Bonsai workshop – Page 2 – The Bonsai Blog of Hans van Meer

My (Mijn) Workshops.

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

MY WORKSHOP AT “ISS HOGAI” IN SUNNY EMMEN (HOLLAND)!

Hi, everybody,

I met Henk Steneker, the organizer of this workshop, during the Masterclass I did last year. There he asked if I would like to give a workshop in the following year at his relative new Bonsai shop “Iss Hogai” that is based in his new house in Emmen (Holland). Well, of course, I said yes and last weekend it was time for me to make the 2 and a half hour long trip to the North East of Holland. I made it in one go and arrived right in time for a warm welcome by Henk and a cup of coffee with cake! He showed me around his large garden that is being converted to a Bonsai garden with benches for his and his club members Bonsai and a large area to work. There is a nice indoor section in his garden to work when it is cold and raining or as in this case, rather hot! His club consists of a small but very enthusiastic group of Bonsai junkies, that had a great time during this sunny day! It is good to know, that there are so many people in Holland that are willing to make that extra effort to progress in their hobby! Because I know that improvement through working on Bonsai, will make this magnificent hobby, even more, enjoyable for them!

Below: First we started with discussing the trees that the students had brought along.

Below: One by one the unworked material, pre Bonsai or Bonsai were discussed by me.

Below: Rene pulling my leg when he brought with a straight face a half-dead Ulmus to see how I would react and talked my way out of it without hurting any one’s feelings! 🙂

Below: Rene’s very promising Yamadori, Mugo Pine.

Below picture: discussing the trees possibilities.

Below picture: WHAT ?!

Above: Harry Gerdes concentrated at work on his Juniper.

Monique van Ommen, working indoor were it was much cooler!

Rene Bakker was very eager to start working on his Pine. I cant blame him! 🙂

Above: Henk Steneker, founder of this club and organizer, hard at work on his “Taxus”.

Above: Anneke van Lintum, enjoying Bonsai! A picture that speaks for itself!

Above: Rene, bless his heart, did not hesitate to cut off and bend some major branches, after we discussed where we could go with his magnificent old “Mugo”!

Above: Wet raffia was applied to prevent branches to break when they were severely bent.

Above picture: Bram de Visser working on his tree.

Above picture: Bram’s “Chamaecyparis” obtusa before his work started.

Above: The cut off branch is Jinned.

Above: The well-protected branch is slowly brought into its desired position.

Above: Even after all of the students were gone we went on wiring and styling…we both wanted to see this great tree finished! 😉

Above: Almost everything wired and brought into its desired position.!

After a long day of bonsai work, it was nice to finish off with a promising tree like this one! And than it was time for a nice cold beer with my new Bonsai friends from up North!

: Above: Bending the last branches of the top into place! After a long day of bonsai work, it was nice to finish off with a promising tree like this one! And then it was time for a nice cold beer with my new Bonsai friends from up North! And then it was off for the long trip home…tired but very happy and satisfied!

Hope you enjoy the images as much as I enjoyed this day!

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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THE 2008 “BURRS” RESIDENTIAL BONSAI WORSHOP WEEKEND REVISITED!!!

THE 2008 “BURRS” RESIDENTIAL BONSAI WORKSHOP WEEKEND !!!

Hi everybody,

this weekend I had the immense pleasure to be a part again of the, 2008 “BURRS” residential bonsai workshop weekend, that Tony Tickle organize every year. This was already my 3 time there and I am already committed to doing the next one in 2009. And it is almost fully booked, so if you are interested to join us next year, you can find more Information here: http://www.bonsaischool.co.uk/

I must admit that lately, I have lost my belief in a part of the bonsai community. I was so very disheartened by the behaviour and attitude of some, that I decided to stay out of any debate in the future, that could not be won, even if I was right! So I have stopped posting on some forums to avoid temptation and aggravation. My precious time is better spent on my own Bonsai and Bonsai friends. It just wasn’t worth any more of my good intended time!

But after this weekend in “BURRS”, being an intimate part of this large group of egoless and pretentious Bonsai lovers, that I call my friends, I know again, where I can find the true heart and soil of Bonsai.

They all come every year to this magical place in the U.K, from different countries in Europe, to teach, learn, eat and drink and have immense fun while creating beautiful stuff!!!

