Asian section, The State Gallery of New South Wales

Today, I took my daughter to the State Gallery of New South Wales. I always enjoy visiting it, but this time the Asian section had a couple of things related to bonsai. The entrance of the section was marked by a large Chinese viewing stone from lake Taihu. I am used to seeing such stones in Chinese gardens, but seeing it in a sterile setting of a gallery surrounded by lots of negative space gave it a very contemporary air (see the image below).

Another exhibit that drew my attention was a beautiful flower bulb bowl. It was about 30 cm in diameter and even had couple of drainage holes (see images below). This simple, but elegant porcelain ware with a blueish celadon glaze was produced in Jingdezhen during Yongzheng period of Qing dynasty (1723-35).

I would like to finish this post with something not related to bonsai. Some 19th century Japanese tsubas. All inspired by nature (images below).

Last pots of 2015

This is my most favourite time of the year. At 8:30 pm it is still bright enough for pottering about in the garden. I tried this blue glaze on two different types of clay in an electric kiln and the results are quite pleasing. Both pots are square and small size.

Bonsai artist Naoki Maeoka

This post is a little tribute to the craftsmanship and artistry of Naoki Maeoka. He was my “oyakata” while I was playing a deshi-for-a-month during my residency at the Fujikawa Kouka-en in Osaka (see the post about my work there at http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/my-residence-at-fujikawa-kouka-en-osaka.html). Naoki is a resident bonsai artist at Fujikawa Kouka-en Bonsai Nursery in Osaka. He graduated from Osaka University of Arts and spent sixteen years working as a graphic designer. He began to pursue bonsai as a hobby in 2001. Eventually, his passion for bonsai grew so strong that he gave up his corporate career and completed a traditional five-year apprenticeship under the 2nd generation bonsai master Keiichi Fujikawa. This led Naoki to attaining professional bonsai qualifications awarded by the Nippon Bonsai Association. In 2012 Naoki began teaching bonsai at the Fujikawa International School of Bonsai. He has instructed dozens of students from all over the world and I am privileged to be one of them.

  

Here, I put together few before-and-after images of bonsai I witnessed him styling in June 2015. They represent about two thirds of the trees he styled during that month. Let’s start with the pine tree next to Naoki in the image above. This is a classic Japanese design where the tree evokes that famous pine bonsai illustration from Somoku Kinyoshu (see http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015086754721;view=1up;seq=4). The very first tree I observed Naoki to style is shown in the image below. It is a Black Pine variety with flaky bark. This bark gives a tree the aged appearance and makes the trunk look much thicker.

  

Below is the top view of a wired and styled branch of this tree.

Below is a Red Pine. Image ‘A’ shows it before the styling, image ‘B’ shows the tree after the removal of old needles and image ‘C’ shows it after the styling. This tree has been sold before Naoki finished styling it.

Below are before-and-after images of two more pines.

The Black Pine shown in the images below is somewhat odd. The images show the styling done by Naoki in June 2015. To see the previous work done on this tree see episode 37 of ‘Bonsai Art of Japan’ on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0LOZ3643sM). This kind of tree presents an artist with a real challenge, a true test of his abilities so to speak and I believe that Mr. Fujikawa and his apprentices were able to utilise most of this tree’s potential.

Apart from working with the trees, Naoki is a highly skilled bonsai pot maker. He carved the pot shown below from a single slab of clay. This method of making bonsai pots allows a lot of creative freedom, but it is very time consuming, therefore pots like this are very unique and valuable.

For Naoki’s latest work see his website at http://bonsai-vibe.tumblr.com/. For more of his work plus the latest events see his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/people/Naoki-Maeoka/100007071702520. You can also watch an interview with Naoki on Bjorn Bjorholm’s ‘Bonsai Art of Japan’ on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=18&v=jR__9Frwpcg.

Spring kusamono

I don’t have impressive bonsai trees in my collection, but this spring a couple of my kusamono looked nice. The left image shows a native orchid Dendrobium kingianum in flower. The image on the right shows a South African succulent Adromischus cooperi with flower spikes. It is satisfying to see plants thriving in containers made by oneself.

End of year pots

This post is to showcase a couple of bonsai pots that slipped under my blogging radar. They are not awesome, but they are decent and worth showing here. Pot ‘A’ was a custom job where the shape, colour and dimensions were specified by a friend who needed it for an oddly shaped gardenia. The pot was hand-built and electric kiln fired (15 x 11 cm). Pot ‘B’ is slab-built and electric kiln fired. Pot ‘C’ is hand-built and wood-fired with no glaze. All are fired to stoneware temperature.