to a friend, given to him from another friend, who styled it with Ben Oki in the 80s or 90s. Neither of them were satisfied with how the tree looked, but since it had been a bonsai for a long time, it became difficult to do the work that needed to be done: chop everything that "didn't work" and start over.
In March of '06, my buddy decided he'd had enough of the tree, and gave it to me to do whatever I wanted to it, but he would always have first right of refusal if I ever wanted to get rid of it. I also bet him that I would have it ready to show in 5 years.
Here is the material. The trunk is 3" in diameter at the widest point. At the time, it was about 36" tall, but styled into a slant.
2002:
![Zelkova 2002.jpg Zelkova 2002.jpg](https://www.bonsainut.com/data/attachments/35/35232-f7c043ed8a8d994e51f2524cab727bbe.jpg?hash=98BD7YqNmU)
In March of '06, my buddy decided he'd had enough of the tree, and gave it to me to do whatever I wanted to it, but he would always have first right of refusal if I ever wanted to get rid of it. I also bet him that I would have it ready to show in 5 years.
Here is the material. The trunk is 3" in diameter at the widest point. At the time, it was about 36" tall, but styled into a slant.
2002:
![Zelkova 2002.jpg Zelkova 2002.jpg](https://www.bonsainut.com/data/attachments/35/35232-f7c043ed8a8d994e51f2524cab727bbe.jpg?hash=98BD7YqNmU)
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