"Become a bamboo"

A Chinese artist once described to his disciples the secret of painting: “Draw a bamboo for ten years, become a bamboo, then forget all about bamboos when you are drawing. Once in a possession of an infallible technique, you place yourself at the mercy of inspiration.”

Bonsai, just like any art has two parts to it: the technique and the creative process. The thing about bonsai is that its technique is way more complex than in most other artistic media. It takes years to acquire the horticultural knowledge and experience necessary for it. Nevertheless, there are enough of bonsai enthusiasts who have the technique. There are also enough artists who are capable of creating exquisite bonsai, but they choose to work in other artistic media. Bonsai masters who possess both the technique and the artistic talent are quite rare.

"Willows are green and flowers are red"

A well known Zen saying tells us: “Willows are green and flowers are red.” It takes each aspect of reality for what it is, and nothing more. I think this is how one should evaluate bonsai. If it is good it will be obvious. If it is not obvious, it is not that good. However, all this doesn’t apply to people who can’t resist liking ugly things.

I recently made a couple of bonsai pots that would convey the feeling of wabi (rustic beauty) and I hope I succeeded to some extent.

Ray Nesci's technique

I forgot to mention that at Peter Adams' workshop last week, Ray Nesci showed everyone an amazing technique. He forms a tree trunk out of moss and plants many small plants into it as branches. Plant roots eventually reach the soil at the base of the trunk, while the moss rots away leaving a thick and gnarly trunk formed by the roots. It's awesome!

Bonsai by the Harbour 2009

Last month I attended this year’s ‘Bonsai by the Harbour’ workshop organized by the Bonsai Federation of Australia. The venue was splendid and most presenters demonstrated advanced techniques. My favorite was Rick Roberts who was styling an evergreen variety of trident maple. It was a tree previously grown in the field with a 15 cm-thick trunk base and 2 cm-thick lower branches. He demonstrated methods for bending thick primary branches (Picture 1) and grafting new roots to an existing nebari (Picture 2 & 3).

Peter Adams' workshop, Sydney 2009

Today, I attended Peter Adams's workshop. He is an unusual bonsai artist and an entertaining speaker. He hasn't performed any 'miracles' with the trees during his demonstrations, but his visions of final tree designs embodied in most excellent sketches were very impressive indeed. The picture here shows a Chinese Juniper he styled, and the sketch of what he wants it to be in the future.

Irregularity, poignancy and brevity

I was reading Bernard Leach’s “A Potter in Japan” and found a beautiful passage pertaining to Japanese ceramics for the Tea Ceremony: “They [utensils for the Tea Ceremony] … are made in a land of earthquakes where nothing can be built for permanence and the Tea Rooms are like charming human birds’ nests in rock gardens where nature, irregularity, poignancy and brevity hold sway.” It is said so well that I just couldn't resist quoting it here.

The Exhibition of Bonsai Study Group

I visited the annual exhibition of Bonsai Study Group today. It is the only Bonsai Club that does their show in autumn. The atmosphere of the exhibition was very nice, a few pleasing trees on display (one of such bonsai is shown in the picture). The demonstration on penjing planting is was interesting too. However, my yearning to see at least one outstanding bonsai wasn’t satisfied. Better luck next time!

Genji Monogatari on autumn foliage

Day by day, autumn is making itself more and more apparent in my little garden. Cold nights almost completely stopped the growth of my bonsai. Recently, while reading Genji Monogatari I stumbled across an interesting remark made by one of the novel’s characters. It goes: “… Nothing is so beautiful as the brilliant dyes spread over the face of Nature, yet the red tints of autumn are often not dyed to a colour so deep as we desire, because of the early drying of the dew, so we say - such is the uncertain fate of this world.” I wonder whether dew really affects the colour of autumn foliage.

Confucianism and Bonsai

I recently read a book by R. L. Taylor titled Confucianism to learn about this philosophy/religion in general and to find out the extent of Confucian influence on art in particular. As far as art is concerned, Confucians mostly focused on literature, music and calligraphy. However, I came across a passage written by one of the great Confucian teachers of Japan, Kaibara Ekken (1630 - 1714). He wrote: "..., no living creatures such as birds, beasts, insects and fish should be killed wantonly. Not even grass and trees should be cut down out of season. All these are objects of nature's love, having been brought forth by her and nurtured by her." Confucian ideology is deeply rooted in the mentality of East-Asian people and this passage explains why Chinese and Japanese penching/bonsai growers are so particular about pruning, repotting and defoliating their plants only at certain times of the year. Simply not to kill or hurt them wantonly. Another interesting reference to plants in the book is that juniper and Ginkgo trees have long been associated with Confucianism. Typically, the path connecting the main gate of a Confucian Temple to the Hall of Great Accomplishments, which contains the main altar, would boast juniper and Ginkgo trees along with statues of famous Confucians. It is not surprising that these species are so popular in bonsai culture, despite Ginkgo being not really ideal for bonsai cultivation. The picture shows a juniper and Ginkgo from my garden.

