Autumn acer clump installation

My acer clump Autumnal installation.


1-IMG_8779 by urobeam, on Flickr

Acer + mushroom + harvest moon.
The grey sky and rusty colours in the scroll works for me well.

Be gentle.

The cross-beams on the table seem a little distracting. As a whole, very nice. Great tree and I like the physical connection of placing it slightly overlapping the scroll. Very cool.....

No need for gentleness. Nice job. Table seems fine to me. Love the scroll.

Do you NEED that 4th little tree? And is that a REAL mushroom?

Dang it! I wanted to rake someone over the coals! I really enjoy your composition. The table lines didn't strike me as a distraction either, and I do like the 'little brother' tree, odd numbers be damned. That little one adds to a gentleness and vulnerability of the whole, which I think serves a very important purpose here. Really speaks to me. Even how the trees 'touch the sky' is done in a very gentle fashion. 'Family' and 'harmony' are words that come to mind. Masterful.

Thank you for your generous feedback.

The table is the only one I have that is high enough. A recurring challenge, you must use what you have.
The small tree, John Pitt suggested I lose it this Summer. I still feel in time it will be an asset to the overall clump. The angle it is presented makes it look like 4 trees, whereas it is in fact 7.
Mushroom, it is ceramic. Made in Wales.


1-IMG_8791 by urobeam, on Flickr

Beautiful quiet autumn display!

Have you considered moving the maple to the right side and the mushrooms to the left? The moon in the scroll would be visually facing the trees.

Bill

William N. Valavanis wrote:Beautiful quiet autumn display!

Have you considered moving the maple to the right side and the mushrooms to the left? The moon in the scroll would be visually facing the trees.

Bill

Thank you Bill, I appreciate your feedback.

Yes, I can see that would work.
The artists signature is on the right side, would that mean he / she intended it to be used with the primary object, (the tree in this case), to be placed to the left?

Are there any guidelines on the subject? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I played a little today with the clump's position and decided the left was the one that spoke to me most.
My attempts and practices are guided by feelings rather than too many rules. Very self indulgent, but it keeps me happy.

The main focal point and purpose of this scroll is viewing the moon NOT the artists signature. This scroll was probably not made for displaying bonsai, but rather just a beautiful painting.

People get too involved with the signature and forget the main purpose of the scroll painting is to enjoy the view.


Bill

Ok, I see the three other trunks, mostly hidden at this angle.

Thank you Bill for your prompt and no nonsense reply.

Moving the tree to the right would make the moon and tree create a better space. Yet, when the tree was on the left, I felt a better overall balance.
I likely lack the understanding of scrolls and their place in the Japanese traditions and their cultural meanings.
The scrolls I have selected for my installations speak to me and my cultural traditions, experiences and their familiar meanings. I am aware some traditionalist find that challenging and I apologies, yet I can only adopt authentic practices that are true to me.
A very long way to go on this journey, but I am enjoying myself evolving my practices.
Thank you again. Your input is greatly valued.

to me the tree's direction goes right, so the tree being on the left side of the display is coherent.
and the moon seem to be rising from behind the tree, which i found cool.
also the triangle defined by the tree's canopy, the moon and the accent is coherent with the overall direction of the display.

I really love the composition.  I feel the chill in the air, the leaves crunching under my feet, the days getting shorter.   To me, the scroll, tree, table, and accent piece all work well together.  At times I look at the pot and think it looks fine, other times though, I think it is a little thin and wide.  I'm thinking maybe twice the current pot's height and 90% its width.  This may hide a little more of the soil and not make it look so mounded.  I'm being nitpicky and tomorrow if I look at it, the pot may look fine.

Steve

Its a nice composition, direction of movement of tree and accent is moving towards each other so thats is good.
Very nice tree too but i dont like the fact that it looks like 4 trees , it doesnt feel right, perhaps a little different angle would be better so you can see there are more trees. Thats the thing with a picture, you really can just see 1 angle

DjTommy wrote:Very nice tree too but i dont like the fact that it looks like 4 trees , it doesnt feel right, perhaps a little different angle would be better so you can see there are more trees. Thats the thing with a picture, you really can just see 1 angle

Hey,
Yes I agree.
A little background.
My wife is not into bonsai. She just does not get it, what ever it is. A few years ago I had planned to sell this group. My wife decided, rather than selling it, I should give to her. I would do all the horticultural and tech bonsai stuff, she would tell me how she wanted it to look. There is a different front to this group, but after some discussion her, I planted it showing her preferred front.which is not as bad as the picture shows.
It is due a repot, so this Spring a slight re-angling / rotation will be undertaken. Perhaps she will not notice.

Good job on the compostion, AND on the homefront
Two ribbons for you!

A very fine display. The scroll is sublime. But the mushrooms! As an old mycophile I must say, they are perfect.
Will you be hollowing out under the base so the clump will sit lower over time?

Not many old mycophiles around.

Ho Jeremy,
Im not so of an expert but perhaps moving the tree away from the scroll and not to cross it would give each aspect properly define!! And lifting your scroll a bit higher too.. ? Just my two cents idea ☺️

Regards,
Alex

Precarious wrote:Not many old mycophiles around.

True. There are old mushroom hunters and bold mushroom hunters but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters.

Bruce Winter wrote:Will you be hollowing out under the base so the clump will sit lower over time?

Bruce,
Having seen the picture, yes it is mounded a little too high. Thank you for the heads up.
I do like to see a little mounding, my vision is of a distant raised clump.

Glad you posted, and good to see a healthy response/interest.

I always respect and appreciate Bill V's contributions. Little things like he suggests are like crossing T's and dotting I's......but keep us mindful of subtleties that need to be addressed.

As I continue to press toward the mark in toko and seki kazari, My frustration increases with the large amount of assesories needed to do a proper two or three point display. Like pots, I never find the one I need when repotting and when looking for the right table,
etc etc. So I have backed off sharing my displays here, because my education has surpassed my resources.LOL!

saturday, I did a favor for outgoing curator David de Groot from the weyerhaeuser bonsai museum, and had a few hours of time
to go over his pictures and knowledge of display. Interestly, I was seeking advice on my next tokonoma as i am downsizing my home
and will need to build another one. My concern was finding a tatami floor so that the wooden display tables wouldn't conflict with a wooden floor. he proceeded to show me photos from his time with Mr Sudo of the display organization called "keido". Several pictures showed toko's with wooden floors. Before this I would have suggested that hard wooden floor with a hard wooden table was NOT correct. Having learned we need the contrast between hard (wooden tables) and soft (tatomi floor).

So it all seemingly comes down to "the more you know, the more you need to know".