Rescued Oak

milehigh_7 wrote:Looks good! I would recommend reading and absorbing the following tutorial from Will Hiltz. Apply this technique to your branches. Especially for oaks this is a great technique as it will give it that kind of spooky look that oaks should have. You might have to sign up on the forum to see it I don't remember.

http://www.bonsaisite.com/forums/index.php?s=23efccd2f411b1a462a254cd60a18d3d&showtopic=24581

Thanks Milehigh , i was able to read the turorial which was very interesting but couldn't see the pics. I'll try and sign up later. thanks for that. I will just wire evrything as it grows and over time hopefully ill have a spooky tree.

Smithy wrote:
Leatherback i forgot to ask what the sigh meant.

A sigh expressing 'why don't I have an artistic bone in me that comes up with trees like that'

yves71277 wrote:

Smithy wrote:

Carolee wrote:Considering what you started with, I think you have done an admirable job. I've seen oaks in the midwest, USA, that have been struck by lighting and/or survived tornadoes, and have massive dead parts, and I think as this develops it will look more and more like those trees. I like that you do what you like; that is what it is all about.

Thanks Carolee, doing what i like is something i have always done in all my walks of life. It frees you up from all sorts of worries about what others think.

thats a clever attitude, but i'm not so sure why you would cling on to a forum then :-) Maybe just to enjoy our company, or you want us to enjoy your personal style adapted to bonsai. Thats nice too, but this forum category is meant for others to comment on what you post right , that also includes comment in which someone says the dont like it (the tree as a whole or the design you opted for).
If you dont want to worry about what others think, well, i'm not so sure why one would post it in this category

But apart from that, offcourse i (we for all i know) dont have any problems with the fact that you want to do what you like to do, offcourse you do.

cheers

Im not sure that i cling onto the forum . I like to read and gain knowledge as i am not close to a club to go regular. I take what knowledge seems worthwhile to what i want and show some of my work as no one else really gets to see it. Gardening as a whole is a performance art. I have my own style and if any one else enjoys it then thats a bonus . I like to learn just by trying things out.

I know i can get all sorts of comments on the forum and thats fine . I will take all the advice on . Yous advice to forget what i've styled already and cut everything back and put in the ground was fine if you want a different tree to what im trying to do . The way i do bonsai is i listen and read and take the advice that seems relevant . I will always listen and think about it. My last tree ,i was given the advice by Dario to cut some of the trunks off to get better taper. I did go back out into the garden and look at it but it wasn't what i wanted for the tree so i carried on my own way.

I recently took a tree to show Chris at dragon bonsai , he suggested cutting off the main branch which i had loveingly worked , itook the advice on board and off it went . I will take advice when i think its what i need.
I can understand your comments about putting back in the ground but its not what i wanted for the tree.

leatherback wrote:

Smithy wrote:
Leatherback i forgot to ask what the sigh meant.

A sigh expressing 'why don't I have an artistic bone in me that comes up with trees like that'

I used to feel exactly the same ,

Hi Smithy. I like your words on being present on a forum, and have great affinity with them. I've read through your posts (amongst many other people's) and what you have just described is how the info comes across.
I see you pursuing success with English oak in the same way that Russell pursues live oaks across the pond, and wish you everything good with them.
Please keep posting - especially for the benefit of at least one "backyard bonsaist"!! (As described on another famous, or notorious forum).
Cheers. Rick.

I have said this to Smithy on another forum so forgive me for repeating myself. I have to say that Smithy is the perfect example of someone I saw start on the forum as a complete novice. Neil has asked questions, taken criticism and soaked up responses like a veritable sponge. If there is ever a good reason to stick with forums, Smithy is the evidence. No one I know here has made such leaps and bounds in just 3 years. Good on yer mate

yes, not only our Bonsai grow

all is fine :-)

smithy, you didnt have to defend yourself, i believe you ;-), i was just philosphating about what you would mean with 'i dont worry about what others say'. Surely you know we can only interpretate the things we read, thats a personal thing by definition, and thats what we do on a forum . If others say you're a 'grown man' (hehe see Will's reply ;-), then I believe that too

cheers

I only just clicked this thread today and I'm going through the photos in the first post thinking "What's he gonna do with that thing?"

Then I scroll past the dead wood and I see the first pic with wiring and I said out loud. "Wow"

That is an Awesome tree, great work and a great style, very dynamic in movement, makes the tree look very animated and a bit scary!

I'd keep going... playing to the scary, nightmare-ish look.

Best
-Jay

drgonzo wrote:I only just clicked this thread today and I'm going through the photos in the first post thinking "What's he gonna do with that thing?"

Then I scroll past the dead wood and I see the first pic with wiring and I said out loud. "Wow"

That is an Awesome tree, great work and a great style, very dynamic in movement, makes the tree look very animated and a bit scary!

I'd keep going... playing to the scary, nightmare-ish look.

You wrote down what I couldn't find the right words for. Thank you. 100% agreed.

I really like it. Some people have the skill to keep trees alive and healthy others have an artistic eye for styling. You have both, nice work>

Thankyou ever so much for all the words of confidence with my tree. I did wonder when i put it up what response i was going to get as i work alone in my garden and you never know whether others are going to enjoy your work.

