Hi, everybody,
I would like to share this link with you all because it is seriously funny! It is made by Björvala Bonsai Studio and is named “The Bonsai Art of Japan – The Parody Episode”. It features among others parodies of the magnificent Lindsay Farr’s “World of Bonsai” series, Graham Potter’s Kaizen Bonsai series and Paul from Orlando Bonsai TV. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did?! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.
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Hi, everybody,
here are some pictures from last Sunday of my Poortugaal workshop group. With more than a dozen student it was hard work to spend enough time with everybody and their trees but I managed it…although I forgot to eat anything during that whole day! Everybody was happy after a long day of Bonsai fun and the next edition is already almost fully booked! 🙂
Thanks to Marijke for taking so good care of us all and for these pictures!
Hallo allemaal,
hier zijn wat foto’s van de afgelopen Zondag Poortugaal workshop groep. Met meer dan een dozijn studenten was het hard werken om iedereen en zijn bomen genoeg tijd en aandacht te geven, maar het is me toch gelukt….al was ik wel de hele dag vergeten om iets te eten! 😉 Iedereen was blij en te vreden na een lange dag Bonsai plezier en de volgende editie zit al bijna weer helemaal vol! 🙂
Bedankt Marijke voor al je hulp en voor deze fotos!
I got home very hungry and tired but in a good way! I love to spread the love for Bonsai and my knowledge, it is immensely fulfilling and uplifting! I can’t wait for the next edition!
Early next Wednesday morning I am off to the North of Holland to my new Bonsai friend Diederick to help him to style his beautiful big Yamadori Scotts Pine that he recently bought from me. This exciting massive job will be photographed and completely filmed to be posted later on to YouTube. I am looking forward to this and happy to be able to help with the ( in my opinion) promising future of this Pine that I collected some 4 years ago! And I know that enthusiastic Diederick will take good care of him…and that is a good thing to know!!! 🙂
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.
Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com
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Hi, everybody.
I just posted my latest video “The ten-years story of an Itoigawa Tanuki Bonsai” on YouTube!!! It is a video in pictures and words and shows the story of a found beautiful piece of Yew deadwood and a 3 years old small Itoigawa cutting that fused together over a period of ten years and became a promising pre-Bonsai! Go have a look if you are interested and let me know what you think?!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.
Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com
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Hi everybody,
today after weeks of cold weather and biblical rain, we finally had a sunny day! So I graphed my chance to finally do some restyling. The small Pinus sylvestris of this post was during my 2005 vacation in Austria saved from a bulldozer! They were demolishing a large pine forest on the long road to the village where we stayed for the second year running to build a petrol station and trailer parking lots 😦 Underneed this tall and very dense pine forest in the lush vegetation grew tiny but old Pines. They stayed this small because of the lack of sunlight and were the perfect material for Bonsai! We knew this because we made long walks true this part of the forest the year before! So I asked the driver of the bulldozer in my best German if I could collect some of these poor little trees before the lumberjacks would chop down the tall Pines and the bulldozer flattened the small ones! He understood my prayer and said that it was alright as long as we stayed well away from where they were working! So we parked the car some hundred meters in front of that war zone and grabbed our collecting stuff from underneath the holiday luggage en started to surge for worthwhile trees that could be dug up with a reasonable chance to survive. We managed to save 6 or 7 before the machines came too close to being safe! The problem was then that we were there for a week plus an extra day for the travel back home and all this time these poor trees had to survive in plastic bags filled with wet sphagnum moss….this meant that after all only 4 survived that ordeal! This one was one of the lucky ones because I could simply scoop it off from a large boulder, so it had very flat and compact roots and survived without any problems! And now 12 years later it is the star of this little story.
Below: before removing the third-year-old needles. 36cm/14.4Inch. The new top section grew straight to the right and was bent back years ago with the help of in-water-sooked raffia and thick copper wire! Now after several growing seasons, the top section has filled out enough to form a nice top out off!
Below: After the old needles were removed. Now it is time to wire all the branches.
Below: The left branch is wired and more or less bent in position with all needle bundles facing upwards.
Below: the right cascading branch placed more or less in position.
Below: Left part of the top is more or less in position. The new top is raised upward considerably with two 3mm wires!
Below: slowly getting there…I love to solve these natural puzzles with a nice design!
Below: Finished for now! I am happy with this result for now. In a few years’ time when the cascading branch has filled out some more, it will most likely be shortened and made less heavy…but that will be up to its new owner because it is up for sale and probably will go to a good home off one of my students?!
Below: close-up of the nice root base, lovely old bark and natural (still brown-coloured) Shari.
Below: close-up of the nice old and cracked bark.
I hope you enjoyed this little story about the life of a saved little big Bonsai?!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.
Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com
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GREAT NEWS!!! On Saturday 26 May 2018 Danny & Ingrid Use from the Bonsai centre “GINKGO” in Laarne Belgium will stage the second edition of the amazing “KEI BONSAI KAI” TEN and TEN “DANNY USE & FRIENDS” in Laarne Belgium!!! First of all, there is Danny’s huge world-class private collection to see and like in the first very amazing edition in 2016 Danny and his loyal students from “KEI BONSAI KAI” will show literally hundreds of their best Bonsai in amazing arrangements throughout the whole “Ginkgo” Bonsai centre! And like if that would be not enough?! Just like before Danny also invited many of his old Bonsai friends from the famous and legendary “GINKGO BONSAI AWARDS” series to show their best work!!! And I am once again very honoured and proud to say that I am one of them! 🙂 This great news was told to me last week when after a too long time I finally was able to visit my old and dear friends Danny and Ingrid again in their wonderful Bonsai centre!
As always we were warmly welcomed as lost friends and during a cordial conversation and coffee, Danny told me about his plans for the new Show and invited me to be a part of it again. Well, I wholeheartedly say YES!!! I WOULD LOVE TO!!! Even if this upcoming edition is half the success and the fun of the first one…well then I would still love to be a part of it all!!! If you love Bonsai? Well, then you simply can’t afford to miss out on this opportunity to visit this amazing “GINKGO” Bonsai centre where everything you ever need or want in Bonsai is for sale + the chance to see hundreds of some of the best Bonsai in Europe!!! Oh, and did I mention that there is a huge indoor rebuilt wooden American roadhouse bar for drinks and snacks!!! 😉 I hope to see and meet you all there!
Here you can see two video’s that I shot during the first edition in 2016:
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.
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Hi, everybody,
here are some fun pictures of my recent workshop that I did in Poortugaal (Holland) this year. Every workshop started with a little lecture from me about Bonsai subjects. Ranging from: fertilising, wiring, styling, soil and Pine care. Everything, text, pictures and my drawings are printed out by Marijke for the students to take home! The first 6 workshops I did this year, were just like last year, staged by and for Bonsai Club “Rijnmond”. But after those were finished, the students were so enthusiastic about them that they asked me if I could stage one more, focusing on the subject of Pine care?! Covering Pine Candle selection, pinching, needle removing and styling? Well, last Sunday it took place, after the great help of my trusty organiser and helper Marijke, who was able to rent the workshop space again for us to work in! The pictures that Marijke made that fun Sunday give a good impression of the 8 students and the teacher having a wonderful time again! So much so, that jet another one is planned by us for July, and that was booked full to the 8 max in a flash!!! 🙂 And that made them and me very happy again! I love to work with students on their babies! It is very fulfilling work to pass on what I know! I hope you enjoy this little impression of the great hobby that Bonsai is for us?!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.
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Hallo allemaal,
hier zijn wat leuke foto’s van de laatste in de rij van 6 workshops die ik afgelopen Zondag gaf in Poortugaal (NL). Net zo als tijdens de 6 die ik daar verleden jaar al deed, wordt elke workshop gestart met een korte lezing over van alles wat met Bonsai te maken heeft. Onderwerpen zoals bijvoorbeeld: bemesting, bedraden, vormgeving en Denen verzorging worden dan behandeld door mij. Alles: tekst, foto’s en tekeningen van mij worden altijd afgedrukt door Marijke, zo dat de studenten het thuis nog eens kunnen na lezen! De eerste 6 workshops van dit jaar, waren zoals de 6 van afgelopen jaar georginaseerd door Bonsai vereniging “Rijnmond” . Maar na dat de laaste afgelopen was waren de studenten zo enthousiast dat ze mij vroegen of het mogenlijk was er nog een te organiseren, met als ondewerp het verzorgen van de verschillende dennen als Bonsai?! Met de focus op het nijpen en verwijderen van de kaarsen, naald plukken en form geving! Wel afgelopen Zondag is hij succes vol gehouden, na dat mij trouwe helper en regelaar Marijke het voor elkaar had gekregen om de ruimte nogmaals te huren! De foto’s die Marijke gemaakt heeft van deze middag zijn een mooi voorbeeld van het plezier dat de leraar en zijn studenten hadden deze fijne Bonsai dag! Zo fijn, dat ik er nog een heb georganiseerd voor Juli, die gelijk weer vol zat met de maximaal 8 studenten voor zo’n dag! En dat maakte de leraar en de studenten heel blij!Ook hierbij was Marijke onmisbaar als bemiddelaar! Ik geniet enorm van het werken aan Bonsai met mijn studenten en het geeft me veel voldoening! Ik hoop dat jullie deze kleine impressie van het plezier dat de Bonsai hobby ons schenkt leuk vinden?!
Groetjes,
Hans van Meer.
Info and questions about workshops, demo’s and Bonsai material:
Info en vragen over workshops, demo’s en Bonsai materiaal:
karamottobonsai@hotmail.com
Hi, everybody,
again….it’s been a while since I could get myself to sit down and write on my blog! I feel my blog should tell stories of joy…because most of the time, Bonsai brings nothing but joy! But I have been poor for a long time now, with a lot of ups and downs, so the short periods of being able to work were mostly used to maintain my Bonsai as good as possible at that time! Mind you though, my head and heart were always filled with Bonsai….but actually doing it was the hard part! Strange how those things can go in life?! It is like being Hugh Hefner… at his age… in the PlayBoy mansion… without any blue pills! I love it…but I don’t work well anymore! 😉 But I did do things (see picture above) and when I did, it was like discovering Bonsai all over again!! Simply because I still love it and creating and seeing those small trees grow into my vision is still priceless!!! I miss the travelling and my Bonsai friends though..! And I am planning and working hard towards catching up on all those things next year!!!
