This year I decided to put a tree in the show. My friend, Russell Baggett, has been telling me for about a year or two that I should stop worrying that my trees are not ready and just put them in the show. It is not about winning - it is about supporting the club. So this year I figured I need to go ahead and do it. While pines are what I am most attracted to in bonsai I decided to display a Juniper Foemina I bought from Rodney Clemons back in 2011. Junipers grow much faster and so I thought of all my trees this one had the most potential to look ok for the show. I also had to get a stand and I ordered one from
Jerry Braswell. I talked to him and gave him the specifications for the stand I wanted and he did a great job.
Below I posted the progression of this tree from October 2011 until March 2015.
This is the first picture I have from October 2011. The tree was very full when I saw it, but I did not take a picture and started to cut it and apply wire. In fact, I think this is the first tree I have ever wired. The next picture is from the same month.
This was my first time working on juniper foemina and I remember that after a few hours I noticed that my hands started to tingle from all the pricks. Those needles are pretty sharp and you need to be careful not to push against the needles, but to handle the foliage with the flow of the needles.
A few months after I wired the tree Ryan Neil came to visit our club and I brought the tree to his workshop. He had adjusted the angles of some of the branches and had me add heavier wire for main branches. Next is the picture from December 2011 after Ryan has set the branches.
December 2011.
February 2012 - I just repotted the tree into better bonsai soil. I think this is when I started to take pictures of my trees once a year. This is a really good practice and I recommend that to anyone I know. I also try to take pictures of trees when I work on them. Life is so much better with automatic backup :)
February 2013 - I think I did not do much but just fed the tree and let it fill out. The only thing I did is add a shari on the trunk - the trunk line looked a little too simple and boring and I thought a shari could help it.
May 2013. Our annual show used to be in May and in 2013 our judge was Boon. He suggested cutting off the first branch and making jin which transitioned into the second shari. The tree got fuller yet and Boon also talked to me about cutting a tree for better structure.
March 2014. Another shot from the annual photo shoot. I repotted the tree into Zenigo pot which I thought was a better fit for the tree, but still left enough space for the tree to grow and develop.
August 2014. One of the benefits of living in Atlanta is that it makes it easier for friends to stop by. Juan Andrade was flying back to his bonsai apprenticeship in
Aichi-en in Nagoya from a trip home and he stopped by for a few days. We were joking about how it is so hot and he noticed my sombrero (a present from Russell Baggett). I posted this picture on Facebook with a title the Juan suggested - "Ay chihuahua, que calor!". When I showed it to my wife, without missing a beat she said "From Aichi-en to Ay Chihuahua!" This photo ended up in the article about Juan in Bonsai Focus.
February 2015. I finally got my stand. I think this is when I first thought that now I can actually display a tree in a show and I had to start getting it ready.
At this point I think I just cleaned it and wired a couple of branches. It was still pretty cold in February so I was doing most of the work inside. One day Maya, my 7 year old daughter, got a needle embedded in her foot - it took a long time just to convince her to let me get it out. Sorry, Maya. This is one of the stones I considered displaying the tree with.
When it warmed up for I took the tree outside to clean it and apply lime-sulfur. Then I could finish wiring the tree. It was a constant strugle for time between repotting and wiring. Not to mention work and family. At some point I had to decide that I will not be able to detail wire the tree. My friend Carrie came by to help me repot my trees and also moss this tree. I think half the moss came from the driveway of my neighbor's across the street.
This is the final display. I ended up using one of my favorite stones - this is a natural hut stone. The daiza was made in Japan by Mr. Suzuki. I think the tree and the stone work well together. Kathy Shaner was our judge this year. We set up the trees on Friday night and I want back home. The plan was to come back for the public critique of the show the next morning.
Surprise! The next morning I found out that my tree was given first place in the enthusiast category (for some reason it says "master" on the ribbon). The rules state that most of the work needs to be done by the owner, who cannot be a professional. That definitely applies to this tree since I literally applied every wire myself. Kathy was very nice in her critique and mentioned that she liked how the stand and the tree and the stone work together.
The next day my family came to share in my special moments :).
Looking back at the last three and a half years I can see how much of my understanding of bonsai has changed. I was lucky enough to travel to Aichi-en 3 times and am getting ready for the next trip in May, which is when they work on needle junipers. I am hoping to get my hands on the true Tosho and learn how to cut and set pads. I was lucky to study with Peter Tea and Juan Andrade over those years and things are starting to make sense, but I am only starting to learn how much more I need to learn.