I thank all these dear Bonsai friends for their trust in us. This weekend was like a warm bath for me and you all revived my spirit and believes! Thanks Tony for organizing this event so well every year! And thanks to Ivo, Enrico and my dear friend Terry for their love of Bonsai!

I will see you all next year in magical “BURRS”!!!

“Turkey Cats” Rules !!!

Have fun,

Hans van Meer.

The picture above: I arrived at the “John Lennon” airport in Liverpool early Friday morning, where my dear friend Tony Tickle was waiting for me. We then drove up North, had a typical English breakfast in a fully for Halloween converted diner, while we waited for my other friends Lee and Simon to arrive. From there we drove up to a wonderful place to collect some Yamadori from a rather steep and hard to climb mountain. This picture tells how lucky I felled to be able to do that because only a week ago my back problems became so bad that I could hardly sit up, let along climb up a mountainside. It took some heavy medication, but I made it up there! The Bonsai gods were with me again on this one!

Below: The view was breathtakingly beautiful and worth the struggle!

Below: I took this other lovely view after I had to climb down most of the way to find my camera that had fallen out of my broken backpack. I was lucky again to find it back amongst all the Black and Hawthorns, but having to struggle all the way up again was no walk in the park for me!

Below: picture: Tony and Simon found their first Hawthorn.

Below: Early next Saturday morning at Terry’s place, while he allowed me to get a bit more sleep, he prepared everything to pot my collected trees in plastic containers. Then he woke me up, and with a warm cup of real thee, we started to do this exciting work! This promising Hawthorn was collected by Simon and Tony for me.

Below: After a fitting container was found, the tree was firmly secured from 4 sides to prevent any movement. Then it was filed up with a mixture of Akadama and Biosorb.

Below: This Hawthorn is planted in a cascading style, this meant some roots up the trunk were exposed to the air. That’s why Terry placed some Sphagnum moss around it, so they would stay alive to help the recovery of the tree next growing season. Later on, when the tree shows enough signs of recovering, they could be removed!

Below: Here are my 6 Yamadori potted up. So it was time for the lovely breakfast that Terry prepared as well for us! You got to love this guy!!!

Below: Here we just arrived at the “BURRS” venue. Isn’t this a fitting way to move a great talent and his wonderful material! 🙂

Below: Hawthorn after first serious cutting.

Below: Simon wiring his Pine. This odd-looking Yamadori turned out to be rather stunning in the end!

Below: Mister Tickle googling over the bulging root base of Simons Pine. Note the screw that is placed in the deadwood section to help pull down the whole top section to enhance the movement.

The surprising end result, a promising stylish Literati Bonsai!

Simon and his little helper are proud of what they accomplished! 🙂

Below: Pine forest on a natural slab.

Below: Ivo working on the deadwood of Jerry’s Mugo Yamadori.

Below: My quick drawing, of a possible future, for Jerry’s Mugo(the one above). He was very excited about it, I hope he brings the tree with him next year?!

Below: Cutting away this to thick and straight cascading branch on this Juniper, instantly created a very exciting fat Shohin!

Below: Eric and Ivo, having a get to getter, over Eric’s Larch.

Below: Like in earlier editions, Potter and Bonsai artist John Pitt had brought along an import tree for Enrico and a Yamadori tree for me to help to style. This unique larch turned out very nice and looks very natural.

Below: A stunning Sylvestris Pine.

Below: A typical Yamadori Larch.

Below: My quick design drawing as a possibility and a guide for the student.

Below: With the help of wet raffia and copper wire the tree is already brought an end in the right direction.

Below: Concentrated at work…I love to see that!

Below: And yet another finished promising Bonsai!

Below: SWEAT!!

Below: Then on Saturday evening the very tasty traditional Diner as always prepared by Tony’s lovely wife Carolyn.

Below: Andrew “stone monkey” concentrated as always.

Below: Me clowning around like most of the time before the evening demo of Terry Foster and little old me!

Below: The students looking and listening on during our demo’s.

Below: Jerry looking at what we are doing and explaining.

Below: Terry did a lot of the wiring while I did sitting down most of the deadwood! And there was a lot of it on this unique old Yew from Terry’s own collection.

Below: Every big decision was discussed by me or terry and explained with the students before they were actually done!

Below: I have placed the tree in front of a white wall and covered the back branch to show and discuss how it would look with or without it?!

Below: Asking the audience what they think about removing that left side branch?! Enrico and Jihn are debating it together.