One of the trees that is coming along nicely is the one below! It is a Winter image picture I made last week of my (Still a bit too young looking) Ilex verticillata (winterberry.) This is an Urban Yamadori from Holland and some 60 years old by now. It is saved from the blender when a 55-year-old train station was demolished and all old trees and shrubs were destroyed! It’s a Kabudachi (multiple 5 trunks) and the height is 57cm. It is here photoshopped into its future (next year?) beautiful Isabella pot, that I so luckily bought last month at my long-awaited first visit to my dear friends Danny and Ingrid from Bonsai centre “GINKGO” (B) in 10 years! And it is in training since 2009. It needs a few more years of fine ramifications to fill it more out and then it will be ready to show! The slab is found years ago at a car boot sale and needs to be made thinner and more presentable by me in the future! I hope you like this little forest as much as I do?!
I am still working on improving this new blog design, so bear with me, please!! I will be posting more soon! And I am working as best as I can on my new website as well…so lots of stuff happening ….and that is just fine!!!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.
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Hi, everybody,
while planning my 2 Bonsai displays for the “KEI BONSAI KAI” exhibition next weekend in Belgium, I was surging through my old pictures of earlier displays to look at the accents, scrolls, Tanzaku’s and Shikishi’s that I have used in the past to accompany my Bonsai in shows where that was allowed. Doing this I rediscovered an early “van Meer” that I would like to re-share with you all….because it made me smile and I hope it will make you smile too?! 🙂
Only 6 more nights to sleep before I have to carry my two (one heavy) Bonsai, tables and other accessories into my car and drive to the “Kei Bonsai Kai” exhibition in Laarne (Belgium)! More than 125 top-class Bonsai will be on display there and I am really proud to be a small part of all that!!! If you want to see lots of pictures of how Danny and an amazing group of volunteers are building and preparing everything for this amazing show go HERE!!!!
When I get back from the show I will post lots of pictures of it all and later on a short film about all the Bonsai and the reunion of old Bonsai friends!!! I hope to see you all there on Saturday the 28th of May from 10h to 18h !!! And remember FREE ENTRANCE !!!!! 🙂
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.
Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com
Hi, everybody,
I would like to share some pictures that I made while the low hanging and fast descending Autumn sun was just shinning into my small garden. Those warm rays made a spider light up like an auto-bot alien! And some mushrooms growing in the dead wood on my Prunus mahaleb looked like a magical fairytale!
I hope my little old Hawthorn that is now showing in my dear friend Tony Tickles Bonsai Europa 2015 event that is staged for the first time in the UK is doing fine and that people enjoy how it looks now in it new Dan Barton pot ?! I hope it will be the success it deserves to be and I can’t wait to see some pictures of the show and I wish I could be there in person!!! I would like to thank my Belgium friend Yannick Kiggen for bringing it in for me and wish him well for his demo at this important new event! And a safe trip back! 🙂
I hope you enjoy the pictures?!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.
Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com
Hi, everybody,
it’s been a while…I know! But my ongoing illness has made it very hard to do much Bonsai or anything for that matter! And what I did do is not that noteworthy, mostly keeping everything healthy and maintenance! That and the technical problems I have to post on my blog kept me from posting! I do have something funny from the past though, way back in April 2000, Carlos van der Vaart en I where filmed for television (Man bijt hond) in the old Bonsai center Ginkgo in Belgium. This was meant as a Japanese item for the trip our then Prins Willem would make later to Japan. It is in Dutch but you might enjoy the fun we all had anyway!!! Those were the days!!!
It is in Dutch but has English subtitles!!!
Hallo allemaal, hier is een link die ik laats vond naar een aflevering van het televisie programma “man bijt hond” uit April 2000, toen Carlos van der Vaart en ik zelf daar in optraden, vanwege het bezoek van onze toenmalige prins Willem aan Japan. Het is opgenomen in het oude “Ginkgo Bonsai centrum” in Belgie van Danny en Ingrid Use, waar wij toen af en toe mochten helpen om mijn oude vriend Danny’s collectie te verzorgen. Tijdens de opname hadden we veel lol, dat is goed te zien als Carlos geintervieuwt wordt en in de lach schiet omdat Danny achter de camera zijn broek laat zakken!!! Het filmpje heet: Moshi Moshi en dat moesten we te pas en te on pas zeggen omdat het zo leuk klonk!
Wat een mooie en leuke tijden waren dat toch…ik mis dat erg!
Veel plezier met dit Bonsai filmpje met humor!!!
PS: Het filmpje is nu inmiddels zo vaak bekeken, dat er reclame voor is gezet!!! Sorry daar voor!!!
Hans van Meer.
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The Bonsai Blog of Hans van Meer 