HAVING SOME WINTER FUN WHILE PREPARING MY LARCH (XL) FOR A SHOW.

Hi everybody,
this afternoon I finished preparing my big Larch (XL) for his first show! It took me 5 day's! Not becauce it was that much work, but becauce we had terrible weather for a whole week, it was raining and freezing most of the time! And I had no place to stand dry or warm and becauce of that I gotta nasty head cold to make things even harder! But today I feld a bit better and the sun was out for a change and that made, together with lots off hot coffee, the freezing temperature bearable! I am glad with how the end resuld looks and I am also glad that I only had to use a minimum amount off wiring to reach it! So now XL will finaly goes to his protected place in my winter shelter and will be left alone until a few day's before the show in January. I cant wait to finaly show it!
Below: Fine wiring with 0,3 mm copper wire is rrrrealy hhhhard when you are this cold!



Below: My Larch and I have so much fun together!



Below: After the work was don, we wend out for a walk along the seaside near to our house. Next to were we always park the car we found this uprooted buxus on the ground all exposed to the freezing temperatures. It was left when they had removed some larger trees earlier this week! So we load it in the car and after the walk we took it home to give it a fighting change. This short stay in my car made my car smell like 25 dogs and cats had pied on it and they probably did! Boy we had to drive with the windows open! I hope that smelly tree makes it trough winter!



Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Love that Larch!
Love the peace signs!

Hi Hans,

I always like to see this great looking larch and now that it's show ready and with minimum wiring, XL will surely be one of the show - stoppers. You two look like a nice couple
I hope i get to see it in real some day.

Hans van Meer. wrote: ... This short stay in my car made my car smell like 25 dogs and cats had pied on it and they probably did! Boy we had to drive with the windows open! I hope that smelly tree makes it trough winter!

I dug a spruce once that was full of cow manure and drove home...but the smell can not be compared.

Best...

Gašper

The Larch is getting greater every season. Good work. Regarding buxus...yes it will survive because a lot of fine roots. I'm sure. Nice catch too.

Hi my friend.

A wonderful tree. For winter exhibit ideal condition. I wish great success.


Greetings Pavel

Good luck with the show. The tree looks in great condition.

Hope the new addition recovers well.

Beautiful Hans! I commend you on fine wiring with frozen fingers! Good luck at the show!

Hello Hans,
Man i only went out to cheque the greenhouses with this wether!
So we gonna meet this tree at Noelanders??
Nice idea to look forward to in the next year.
Sunip

Thats how the men do it. No fancy studio hat and coat on and get out there lol, i love this makes me want to get my hat on and get out there lol. Looking good.

Another year and its now amazing... nothing lost from last time I saw this wonderful tree!

Hans van Meer. wrote:

Oh god! This is another masterpiece that needs & deserves a name as we did for Tony's dragon
(May I suggest one?)
It is great tree!!!

Best wishes
Taner

Nice looking tree Hans, will you freshen up the deawood features for the show?
Nice find too.....they are tough so hopefully it will make it.
Cheers
Graham

Great tree and a wonderful image not typical of the image Larch present naturally. Not being critical just pointing out the obvious and wishing to illustrate that the natural form of a tree does not necessarily mean that a bonsai must conform to that image. Many trees used in bonsai under bonsai culture successfully achieve forms not common to the tree in nature. However the images they do attain look natural and believable which makes them great bonsai.

Todd Ellis wrote:Love that Larch!
Love the peace signs!

Thanks Ellis! Eh.... that peace sign is actually the bunny ear sign we do over here behind some once back to make them look silly in a picture! But we can also pretend that it is a victory sign.....now that would be a nice thought!!!

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

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GašperG wrote:Hi Hans,

I always like to see this great looking larch and now that it's show ready and with minimum wiring, XL will surely be one of the show - stoppers. You two look like a nice couple
I hope i get to see it in real some day.

Hans van Meer. wrote: ... This short stay in my car made my car smell like 25 dogs and cats had pied on it and they probably did! Boy we had to drive with the windows open! I hope that smelly tree makes it trough winter!

I dug a spruce once that was full of cow manure and drove home...but the smell can not be compared.

Best...

Gašper

Hi Casper, I do hope that people like it?! It will be one off the first "real me styled" Bonsai that I show and I am looking forward to the feedback I will get during the show! But lets not sell the bearskin before we actually shot one! I still dont know if XL is actually selected for the show....so fingers crossed!
Would you believe that my car still smells like a forgotten cat's pissing box! My own cat could not stop sniffing my hands!