Below: You can see just how tired I am after this long day! Here we are discussing the end result of a not so usual styling of a unique Yew.

Below: The end result for now. A not twelve in a dozen Pre Bonsai with a lot of character and flair!

Below: The guy’s being funny! 🙂

Below: The Dutch posy! Finally everybody, in the pub 25 meters across the road for a beer or two…tree…four…who is counting anyway?!

We had a great evening/night and Terry and I went on at his place until deep in the night, sampling fine Scottie’s Whiskey and talking like the good friends that we are for such a long time now! The Sunday session was over before we knew it and then it all ends so fast and I had to walk past my great hero John Lennon again entering the Liverpool airport! Yet another magnificent “BURRS” weekend is over and what a great experience it was again! Thanks, Tony, Carolyn, Terry, Charlotte and thanks, Enrico, Ivo and all student for making this such a amazing experiance again!

“AND ABOVE US ONLY SKY”

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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“And above us only sky”

*more to come!

Hans van Meer.

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MY DEMO AND WORKSHOP AT DANSK BONSAI SELSKAB 2008

Hi, everybody,

on 7 and 8 June, the annual meeting of the Danish Bonsai Association was held in Aalborg, in Northern Jutland (Denmark). I was invited to do a demonstration on the Saturday and a workshop on Sunday. After just a short flight, I arrived early in the afternoon on the Friday before the event, in Copenhagen airport. I was picked up by my Bonsai friend Klaus Buddig and together we started the 5 hour trip to the North of Denmark. Which included a 45-minute catamaran ferry crossing to Jutland. This boat trip was anticipated by me with some horror because I get seasick even writing about it! But I have to admit it was a lot of fun to race across the water on this bed out of hell! And I have to be honest: there is not much that 2 cold beer cant fix!

Above picture: me on the back of this large speedboat (the things I have to go through for this hobby).

Above picture: Klaus Buddig relaxing on the back of the boat.

Above picture: Those mighty twin turbines, created a water spray over 30 meters long, leaving a foam trail that can be seen from an aeroplane!

After a long but pleasant drive, during which, many bonsai talks was spoken, we arrived in Aalborg, one of the main cities in Northern Jutland. The TOMTOM brought us safely to the “Huset” (which means “The House” ) where this event would take place. My dear friend Morten Albek showed use were to park behind the large old building and after we sad our Halloo’s, he let us through a big old gate into a big courtyard like square, that was completely surrounded by this beautiful ocker coloured square shaped building. We arrived right around dinner time and the smell of the barbecue that was going on made my mouth water, but first a beer! There was a large stage were musicians were setting up their instruments for the show that would start in a few hours and in front of that stage, scattered around the square, local people were having a nice dinner, sitting under old Linden trees, that were planted in a circle (like a doughnut). These stunning trees provided some picturesque shades in the setting sunlight and having your dinner under need them observing the atmosphere of the place while listening to some light Jazz and Blues was a real treat for me! It proved to be a great start to a great weekend.

The “Huset” picturesque inner courtyard seen from above. I shoot this picture from a second-floor window where the Shohin exhibition was staged.

Above: picture: The local folks enjoying a lovely dinner, while waiting for the band to start playing.

Above picture: How nice it that on a warm summers night?!

Above: Both pictures above where shoot by me from the Aalborg camping were we stayed, not a bad place either!

After the dinner and some light refreshments, we only had to drive a couple of minutes to reach the “Aalborg Camping” where we all would stay during this weekend. After we enjoyed some more refreshments while sitting outside in the still setting sun, we all went to bed very tired. Next day, it was early out of bed to enjoy a lovely breakfast and then it was off to the “Huset” to start the show!

Above picture: Just before the doors for the public were opened, Ljunberg a very lovely and talented new potter preparing here first ever display area.

Above picture: An equally lovely friend dressed in a traditional local dress who helped here during the weekend.

Above picture: This is the tent where the new talent competition was held. It was next to the tent where I was giving mine demonstrating, so every now and then I could catch a glimpse of all those eager, enthusiastic and nervous bonsai lovers at work. This made me smile and it worked very inspiringly for me.

The new talent contest winner was a very new talent, Julie Isager from Keyaki Bonsai Club in Copenhagen. Julie is 26 years old and started to practice bonsai only six months ago. She is a student of my friend Klaus Buddig. The second place was taken by Finn Christensen from the bonsai club Kita in Aalborg. (No third places was chosen, only first and second).