My bonsai journey as Will so kindly put into words has really come on in the last few years . I put it down to putting the time in. My head rarely wanders from the subject. Maybe thats a problem i don't know. I spend every spare moment looking at pics of trees or reading about bonsai . I spend my working day as a gardener looking at trees . I study trees as i drive to and from jobs. Then i work on my trees when i get the time inbetween family stuff. I have bonsai mags by the loo so i can look at pics of trees even then
Ive killed a few trees on the way and made some real horrors , but i think that by making mistakes is the best way to learn so thats why i always just jump in and have a go . I've been lucky as a gardener to dig up lots of rubbish to practice on. I rarely have any spare money to buy great material so i try and make the most of what i can get .
Yves7127, all is fine and your comments made for a good thread ,thanks.

I forgot to add that i still feel a real beginner in the bonsai world ,this is why i rarely try to give advice to anyone.
I also get very frustrated at my bonsai abilities , thats why i've spent my saved up bonsai money for this year to go to Burrs to absorb what the upper levels of bonsai are doing. If i come back with just one or two gems of info i will be happy.
When i meet people i admire and talk to i like to just get one little nugget of info.
Last time i saw Will carving at the welsh show he only said a few words but it was enough to go back to my garden and take me on a step further.

The work you are now producing is hardly the work of a beginner Smithy.Congratulations, love the image you are crafting.
Have a good time at Burrs.
Bob

Thanks Bob, looking forward to Burrs.

Smithy wrote:Thankyou ever so much for all the words of confidence with my tree. I did wonder when i put it up what response i was going to get as i work alone in my garden and you never know whether others are going to enjoy your work.

My bonsai journey as Will so kindly put into words has really come on in the last few years . I put it down to putting the time in. My head rarely wanders from the subject. Maybe thats a problem i don't know. I spend every spare moment looking at pics of trees or reading about bonsai . I spend my working day as a gardener looking at trees . I study trees as i drive to and from jobs. Then i work on my trees when i get the time inbetween family stuff. I have bonsai mags by the loo so i can look at pics of trees even then
Ive killed a few trees on the way and made some real horrors , but i think that by making mistakes is the best way to learn so thats why i always just jump in and have a go . I've been lucky as a gardener to dig up lots of rubbish to practice on. I rarely have any spare money to buy great material so i try and make the most of what i can get .
Yves7127, all is fine and your comments made for a good thread ,thanks.

That's very similar to where I am on this journey. Though it's been only 2 yrs. of trying to make bonsai a priority in my life. So well put Smithy!

Regarding your tree here, I like it very much and you did a very good job with a difficult piece of material. I just had to do the same thing to a collected ponderosa pine. It's fortunate that after removing all the dead bark, it ended into a natural shari that's old. But it was more than I would've liked.

i love it. great job

I'm with Smithy on this one!!

This is going to progress into a great looking tree. This Natural 'wind swept' style is one not taken up by the bonsai community so readily, because of its difficulty in getting it right!!

I'll be watching this one for future developments!!

You'll love Burrs... I did!! You'll get a great deal out of it!

Cheers
Bryan

Thanks guys , really appreciate all the comments.

love the tree.

Hope to find similar material shortly!

"Rescued" indeed. And then some.
I'd be grateful for any information regarding your process working the shari grain --- Flame? Stain? or Mother Nature?

As footnote to your comment "My head rarely wanders from the subject". It is alleged men think of sex [depending on the source] anywhere from 19 times a minute to 19 times a year. Whatever the general rule, I know that in my own case the number is now half of what it was before my involvement with bonsai --- forced, as I've been, to commandeer that time to think about trees.

Trees??!!

rps wrote:Whatever the general rule, I know that in my own case the number is now half of what it was before my involvement with bonsai --- forced, as I've been, to commandeer that time to think about trees.

well thats nicely put
it is true that i now fall in love more often than i did as a young man :-). I even have waayyy more "girls" now than i ever had...

rps wrote:"Rescued" indeed. And then some.
I'd be grateful for any information regarding your process working the shari grain --- Flame? Stain? or Mother Nature?

As footnote to your comment "My head rarely wanders from the subject". It is alleged men think of sex [depending on the source] anywhere from 19 times a minute to 19 times a year. Whatever the general rule, I know that in my own case the number is now half of what it was before my involvement with bonsai --- forced, as I've been, to commandeer that time to think about trees.

When i first started with it i cut away any bark untill i found live cambium. I then just cut some shape into the wood with electric cutter. I did that two years ago and probably would come up with different shape now but i'm still happy with it.

I then left it for two years and then the other might i went and dragged the soft grooves out with a sharp knife and then sanded it.I used a flame on it and wire brushed it a little.

I now preserve it with a natural tree tree resin. http://www.kaizenbonsai.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=95&products_id=2483

I have a lot more room in my head for thinking Bonsai , I'm married now

]i put this into a pot but just one that was big enough to grow the roots out a bit. I decided to take off the two big roots and grow a new set below it. Eventually it will fit into a very flat pot.

Hi Smithy,

You can tell you have really looked at an Oak's branch structure - you're trying and succeeding in replicating the octopus movement and undulations that they produce. I really like what you have done with your tree but here's an alternative as you're a good carver and young enough to take this to fruition. My virt is based on an approach graft and grow out method - it rectifies a few things that you probably know already: the long straight bit before the branches start and taper issues.

Oaks fuse readily from approach grafts and the long whip of your first branch coming off to the right is a prime candidate to start the process. I've also added a hollow at the base too for impact and you could easily connect the jin at the top and the hollow. Oaks are one of the few deciduous (hardwood) trees that suit jins and there are many examples of stag's head oaks around. If you're set on the modified broom path that you've started that's a cool option too - happy growing matey!!