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

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yamasuri wrote:The Larch is getting greater every season. Good work. Regarding buxus...yes it will survive because a lot of fine roots. I'm sure. Nice catch too.

Thanks Vlad! Yes it is amazing how fast they actually grow! It is just starting to look like a Bonsai, but I am still amazed how full the foliage pads look from a births eye view!
I hope the Buxus pulls trough it has layed, like in the picture, above the ground frozen for days! But they are strong, so it might be saved just in time!

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Pavel Slovák wrote: Hi my friend.

A wonderful tree. For winter exhibit ideal condition. I wish great success.


Greetings Pavel

Hi Pavel,
how are you doing my friend? I am glad you like it! And yes it is great to show it with out foliage, it dos not shows it very good in these pictures, but the ramification is some thing I am realy happy with! And thanks for your good wishes, I hope that it will be selected, that is success enough for me!!!
Hope to see you soon!

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Jack Carrack wrote:Good luck with the show. The tree looks in great condition.

Hope the new addition recovers well.

Fore wrote:Beautiful Hans! I commend you on fine wiring with frozen fingers! Good luck at the show!

sunip wrote:Hello Hans,
Man i only went out to cheque the greenhouses with this wether!
So we gonna meet this tree at Noelanders??
Nice idea to look forward to in the next year.
Sunip

Steve p wrote:Thats how the men do it. No fancy studio hat and coat on and get out there lol, i love this makes me want to get my hat on and get out there lol. Looking good.

Thanks guy's! Yes I was a regular hero, wiring in this weather with a cold....but I was bloody freezing my dangly bits off! And there was not much left to hold, when I finaly managed to pee! I would kill for a warm studio to work in! Yes Noelanders is the aim, so fingers crossed!

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

tony wrote:Another year and its now amazing... nothing lost from last time I saw this wonderful tree!

Thanks Tony! Yes everything stays in place with almost no wire! Time goes by so fast dont it?! Even in Bonsai years!

CU SOON BRO!!!!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Sakaki wrote:

Hans van Meer. wrote:

Oh god! This is another masterpiece that needs & deserves a name as we did for Tony's dragon
(May I suggest one?)
It is great tree!!!

Best wishes
Taner

Hi Taner, you do me to much honor sire.....please do go on!!!! You can always suggest a name, I am curious what you see in my tree?....But it already has a name, XL as in extra Large! That is the name I came upp with when I had to carry it down a with meltwater soaked mountain side and realized that I had saved to much off a rootbal to be carried by just one person! Especially because that one person, that was in line for a lower back operation, his legs had slowly sunken knee deep and were about to bend in the opposite direction, because he just would not let go off the tree! When my wife asked what happened: I mumbled something with my dying breath... tree...to Large! ..Extra Large...ha..ha...ha! You have to admire that even in desperation, I always try to be funny! That's why it's named XL and it grows slowly in to it's name to. I tried to style it in my way to look like a enormous tree and that seams to have worked, so XL is fitting I think?! But give me yours and surprise me?????

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

And yes I have been sampling my Remy Martin and chocolates again!

gman wrote:Nice looking tree Hans, will you freshen up the deawood features for the show?
Nice find too.....they are tough so hopefully it will make it.
Cheers
Graham

Thanks Graham! Good question! Gives me the change to explain how I approach this styling on this particular tree. No I will not clean it to much actually. Green algae and stuff that hides importand features yes, but I like it to look as naturally weathered as possible so no bleaching or something like that. This design is my own impression of a huge distance tree, but it is a imaginary tree image non the less and for that to work (in my opinion) all natural looking part like bark, jins and shari should look as close to the truth as possible! So that the viewer, who recognizes those thing in a blink, from seeing a thousand trees in real live, feels comfortable with the image he sees in front of him. It is my believe that when you feed the viewer the right information than you can creat a image that is recognizable and believable to most, even when it is a fantasy tree like this one! With this design I want the viewer to see in one glance: how fare the image of my tree grows from where they stand and how tall it must be to look like that! And that illusion is created with open or negotive spaces in and around this tree, these open spaces are hardly noticeable in these pictures, but in 3D they will do the trick much better! After that is all established, well than (I hope) that they can better enjoy the actual impression that I am trying to convey to them, becauce they now know the facts of this tree and than they can better enjoy the fantasy and (hopefully) beauty of my tree and work! It must be a balance between natural and made up, for me that is Bonsai! But that is personal! Long explanation and I hope it gives some insight in how I think and work.