* Above picture: Here I am posing with Klaus Buddig in front of his Yamadori Pinus Sylvestris he so kindly entrusted to me to demonstrate on. In the middle, you can see the design I made for this future Bonsai.

Above picture: The design I made for this old pine.

Above picture: Explaining my plans for this tree to the audience.

*Picture above: I like demonstrations, like this one, where the audience can walk right up to me and ask me questions and see hands on what I am doing. You can see here than the cascading branch is all ready brought down the trunk. The future top section is here still reaching for the sky.

*Above picture: Concentrated and hot at work.

*Above picture: It is always nice to have an extra pair of hands! Erling Klysner did a great job helping me wiring the top and bending it into place. So we could all go to dinner in time!

*Above picture: Working on the future top.

*Right picture: The finished pre-bonsai for now. The cascading branch needs a sharper bend to the right, just where it appears from behind the main trunk! But because this is it first styling and the branch had come such a long way from where it was originally before all the works started, that this will be don in the future, when the tree is fully recovered from all this stress! The tree’s health should always come first, even in demonstrations!

* Above picture: And then there was Coffey!

On Saturday I had the hard task of judging the bonsai on display in the show. And during the dinner, I was invited on stage to present the award and give some comments to all the winners. I myself was honoured with some lovely words and a bottle of some of the best Cognac I ever sipped (half empty already)! They all sure made me feel very much at home here, really special people indeed!

Above picture: During a break in the gala dinner on Saturday night, a proud Morten Albek received the first prize award for the best Shohin composition in the exhibition.

Winner of the best bonsai in the exhibition was won by Martin Nielsen with a beautiful Juniperus Chinensis.

Below: I had a couple of hours to kill Before the Sunday workshops would begin. So Lona Rasmussen asked me if I would style one off here Yamadori Pinus Sylvestris, she brought along for her own first demo, that she would give that afternoon. So while everybody was busy for a few hours at the annual club meeting on the other side of the venue, I had some nice quiet bonsai time on my own, while working on her little tree in the morning sun with some coffee.

Below: Lone’s Pinus Sylvestris before work began.

Below: Wired and ready to style.

Below: The finished sweat little Literati Pine.

Below: Me and happy Lona Rasmussen with here Pine.

*Picture above: The tent where the Sunday workshop was held.

*Above picture: Here I am working together with Julie Isager on here Yew, she is the winner of the new talent competition. I am sure she has a bright Bonsai future ahead of her!

*Above picture: Aase Wiberg working on here big garden Juniper.

*Above picture: Helping with some final wiring.

Above picture: Peter Landerloos working concentrated on his Yamadori Pine.

*Above 2 pictures: During this Sunday workshop, Klaus Buddig enjoyed himself very much working on the deadwood of his Pine, that I had worked on during my Saturday demo! And I liked to add: he did a really beautiful job!

Then before we all knew it, it was time to say our goodbyes already! I had a great time and made a lot of new friends and was thrilled to spend this long weekend with some old friends! I am sure that this was not the last time I visit beautiful Denmark to do bonsai! Infect: I have already been asked by Morten to do a show he is staging next year!

After the 5 hours long trip to Klaus his great house, I had a good night rest in his famous Bonsai guest room, where many well-known artists have spent the night before me! On Monday we had a wonderfully relaxed day in his garden, enjoying the Sun and each others company, just a brilliant day to finish my wonderful visit to Denmark!

Above picture: For our dinner, Klaus took me to a posh and very exclusive sailboat club in Copenhagen. The view there, overlooking the Sea was really stunning, and the food and cold beer were not too bad either!

Above picture: A beautiful Acer buergerianum raft in Klaus his garden.

Above picture: In Klaus his large garden, I had a great time playing with young “Sheva” a rare Bergen Pichard lady dog….YO SHEVA behave !! I said LADY DOG!!!

Above picture: That’s much better! Isn’t she pretty!

Then it was off to the airport to fly home, another wonderful Bonsai memory came to an end, up to the next one!

Here are the links to the site of the Danish Bonsai association where you can see more pictures of this unique event, my demo and workshop.

http://www.bonsai-danmark.dk/BILLEDERDBS-2008-demo.htm

http://www.bonsai-danmark.dk/BILLEDERDBS-2008.htm

*Pictures with a star by Morten Albek.

