Category: MY WORK

A HEART WARMING SURPRICE!

Hi, everybody,

last week my health insurance company decided for the second time in a row,  they will not pay for my already planed back operation in Belgium! Leaving me with not much options for any recovery from this debilitating and painful injury that I have for so many years now!  You can imagine that after receiving this bad news, my spirits hit an all-time low! Then the next day the mailman dropped a large envelope through our mailbox, that to my surprise contained the April/May issue of the “Bonsai & Stone Appreciation Magazine” from the Bonsai Clubs International. I had received one copy earlier this year as a price for the pictures of my Bonsai I submitted into the  ” 8Th  International CETRE Online Award”. I thought this earlier copy was the only one I would receive, so I was not counting on this new edition ad all! That was a nice enough surprise as it is, but when I took the magazine out of its envelope I really had to sit down in wonderful disbelieve! Because there on the cover was a double picture of my Literati Hawthorn in full bloom and in Autumn colours!

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I know that this is not the main reason that I am into Bonsai Art, but I would be a liar if I would not admit, that I am not happy and honoured that my work and trees are appreciated in this special way! It gave my otherwise clouded week an unexpected silver lining and all the more reason to carry on with what I am doing, no matter how hard that sometimes is at this moment! Bonsai is my sanity and live joy at this moment and this magazine cover will go on the wall to remind me of just that whenever I need it!

Thank you, my little trees!

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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A PICTURE OF MY HORNBEAM “CARPINUS BETULUS”.

Hi, everybody,

some 15 years ago I salvaged this “Hornbeam” from the wood chipper, wen it was thorn out, by big machines, from a 60 years old and 2 miles long hedges! I had much more, but they were killed or sold behind my back, by a former so-called Bonsai friend!

I love the colours of this new foliage!

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Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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THE NETHERLANDS HAS LOST ITS INNOCENTS TODAY! :( AND A PICTURE OF “WOLFIE” MY PINUS NIGRA.

Hi, everybody,

I would like to share this picture, I made this sunny afternoon, feeling really sad and angry and confused! Every year on the 30Th of April, We, the “DUTCH”as a nation, celebrate the Birthday of our Queen Beatrix. Trough out the country hundreds of thousand people will go in to the streets, dressed in Orange! Where whole family’s or children are selling their small stuff on blankets in front of their houses (free market), where there are hundreds of live bands and little children are playing their music on every corner you pass! You can buy all kinds of wonderful food from all the ethnic cultures you can think of! There are carnivals, parades and traveling attraction parks in every big city! To make a long story short this is supposed to be one of the best days of the year for use “DUTCH”…but something terrible happened! After the whole of our royal family had spent a wonderful sunny morning among the people of the city of Apeldoorn, walking, talking and shaking hands with everybody, just having unworried “DUTCH” fun, like every year! They all left in a open touring car, in slow pas, trough large crowds of celebrating people, standing on both side of the road. Towards palace  ” het Loo”, where they would have a defile, for the thousands of waiting people, on the steps in front of the entrance. Groups from all over the country were waiting there to walk pass the royal family and show stuff or give stuff or sing stuff or play stuff. This had not been don this way since our old Queen Juliana steps down from the throne, some 30 years ago. Then, just on the last corner before they arrived there, a madman drove his car full speed trough the small barricades and trough the large growth standing behind it! Like in a bad movie, all the people standing there and the millions of people, that were watching these festivity’s on television, witnessed from many angles, how after a loud BANG, people were thrown  high into the air, tumbling over like bowling pines! This ……. moron almost made it to the bus with the Royal family, who watched the hole horror scene from close up, including the many small princes and princesses! But luckily? the impact of all the people he had hid on the way, had damaged the car so badly, that he drove him self into a large stone monument (the needle)! Only a few meters away from the royal family and a growth of thousand surrounding them! He killed, up to now, 4 innocent people! 5 are badly wounded and 9 only have broken bits! Among those people were two orange dressed little children, that only a few seconds earlier had the time of there live!

Holland or The Netherlands, has lost its innocents today! The country, I love so much, will never be the same again!

This is a strange thing to comprehend when you are taking photos of your Bonsai in the warm sun! What is wrong with this world?

