Virginiana grey owl

[Adele]

Greetings ladies and gentlemen

I would like to ask comments on this juniper of mine, it took me 5 hours to style it like this. I am a newbie, yes, and had help with the thick wiring, as my hands are not strong enough.
Thank you in advance
Adele

It is about 88cm tall
9cm trunk diameter

Pre styling:


Final result:


Close-up from front:


Close up from back:


close-up from right:

 

[Dav4]

I like it. Well done.

 

[Vance Wood]

For someone who says that their hands are not too strong you seem to have been able to manipulate the wire very well indeed. The wiring is very good, better than I have seen from someone who may have been doing bonsai for some time.

The styling of the tree is very good. One might make some criticisms on branch placement but personally I like what you have done a great deal. I think you have made a really fine little literati bonsai, not an easy thing by the way, you have a good eye and a good grasp on three dimensional thinking as far as styling is concerned. Keep doing trees, you can only get better and I look forward to seeing more from you.

 

[Tona]

I agree with Vance. Your wiring is very good for a newbie. I am a fan of the literati style and you have a nice start there. Keep up the good work!
Tona

 

[Vance Wood]

OK-----you're a hero today, what are you going to show us tomorrow? Just kidding, but please start another bonsai, and another, and another.

 

[KennedyMarx]

Seems like you have a good eye for bonsai design. How long have you been doing bonsai? Did you style this one by yourself?

 

[Vance Wood]

Seems like you have a good eye for bonsai design. How long have you been doing bonsai? Did you style this one by yourself?

I just went back and reread her original post and she did have help with the wiring, but I think the design is her own.

 

[Adele]

OK-----you're a hero today, what are you going to show us tomorrow? Just kidding, but please start another bonsai, and another, and another.

Haha! I have a lot of projects in my backyard, this one was just the one that crept into my heart... I will keep you posted on the progress with this one, if you want too...

Will look for another to show you as soon as I can

Thank you to everybody who commented on this juniper of mine

As I said, the thick wiring wasn't me, it was my fiancee who helped, as the 6mm wire was too tough for me to handle (will be joining a gym soon!! haha) The styling and thinning out and shaping was all done by me.

Vance, I do not wish to be a hero or get praised, I love bonsai and as I said, this one is very special to me.. Don't get me wrong though, I love good comments on this tree, even bad ones.. then I know where to improve and where to learn through my mistakes.

I tried to do bonsai a few years ago, failed miserably because I did not have any guidance. Then I joined a bonsai club about two years back, and it paid off

Thank you again, everyone, who posted on this thread, it means the world to me

 

[YukiShiro]

The design was her own, completely, I only wired the thick branches and bended them under her direction, and direct me she did . I would've placed some of the top branches differently but I wanted the tree to be completely her design. For her to develope and establish her own style . I'm really really proud of her, and jelous too lol, I want a juniper like that one !

I think this tree will look really good as it ages, and we are going to show it at our regional competitions...

As for the club we've joined...they didn't help that much, as not one of them really know anything about conifers, 2% of them have conifers in their collections. I think what did help was being exposed to a lot of decent bonsai, which helped to train her eyes and establish what she wants a bonsai to look like.

And also she learnt a lot from me, since I introduced her to junipers, before we met she did not like juniper at all, now she has the best juniper in our collection

Geluk liefie!!! Lief jou baie baie!!!<3

 

[Adele]

Geluk liefie!!! Lief jou baie baie!!!<3

Dankie my lief Lief jou ewe baie baie!!! <3

 

[Adele]

Does anyone else have a Grey Owl bonsai? Please share

 

[MACH5]

Sorry Adele no Grey Owl Juniper here. But... I really like what you did as others have already mentioned. Great job! YukiShiro did a terrific job in helping you with the wire.

In the future you might want to think about adding a shari to the long trunk to add some interest and character

baie geluk en goed gedoen!!

 

[Smoke]

It is a joy to read a post with no technical questions...just look what I did!
You have a very nice start here that will only improve with age.

Cheers, Al
ice-nay ob-jay

 

[John Ruger]

Really nice work that will be a joy to see how it progresses over time. I'm admittedly not always a fan of the literati style, but I think this shows a lot of grace and elegance.

Good luck with it.

 

[Adele]

Thank you all
I appreciate all the comments and ideas.

Dankie Mach5, is jy ook afrikaans?

 

[MACH5]

Haha! Nee, ek is Amerikaanse ( No, I am American)

 

[Adele]

Haha! Nee, ek is Amerikaanse ( No, I am American)

Praat goed Afrikaans vir Amerikaanse LOL

 

[YukiShiro]

Hello Guys,

I dug up this thread to do a progress report of sorts.

I know these are only pics from 2014 but I will update this thread again with the latest pics

below is the tree after i worked it in june-july 2014(middle of our winter) pic was taken just as it came out of dormancy september 2014


this is how the tree reacted after the work I've done on it, filled in quite nicely. pics taken around end of spring in December 2014






since the last set of pics I've trimmed the tree, thinned it out this September. I did not wire it though. the juvenile foliage have almost completely turned into scale foliage.

comments welcome

best regards
Herman

 

[Vin]

Okay Herman, are Adele and YukiShiro the same person? The tree has come along very nicely. I have a Grey Owl Juniper but I doesn't appear to be the same as yours. Mine has been growing out after a serious cutback and is in no way begun its bonsai journey. With a little styling your tree would be even more impressive in my opinion. Keep up the great work!

 

[Vance Wood]

Do you know the botanical name for Grey Owl Juniper?