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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MY WORKSHOP AT “SHADY SIDE BONSAI” IN GLEN ROCK PENNSYLVANIA

Hi, everybody

here at “SHADY SIDE BONSAI” in Glen Roch Pennsylvania starts the third stop of my demo and workshop tour around the USA.

Saturday, May 10.

Day 1:

Below: Early in the morning and the first students for the demo and workshop arrive. Tom’s “SHADY SIDE BONSAI” is so big that he (on the left) and Rich (on the right) had to load Rich his BIG Yew onto the back of a small tractor to bring it up the hill, to his outdoor working area.

Below: Here I am checking out the possibilities for this lovely but difficult two trunk Yew Tom provided me with for my morning demo.

Below: Looking how and where to start.

Below: Although the weather was letting us down a bid, people were still waiting with anticipation.

Below: Discussing all the possibilities with the students.

Below: First the tree was cleaned of all unwanted branches to get a better view of the frame of the tree. Then because the base of the left trunk was too thick in comparison with the right trunk, the too large pies of deadwood on the left trunk was reduced, to open up the empty space between the two trunks.

Below: After most of that excess wood was reduced and the trunks looked better in balance with its other I was able to make my design for this mother and child Yew. This is the drawing of the design I came up with. I almost always make these sketches of my designs. It helps me to remember my first thought, like a blueprint, before I start to think too much about thinks! Because of the lake of time and the health of the tree that should be protected at all times, most first styling during these demo’s are a bit rough and unfinished and don’t always show clearly what the end result of the future bonsai will be in a few years. These drawings are also pretty handy to show people what your future plans are with your tree! It makes explaining why I am using certain techniques to get to a certain point a lot easier if those people have a clear view of where I am working towards!

Below: After lunch, we had a great afternoon workshop and lovely weather!

Below: Before and after.

Sunday, May 11.

Day 2.

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THE STORY OF THE “H.O.G” (or, how Richy saw the light! Used the force and fell asleep)!!!

You might ask: why is this story in a section of its own? Well because this is a story about courage, stubbornness, hesitation, and overcoming to be rewarded! In short: creating a very promising pre-bonsai!

Everybody else walked past this enormous Yew when they were collecting, simply because it was too big! But no, not Richy! Even when everybody said, don’t Rich! It is too big, too heavy and too hard to collect, leave it! This only fired him up to do it anyway. I came to find out that Rich is a bit stubborn sometimes and what he lakes in height, he easily makes up with courage! So he went for it! All alone and for many hours! If you look at the next picture and compare the height of the tree to that of the shovel, you can fully understand the enormous task he had to perform to get this monster Yew out!

GGGRRUZZEL! #*#FRRUCKELSS! #*## GGODDSSFRIZLE!

The above picture is titled: Yew in front of its new home. Or: How Richy scared the neighbours!

Richy, (with the help of a water jet stream) managed to clean off all of the hardened old soil of the massive roots! But, by doing this, he created a bit of a mud stream, that because of the sloping street, quickly grew into an all-engulfing mudslide! Twiggels, the cat from Misses Brown, from down the street, is still missing! And even further downtown, many a toilet got clocked up for weeks!

Saturday, day one. THE PRELUDE.

After discussing with him about how and what to do with the massive amount of deadwood on this Mother of a tree, he bravely started to freestyle with a courage you would not expect from someone who never had handled such a large power tool or created much deadwood before! Every now and then he asked for help or advice and then bravely went on with this huge task!

Below: All geared up for the task ahead!

Below: Richy concentrated at work on the massive deadwood section Below: With markers, lines were drawn on as a guideline for what Richy should remove and what not! Creating the rough shapes that later on (much later) would be refined into stunning Jin and Shari sections!

Below: Every now and then I would jump in to refine certain arias and to give Richy a well-deserved break!

After a long day of hard work we allowed our selfs a short break for a nice dinner and then it was back to our waiting Bonsai work and fun! It was raining, storming and freezing that whole evening and the early night…but nothing could stop us…we were in the zone!!!

Below: Richy wiring the branches.

Below: Me carving away and refining while Richy takes a break and looks on and learns.

Below: Cold but concentrated at work, I love freestyle deadwood styling!!!

Below: Then back to wiring again while I help the other students.

Below: Despite all the cold and tiredness everybody was still hard at work and enjoying the moment!

Below: After many hours, slowly but steadily getting there!