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Vance Wood wrote:Great tree and a wonderful image not typical of the image Larch present naturally. Not being critical just pointing out the obvious and wishing to illustrate that the natural form of a tree does not necessarily mean that a bonsai must conform to that image. Many trees used in bonsai under bonsai culture successfully achieve forms not common to the tree in nature. However the images they do attain look natural and believable which makes them great bonsai.

Thanks Vance! A fantasy tree that feels naturally is all that I aimed for in this case! I want to leave a impression, a feeling like the ones most off us have when the see a mighty distance tree, even though it is a fantasy tree! I cant wait to hear the reactions when (hopefully) the tree is showed for the first time next month!

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Hans van Meer. wrote:

gman wrote:Nice looking tree Hans, will you freshen up the deawood features for the show?
Nice find too.....they are tough so hopefully it will make it.
Cheers
Graham

Thanks Graham! Good question! Gives me the change to explain how I approach this styling on this particular tree. No I will not clean it to much actually. Green algae and stuff that hides importand features yes, but I like it to look as naturally weathered as possible so no bleaching or something like that. This design is my own impression of a huge distance tree, but it is a imaginary tree image non the less and for that to work (in my opinion) all natural looking part like bark, jins and shari should look as close to the truth as possible! So that the viewer, who recognizes those thing in a blink, from seeing a thousand trees in real live, feels comfortable with the image he sees in front of him. It is my believe that when you feed the viewer the right information than you can creat a image that is recognizable and believable to most, even when it is a fantasy tree like this one! With this design I want the viewer to see in one glance: how fare the image of my tree grows from where they stand and how tall it must be to look like that! And that illusion is created with open or negotive spaces in and around this tree, these open spaces are hardly noticeable in these pictures, but in 3D they will do the trick much better! After that is all established, well than (I hope) that they can better enjoy the actual impression that I am trying to convey to them, becauce they now know the facts of this tree and than they can better enjoy the fantasy and (hopefully) beauty of my tree and work! It must be a balance between natural and made up, for me that is Bonsai! But that is personal! Long explanation and I hope it gives some insight in how I think and work.

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Hans...... thank you for taking the time to respond ....informing us of your inner creative concepts.
I do understand the concept and the vision ...... perhaps I see it from a distance too but on a sunny day in which the deadwood appears ghostly white tinted with grey and shadows.......my images are founded on spending over 37 years exploring the local mountains and rich pacific northwest ecosystems that abound with such ancient forests.....
Cheers
From way across the pond lol
Graham

Hello Hans;

This is one of those trees that I find inspirational. Definitely worth some out of breath exercise down the mountain!!

Cheers
Bryan

Hello,
this tree will be exhibited at NOELANDRES TROPHY with wires?
I don't know if it is a problem, the tree is very beautifull, but i know that the selection off trees is realized only with photographies , but do you have ask the question to Marc NOELANDERS ?

Hi Hans

I can't see your picture....insteadt will I look forward to see your tree live at "Noelanders".....I bring two shohin of own breed

Kind regards Yvonne

Hans van Meer. wrote:

Sakaki wrote:

Hans van Meer. wrote:

Oh god! This is another masterpiece that needs & deserves a name as we did for Tony's dragon
(May I suggest one?)
It is great tree!!!

Best wishes
Taner

Hi Taner, you do me to much honor sire.....please do go on!!!! You can always suggest a name, I am curious what you see in my tree?....But it already has a name, XL as in extra Large! That is the name I came upp with when I had to carry it down a with meltwater soaked mountain side and realized that I had saved to much off a rootbal to be carried by just one person! Especially because that one person, that was in line for a lower back operation, his legs had slowly sunken knee deep and were about to bend in the opposite direction, because he just would not let go off the tree! When my wife asked what happened: I mumbled something with my dying breath... tree...to Large! ..Extra Large...ha..ha...ha! You have to admire that even in desperation, I always try to be funny! That's why it's named XL and it grows slowly in to it's name to. I tried to style it in my way to look like a enormous tree and that seams to have worked, so XL is fitting I think?! But give me yours and surprise me?????

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

And yes I have been sampling my Remy Martin and chocolates again!

Actually I didn't know that you named it XL. I thought you've been using those letters to express its size only
Anyway, I would offer you "X-Larch" instead of "X-Large"

Take care & good luck in competition!
Taner