Reinventing the wheel

I wasn’t happy with the very light colour of fired raku clay I used for making my bonsai pots and I decided to mix it with an iron oxide to make it darker. An oval pot for one of my junipers made of this clay is shown on the first picture. I had a small leftover of this clay and thought what if I smudge it on the surface of another pot to make it look dark while it is made of the usual light clay. Little I knew that it’s a basic pottery technique and the clay I smudged is called slip. However, it is usually diluted to consistency of a glaze and painted on with a brush. The pot that resulted from my first use of slip is shown on the second picture and it will house a small Black Pine.

27th Annual Show of the School of Bonsai

Three days ago I went to the 27th annual show of the School of Bonsai, Sydney. I understand its primary aim is to showcase the work if the school’s students, but their work is quite uninspiring. Last year’s show was similar, but Ray Nesci’s private collection was opened for public viewing and it has a number of really beautiful trees. This year, a small suiseki display put up by George Reisiss was more impressive than the bonsai trees. The group of trees shown on the picture popped up at this show and at the show of Bonsai Society of Australia this year. It is composed well, but some of its tree trunks have ugly scars which diminish its aesthetic value. Bonsai of this standard is pretty much as good as it gets at Sydney exhibitions this year.

Dillwynia sieberi drawing

This is my drawing of a shrub I studied for two years. Its name is Dillwynia sieberi. The drawing shows an inflorescence. The flowers are pollinated by bees. Marked "a" on the drawing is the chamber formed by two ‘keel’ petals housing pistil and stamens. Marked "b" is the location of nectaries and marked "c" is one of the ‘wing’ petals. When a bee lands on the flower in search of nectar it pushes the 'wing' petals which open up the chamber to expose pistil and stamens for pollination.

I am growing a Dillwynia plant in a shallow pot in my garden, but I don't think this species makes good bonsai material.

Bonsai Society of Australia Show: 物の哀れありません

I went to the Annual Spring Show of the Bonsai Society of Australia. There were some decent trees on display (like the Japanese Black Pine on the picture). However, I didn’t see anything exquisite or superb. There was not one tree that evoked “物の哀れ” (mono no aware). My wife encouraged me to buy an Azalea with purple flowers, labeled ‘Redwings’. It was inexpensive and therefore will need a lot of work.

Resurrection of Pink Serissa

At the end of last year, I got a lovely little Pink Serissa (Serissa foetida). I was just beginning to consider how to train it as bonsai (left picture), when my dog Bella ate it to the ground. The stump of the main stem soon rotted away and I lost all hope for the plant's survival, when suddenly a leaf bud sprouted from something that looked like a surface root. Look at this plant now (right picture)!

趣味は盆栽です

私は日本芸術品と日本歴史と日本文化好きです。今年は日本語の勉強を始めます。趣味は盆栽ですけど近縁の芸術品好きです。この芸術品は焼き物と日本庭園と水石と日本建築と書道と墨絵と浮世絵です。

08.08.08

It is 08.08.08 and I decided to make an entry just for the hack of it. It is ironic that today I am working on my pollination paper (addressing reviewer's comments). It is the same paper that has been mentioned in this blog more than three years ago on 15.05.05. Nothing has changed and this is how pathetic I am. On the picture is the mamei pot I made. It is for the smallest kind of bonsai.

My first matcha-chawan

While dealing with unsatisfactory bonsai pots I tried to make a tea bowl or chawan. After six weeks and three firings it came out fine. I am even thinking of flogging it on Ebay. It is a traditional tea bowl style used for serving thick tea or koicha during the Japanese tea ceremony. I have shown it to a couple of Japanese and they liked it. It also sparkled my interest in other clay utensils for the Japanese tea ceremony, especially ceramic tea caddies or chaire. I also started drinking matcha or Japanese powdered green tea. I like it and don't ask me why.

Bonsai shelf extended

After puting up the shelf I realised that I will run out of shelf space this spring. Today, I added a lower shelf and it should keep me out of trouble for a while. I am thinking of going to Japan to see the Kokufuten bonsai exhibition in Tokyo and the bonsai village in Omiya. I hope this plan works. Finding cheap flight tickets could be a start.

Bonsai bench completed

Today I put up a bench for my bonsai plants. Hopefully, this will stop my dog from destroying smaller plants. We shall see!

