The Joy of Yamadori

[ghues]

Didn't know where to put this...... just some ramblings of an older man...so you've been warned
Like many of you during this time of the year ……I’ve been working on my trees recently….the last few weeks it’s been a focus on some of the yamadori that was collected in the fall of 2010. So I just wanted to share my thoughts to see if others do the same……

The more I experience and explore the mysteries and joy of yamadori the more the rest of my trees suffer….or maybe the collection is just getting too big (that’s the wife’s take on it .lol).

Unfolding the sometimes hidden or camouflaged treasure (an unknown tree feature) is somehow profoundly enjoyable and rewarding……….the basic style may have been chosen (or should I say drafted…maybe a design on paper or a gut feeling or a vision -maybe a vert?)……however as you uncover the newest trait you wonder if you can incorporate it… or do you have to disguise it somehow or perhaps…. you find a meaningful use of it which leads the tree towards a more total package/design.

I try not to be too aggressive and just take my time (learned the hard way)…. now I take a few years to totally move a tree into a semi formal pot….. Not really committing to a solid plan because I want to make sure that each new discovery about the tree is considered on its own merits as well as what it brings to the total image…. (adaption over time).

The main focus is the trees recuperation and health…. that’s the direction over these early years from mountain to pot, design and styling are secondary. I have to live with it, consider it from all angles…watch how it responds to various treatments….poke around some to see what's lurking about.....and of course keeping it alive and encouraging it to thrive.

Many of my yamadori (mountain hemlocks) were collected with a naturally very thick forest floor (duff, humus)….its cold up there in the mountains so biological activity has a very short season … therefore decomposition is slow…..the litter builds up over hundreds of years…even some of the smaller trees can be ancient.
This organic layer can provide and harbour some hidden accompany plants (herbs and shrubs) which from time to time show their dormant selves……it also has some great insulation qualities so one has to explore what’s hidden under that thick matt ( it can be up to 5-6" = 12-15cm), sometimes it can lead to disappointment (reverse taper) but every once in awhile it can sometimes turn into bonsai nirvana.

Making the final design decision can be sometimes a combination of a dozen or so temporary positions. These are the formative years ....each provisional one (each styling stage), being shaped by the new found feature. Hopefully it can be uncovered for all its worth…..and that it enhances the character of the tree and design. A nuance of focal points some bold and central while others are subtle and nicely blend into the composition.

Or maybe I’m just looking at this whole thing too deeply.........

 

[Dan W.]

This patience, along with the enjoyment of... and dedication to each stage in a trees process are some of the most important, and often most neglected parts of the bonsai journey (imho).

Thanks for the reminder

 

[Si Nguyen]

I have collected a few California junipers and other trees since 1994. I still have a few that had not been trained. They are spread out over several backyards in my extended family. I finally broke down and sold a big tree to a friend recently, and frankly, I don't really like the idea that it will be now a bonsai. I have also bought a few California junipers and other yamadori trees that were not trained, I mean really really raw material, and have let them be for 5-10 years. Partly because I am lazy and indecisive, but mainly because I have grown to appreciate them the way they are. I have learned to enjoy them in their natural untrained state. In the beginning, I could not wait to draw my designs and drag them out and chop and wire and carve away at them. A few turned out ok, but after a few years, I grew tired of looking at them, or rather at what I did to them. Now I prefer to imagine what the trees would look like had they still be growing in the wild in a few hundred years, without my help. How would Nature have shaped that tree in a hundred year? In California, Ernie Kuo went to Japan and studied under Kimura decades ago, before this latest wave of young artists, and when he came back, he brought with him the "green helmet" design that became an instant hit in the 80's here. Almost everybody new would style their trees that way then. Kinda like what I am seeing now in the European scene. I remember that time as I was studying under a teacher who was a student of Ernie Kuo and of John Naka. I was a student of Ernie too for a brief time. His trees were spectacular. But Naka was different. Harry Hirao was different too. I used to think he was lazy or had too many trees to tend to adequately. Harry's trees are usually wild and unkempt, or so I thought. Now so are mine. So now what do I say to people with nice yamadori? Take good care of them first, enjoy them for what they are, and don't chop them until you are sure your vision is more beautiful than Nature's.

 

[Poink88]

....enjoy them for what they are, and don't chop them until you are sure your vision is more beautiful than Nature's.

Profound.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

[JudyB]

Good thoughts. Good thread.

 

[PaulH]

I, too, have ruined or killed more than one really nice yamadori by trying to rush it into "bonsainess" It is still hard for me to keep my hands off until the tree is ready. But I'm learning.
The preceding thoughts help a lot.

 

[dick benbow]

some good thoughts (Si) and great topic (g-hues)


I see the same subjective pattern choices in my other japanese hobbies. Koi, Suiseki. I can almost tell you at a glance many of the local owner's fish or stones at a glance. So I think the trend to duplicate certain looks in bonsai is just another human trait. And there's nothing wrong with gathering those things that please you most.