Below: The end result after a long day of hard work! I believe that this monster pre-Bonsai has a great future ahead of it and that Richy should be very proud of his work and his eagerness to learn and work hard! And for those who wondered about the name H.O.G for this tree? Look at the right top Jin, Richy said after I had finished it: it looks like the Hand Of God.. H.O.G!!!

Below: One of my proudest moments! Me happy, Richy happy and a whopper of a tree to boost!!! Later indoors while looking at the pictures we made with a whisky in our hand, poor Richy fell asleep…with a big smile on his face! 🙏😁

Below: Next morning after a short night sleep, the H.O.G. looks even better in the daylight and we are still happy! Two new friends that shared an amazing experience together! I love Bonsai!!!!

Above: THE “H.O.G.” SQUAT.

Below: Two amazing people my host Tom and Richy.

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I had a great time at “SHADY SIDE BONSAI” And would like to thank Tom and his lovely wife for there hospitality and for giving me the opportunity to work in the USA.

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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More pictures can be found on this next link to “SHADY SIDE BONSAI”.

http://www.shadysidebonsai.com/id122.html

MY WORKSHOP AT DONNA DOBBERFUHL ATELIER IN SAN ANTONIO TEXAS

Hi, everybody,

the second workshop I gave was in San Antonio Texas in the amazing atelier of brilliant artist Donna Dobberfuhl. I remember that I was overwhelmed by her artwork and the immense heat that day! Even with the largest ventilator that I had ever seen at full speed, it was almost unbearable for me! The students smiled a little and sad: and it is not even summer?! I must have drunk 5 litres of water during that day!

Above: This magnificent statue stood in the entrance of Donna’s studio to greet us.

Above: The original moult of the famous John Naka bust she made. One of the two copies that were ever made was standing right next to the bed I was sleeping in at my hosts Irene (MOM) house. It was nice that the old master was watching out over me!

Above: And a large poster of a stunning Murial, also from here talented hands.

Above: One of the several live size bronze cattle, Donna made for the “Red Bird” range.

Above: Discussing the possibility of this large yamadori Boxwood that Trent brought along.

Above picture: Working on the deadwood of Donna’s Kidneywood. Look at the colour of my face!

Above left picture: Donna and Terry listening to me babbling! The great thing about these workshops is, that all people can join in, to hear an explanation!

Above picture: Irene’s “Hubby” Terry brought a Juniperus Chinensis along to work on.

Above: Explaining how to safely bend a thick Yew branch. First an in water soaked raffia. Than two lengthwise placed wires.

Above; Then a second layer of wet raffia.

Above: Then apply normal wire.

Above: Then carefully bent the branch.

Above: Until it is in its desired position.

Above: Still not convinced about the big branch that needs to go?!

Above: We had a great lunch in the famous “PIG STAND” restaurant. This place serves good food since 1921. Their onion rings were as big as tiaras! MMMMM!!!! 🙂

Above: Trend’s “Boxwood”.

Above: Discussing every possibility.

Above: Everybody concentrated at work in their own zone!

Above: Laughing about the size of his Bud! :0

We all had a lovely Bonsai day at Donna’s studio and I was shattered when we finally arrived back at Irene’s place!

Above picture: I took this picture, right after I collapsed, tired and warm, on the steps leading into Irene’s house. The only place around with some shadow! I was so glad to take a load off and get a breather and some cold water into me! But immediately after the first small refreshing drink I took I looked down, alarmed as I was, by that small warning bell in my head, that got stuck forever in the back of our minds, since ones long ago some guy with thick eyebrows, saw his confused grandfather trying to path an innocent looking “Sabretooth on the head”! Suddenly, there in front of me, out of nowhere, sat “BRUN” (short for “BRUNO”), the oversized alpha male of the “Irene’s cats clan” who is well known to tackle deer and wrestling moose! Which, he then often leaves on Irene’s and Terry’s front porch as a token of his affection for them! “BRUN” is contemplating here, without blinking, if he would eat me, or just play with me a bit…before eating me anyway!

But to be honest, after I told “BRUN” in a soft voice while avoiding any sudden movements, that I was good people, and too tired to move anyway! He gave me some gentle pussycat head buds on my knees, that rattled the teeth in my mouth! So I thought it would be safe to give him a nice scratch behind his battered ears. Not too long though! I found out that disturbing pictures of Sigfried and Roy, do seem to pop up into once mind, during these pressure moments! Than “BRUN” curled up beside me on the footboard and started to wash. I thanked him for the use of his afternoon shadow spot and took another drink. “BRUN” was right, this was a cool spot to hang out! And there was more than enough room for the both of use! Thank God!!!