My best Bonsai pot so far

Last week, after a series of unsuccessful attempts, I got another bonsai pot finished. It is 18 x 13 x 6 cm, made of buff raku trachyte clay with some black iron oxide added for darker colour. It was bisque fired first, then glazed and fired to stoneware. It is slab-built and therefore hand made in true sence. I made it simple and rugged, which would suit a Japanese Black Pine or similar.

Lost half of my potential Bonsai

By now, I lost half of my smaller plants because of my dog Bella. She was so merciless to some of them that I couldn't even find what was left of them. I had tears in my eyes. To finish on the positive note my Chinese Flowering Quince is flowering again and I am going to make bonsai shelves to protect them from Bella.

Chinese name seal

A couple of days ago I made a Chinese name seal for myself. It has four characters rendered in Zhou style. First character means "thick", second means "plum" and together they mean Bird Cherry (Prunus padus). Third character means "river" and the fourth means "seal of". "Bird Cherry river" is the meaning of my surname in Komi language. Komi people lived along that river before the area became a part of Russia in 16th century. There are subspecies of Bird Cherry native to Japan and China and they are used for bonsai.

Bonsai Destroyer

Until now my bonsai trees had no natural enemies that couldn't be dealt with, but last Friday my family has got a new member who happens to be a perfect bonsai destroyer. Her name is Bella and this is her photo. She is an 8-month old cross between Labrador and Golden Retriever. I love her anyway!

My first hand-made bonsai pot

Last weekend, I finally got my first self-made bonsai pot. First picture shows a slab of clay flattened with a rolling pin. I used this slab to make the base of the pot. Second picture shows walls and legs of the pot cut from a similar slab. Third picture shows the pot before bisque firing. Fourth picture shows the pot after it has been bisque fired, painted with glaze and fired again to melt the glaze. I am not satisfied with the quality of this pot and my pottery skills have a long way to go, but at least this pot can house one of my bonsai trees!

Trunk bending devices

I found that buying commercially made trunk benders is expensive. Here are three examples of trunk bending devices that I made and used lately. The device marked "A" bends the trunk at an acute angle with a sharp turning point and allows a branch to grow through it.

Bonsai mention in the Taiheiki

I was reading The Taiheiki (a 14th century chronicle of medieval Japan) and came across a passage talking about bonsai and suiseki in the garden of Tani-no-do Temple: "The towers of forty-nine cloisters stood above rare trees and curious rocks by a pond, most like to the inner close of the Tusita heaven". Tusita is the Japanese name for Maitreya, an Indian prince nominated by Buddha to be his successor, so Tusita heaven loosely means paradise. By the way, in the book this garden has been destroyed by the bad guys.

The beauty of a tree and classic philosophy

In his dialogue titled ‘The Symposium’ Plato claimed that all trees are imperfect copies of an ideal tree, which exists outside the realm of human perception. He observed that some trees are beautiful and some are not and tried to explain why it is so. He wasn’t very successful, though. The Ancients also found that the concept of beauty itself was impossible to define. Socrates often asked his audience to define beauty and always showed through reasoned argument, that that all proposed definitions lead to paradox or absurdity.

Juniperus conferta yamadori

Two months ago, I found this oldish Shore Juniper (Juniperus conferta). Two weeks ago, I pruned about 50% of its foliage, while it was still in the ground. Two days ago, I finally lifted it (see image on the left). Didn't get much of the feeder roots. The image on the right shows this tree after it has been pruned and potted. I put it in full shade and really hope it survives. The Shore Juniper is native to Sakhalin Island (Russia) and closely related to the Common Juniper (Juniperus communis). This species is sometimes referred to as the Japanese Shore Juniper, but Shore Juniper is a more accurate name because Japan renounced its claims for southern Sakhalin in 1951.

P. S. The tree died a few months later. It didn't have enough of fine feeder roots.

Styling a Thuja-like conifer

Had a day off yesterday, which gave me a chance to do some further styling to a coniferous plant similar to Thuja. The image on the left is how it looked before styling, the image in the middle is how it looks now and the image on the right shows what I am trying to achieve.

My daughter's recovery

Today my daughter is sick and I got a day off. While she was having a nap, I got a chance to prune one of my prospective bonsai trees. It is a small Trident Maple. I got it on sale from a hardware store about a month ago (left image). Since then I planted it in a bigger pot, bent its lower trunk and cut its entire upper crown (right image). Now, one of the former side branches is the new apex. I am yet to wire and bend the branches, but it will take a couple of years of pruning and wiring for it to become a bonsai. When my daughter woke up, she felt much better and her temperature came down.

P. S. To see what I did with this tree 3 years later see the following entry: http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2010/08/root-graft.html