Coming up with our own look or style can be a moving target, based on what we can acquire material wise, and where we are in our ability to learn and apply technique to our vision.

My biggest joy during this time of year is to invite others over to talk about the different trees,
to be able to see something different thru a different set of eyes. Looking at the same tree with the same set of eyes, may cause us to look too deeply, or not deep enough. looking thru another's set may give us the vision we seek.

 

[ghues]

Thanks folks for your comments...a couple of retorts;
Si’s quote “Take good care of them first, enjoy them for what they are, and don't chop them until you are sure your vision is more beautiful than Nature's”.
I see that we are thinking along the same lines here Si…….the one thing about mother natures creation is that it has been developed through genetics and environmental conditions and thus many of the trees attributes don’t fall into the parameters of the rules, (which to me have always been just guidelines).
For me the creation of a yamadori bonsai is to find the artistic balance between what the tree offers and a design incorporating the trees features that can be enhanced by ones knowledge of the natural aging process. Along the lines of what you said…”Now I prefer to imagine what the trees would look like had they still be growing in the wild in a few hundred years, without my help”.
This is where we differ slightly……if one studies the natural aging process of the species then one can create or enhance the image….accelerating the natural aging process which is a fundamental guideline.. is it not?

Dick’s Quote; “Looking at the same tree with the same set of eyes, may cause us to look too deeply, or not deep enough, looking thru another's set may give us the vision we seek”
A great source of vision Dick, we do this at our monthly club nights or when we get together for an evening of bonsai fellowship……….like I said that’s why I like to live with the tree and look at the nuances to bring out a vision……….sometimes I get “that hardly looks like a tree that I’ve seen”, then again maybe that’s the difference in that we can create a piece of art that is a living tree..... that is art first… tree second?
Cheers
Graham

 

[Si Nguyen]

I see that we are thinking along the same lines here Si…….

This is where we differ slightly……if one studies the natural aging process of the species then one can create or enhance the image….accelerating the natural aging process which is a fundamental guideline.. is it not?...
Cheers
Graham

Hi Graham, thanks for your initial ramblings, that triggered my ramblings. Call it mass hysteria, bonsai style. We all agreed that there is something special about an old yamadori. It is the beginning and the essence of the art of bonsai after all. Or rather, bonsai is the essence of it. Naka still said it best I think: "Don't make your tree into a bonsai, make your bonsai into a tree" , I paraphrased it here, correct me if I got it wrong please.

Bonsai is very contradictory. The more I think about it, the more contradictions I see. The "best" bonsai in a show, or in the picture books, are usually so full, healthy, and YOUNG looking. They are all very UNnatural looking. I have never seen an ancient tree in the wild with a perfectly green dome like that? Don't get me wrong, I like it too, because it is pleasing to look at, Pokemon monsters cute kinda way. I think maybe our advancing horticultural skills are adversely affecting our advancing artistic sensibilities. By the way, to be clear, this is only about yamadori, where strangely, I think there should be rules to protect Nature's designs, maybe. For man-made bonsai, there should be no rules, at least no man-made rules. Does this make sense to anybody?

 

[dick benbow]

As I read Si's statement about healthy looking yamadori, being kinda out of place with our former notion of these struggling trees, I'm wondering what the next generation of bonsai folks will think with regards to the affect climate change will have on them. maybe yamadori will look less endangered.

Dan Robinson, is a NW artist who's trees are yamadori dug and kept in such a manner as to look on the struggling side. In shows his works are easy to select from the others. You can tell by soil levels that these trees are all past repot time by many seasons.
These are examples of his work from a display last year at the pacific rim display at weyerhaeuser.
I have dozens of other pictures that exhibit that "look", and while it's been beaten into me during my studies to focus as first priority the health of our subjects, there is somthing absolutely enchanting about having captured a more realistic look of an aged struggling survivor. I just worry that I could maintain my responsibilities on such a thin edge for any length of time. Obviously Dan has developed his own intuition on how to create and maintain the "look".

 

[Poink88]

I love the 2nd tree...especially the branches.

Dan Robinson, Walter Pall, etc. they can go against the established "norm" and get away with it...even praised... but if a newbie like me do the same, I will be criticized. We have to pay our dues.

 

[Attila Soos]

I love the 2nd tree...especially the branches.

Last year when I visited Dan's collection, he told me that the tree (the 2nd one) "is the best hinoki cypress bonsai in the world". He literally said that.

I know that Dan is not the most modest man by any standard, but in this case, I believe that he is actually right.

....not sure whether or not it is a yamadori, though. Dan does have some bonsai that have been growing in bonsai pot for most of his life (and the tree's life).