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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Donna L. Dobberfuhl, MFA, NSS

Sculptural Designs Atelier

1514 Broadway

San Antonio TX 78215

(210) 224-0220

(210) 326-0862

www.sculpturaldesigns.com

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MY DEMO AT THE B.A.B CLUB MEATING.

Hi, everybody,

On Wednesday 6 February I was invited to do a (short) demo at the monthly evening club meeting of the B.A.B (Bonsai Association Belgium). This great club, which was founded by Bonsai master Mark Noelanders is responsible for staging the now famous yearly “Noelanders trophy” in Zolder Belgium. That’s why I know most of their members for many years now and I enjoyed myself immensely in this home away from home for me (and I like their beer).

I demonstrated on a Juniperus “media Phitzeriana Aurea” that I have been preparing for this first major styling for many years now! I found this tree in the cemetery where my dear old Mother I visit every week. The little tree was dug up from the ground with an excavator when some of the older graves were emptied. It laided there above ground, almost completely bare-rooted and frozen solidly for weeks on end. So I went to the caretaker and asked him what was going to happen to this old tree? He told me that it would be destroyed with all the other scrubs that were pulled from the ground, as soon as the ice was gone from the ground so that they could use their trucks again. So I asked him if I could save the trees live to make a Bonsai out of it? Luckily he gave me permission! Then I happily even managed to lift it onto my shoulders as well! But getting it into my car was something else! Man the place was like an ice rink and it looked more like skating than walking, but I made it to my car safely! I planted the tree in the pot it still is in now and from then on I gave it a lot of love and care. All the 8 or 9 years up to this demo were used to get the foliage to grow closer to the trunk and to get the same type of mature soft foliage on the whole of the tree’s foliage. Because the tree was so severely cut back when it was removed from the ground it had made a lot of immature and prickly foliage on the lower branches, it took me a lot of time to correct that stress response. This more than 60 years old tree is of a strange variety that reacts very poorly to the normal techniques I have used on other Juniperus Phitzeriana trees. Even the bark is of a strange greyish/light brown colour. So this tree was well prepared for this demo and was doable in the 3 hours I was supposed to have for my demo, but after Mark was through with the introductions and stuff, I was left with just 2 and a half hours! So I explained to the audience that this would be the first real styling of this prepared tree and then started to wire the tree like a madman. During my work, I explained how the tree was prepared to reach this point. I even managed to get some important deadwood work done to enhance the movement of the trunk and then quickly brought the main shape into the branches. I ended just in time and was happy that I was able to show this first stage in this future bonsai in this short time. Because there was no time to do fine wiring, the final image looks still rough, but you can see clearly where this tree is going in the future. I did a demo 5 years earlier here at this club on a yamadori Pine (last small picture). I made a drawing then to show how I was going to try to style this tree and how it would look in the future. I brought this same demo Pine tree I made then to this demo, together with the original design drawing. It was good to see and hear the positive reactions from the people when they saw that it is possible to make a future bonsai at a demonstration! I promised to show this Juniper at their club in about 5 years. But I hope to be back sooner here in this friendly club,

Above: The tree before the 2,5-hour demo started.

Above: Waiting anxiously for Mark (on the right) to stop talking so that I could begin my introduction talk and stylings work!

Above: Yes finally and now it is wiring like a madman to get finished in time!

Above: close inspection from knowledgeable club members!

Above: Only the main branches were wired to safe time!

Above: Than Jin and Shari were reworked or created, especially the straight right Jin needed work to give it some movement!

Above: Then wiring the last few branches so that I could start the actual styling of the whole image!

Above: Bringing all the branches and foliage into the desired position.

Above: And then a well-deserved very nice cold Belgium beer!

Above: The end result for now. Note that no fine wiring was done so I was actually very pleased with how the tree looked despite that! And note the optical trick I did to give that completely straight Jin some visual movement! Not bad for only 2,5-hour!

Above: On the right the drawing that I made 5 years ago for the first styling of this Mugo Pine Yamadori that I did here at this club and on the left how this Bonsai (named Z) look to date. Looks pretty close to the original design…he said a bit proud! 🙏👍 I enjoyed myself immensely again at Mark’s very friendly club and I hope to be invited again in the future?!

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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