"WOOLFIE".
“WOLFIE”.

 I just found out that a 5Th innocent bystander has passed away on this otherwise sunny day, sigh!

Stay safe,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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MY ACER PALMATUM “DESHOJO” IS ANNOUNSING THE UPCOMING SUMMER!

Hi, everybody,

I would like to show you my Acer palmatum “Deshojo”. This Bonsai is beside one other tree the longest in my collection. When I bought it all those years ago in 1990, it was one of those typical bad quality Japanese import trees, that were and still are, imported by the thousands. No real Nebari (roots) or branch structure, but I fell in love with the lovely light foliage of this tree, so I had to buy it. After all these years of cultivation, it looks a lot more like a tree and I am still in love with the amazing colourful foliage, that gently moves with the slightest breeze. This little Bonsai always makes me smile when I see it flashing its colours in the wind, providing imaginary coolness on a warm Summer’s day!

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                                                 Acer Palmatum “Deshojo”.  

                                     Height: 23,5 Inch/60 cm.   Pot: China.

Hope you like it?

Regards,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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A NEW POT FOR MY OLD “HINOKI CYPRES”.

Hi, everybody,

I would like to show you a picture of my Chamaecyparis obtusa “Nana Gracilis” in its new pot. I worked for many years to get this tree to were it is today and I am really happy with the way it looks. Hinoki’s don’t grow enough to become a big tree, so it really is an imaginary tree. I styled it in a way it would resemble the growth of a tall fir tree that has been battered by mother nature for many years. I think the loose way the foliage grows on this plants is a real advantage in this style, it looks unforced and natural. The underside of this foliage has an almost blue-ish colour to it, while the top side is brightly green with almost yellow tips throughout the summer. This gives a wonderful effect to the layers, like the colours and shades on a distant tree! This pot is so much better than the previous one, it gives the tree more height and stature. I hope you like the image and feel of this Bonsai?

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                     Hinoki Cypres.  Chamaecyparis obtusa “Nana Gracilis”

                                          Height: 35 inch/89 cm.   Pot: China.

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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JUST A OTHER PRETTY PICTURE!

Hi, everybody,

I shoot this picture this afternoon. This delicate little plant (don’t know the name?) has been growing in harmony with this moss for 5 years now. It makes such a pretty picture, that I gladly like to share it with you!

Regards,

Hans van Meer.

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Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

PRUNNING MY SMALL “HAWTHORN”.

Hi, everybody,

today I removed some wire from this small “Hawthorn” (below) before it would dig into these delicate new branches. I shortened and removed branches were necessary. If you wait too long, the branches will have grown, too long and thick, to use in a small tree design like this. I am really happy with the fast progress this little tree made in just 3 years after I collected it in Wales. Hope you like it so far!?

Regards,

Hans van Meer.

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Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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COLLORS OF THE APROCHING SUMMER.

 Hi, everybody,

here is a picture of the beautiful colours of the fast approaching Summer!

Acer buergerianum in a beautiful matching pot by " Isabela".
Acer buergerianum. Height: 18 inch/46 cm. In a beautiful matching pot made by my pottery friends from ” Isabelia”.

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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PICTURE OF A BRIGHTLY GREAN “LARCH” BONSAI.

Hi, everybody,

Today I shot some pictures of one of my “Larch” trees. This is one of my first yamadori trees I ever designed and I am really fond of it. About 3 seasons ago, I almost lost this fragile tree. Some of its major branches were lost during a very hot Summer in a small pot! I kept those dead branches on, because, for now, they are a part of this Bonsai history! After that season, I planted the weakened Bonsai into these beautiful, but too big, Brian Allbright pot, so it could recover from its ordeal. With a lot of love and care, I managed to nurture it into the bright green health, it shows in this next picture. Even though it is only a small tree, this Bonsai shows great character and age after all these years of training it in a pot. I love the sense of almost disbalance in this tree and the feeling of depth the back branches evoke. I hope to plant it in a better pot next year. I’m so happy that this little Bonsai is healthy again! I hope you enjoy it’s colour as much as I do?! Pot by Brian Albright (UK).

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

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Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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