THINGS: toko display has taught me

has been to be observant of nature. For example, was out fishing the other day and all you could see with groups of mallard ducks was that they were all males.
Why? cause the females were all on nests. So I made a mental note of it to use in advance of this time period next year.( I have a collection of tiny decoys that I can use as tenpai and yes I have a mallard male.)
For some reason I have a pair of wild Canadian geese roaming the fields near my back yard. the other day, they walked up behind me while i was working on a bonsai.
I fed them some bread and they nestled down afterwards about 10 feet away with their backs to me looking out on the empty field. Wife asked me why, and all I could think of was that they felt content I had their back and they wanted to view out front where occassionally we see a few farrel cats.

before toko, I genuinley feel I would not have paid MUCH OF any attention to either incident.But I find these types of things helpful in my pursuit of telling a story with clarity.

The zen of bonsai

I'm convinced there is a sort of zen to grasping toko display.

recently I aquired a scroll that set the theme with strong river scene in mid ground. Mountains in the banckground and tancho crains fishing in the foreground.
haveing a toko in the house I can work on displays every day and am getting a sort of enlightment on the way to view the entire setting based on the theme.
For instance the mountains have a covered tree image but obviously fir or pine. So that tells me the bonsai can be deciduous and not be repetious with the firs.
I found a nice katsura to use. Tall and thin, it set best with a wood jitta under it. The companion plant was a small dwarf hosta with blooms bent in the direction of the bonsai. Under neath it was a stone jitta. In the Biwa was a chinese wooden figure of a fisherman carrying a bamboo rod and carp that he caught. He sets on a round glazed ceramic black jitta. In between all the finished moves were changes in stands, accompanying tenpai until finally I had the sense of everything fit , no compromises and no duplications.

yesterday my lesson learned was the proper height and size of stand to fit a bonsai and pot. Subtle differences made gigantic differences to the eye.

As I aquire more items to use in telling a story, it's becoming more and more obvious that the quality and refinement of my personal trees needs to be largely up graded.

This has been a fun journey and a challenge I get a lot of personal satisfaction from.

My latest enthusiasm has been a book on literati design by a noted chinese penjing artist. I have one japanese red pine I've worked on for years but am now in the process of relooking at a 5 needle pine to begin work on and I'm looking for the right chinese juniper. looking forward to the challenge...

If you've been interested in literati style, it's a good book to look into.
Literati Style Penjing: Chinese Bonsai Masterworks focuses on a special category of penjing associated with traditional Chinese culture, such as the painting of the literati, or elite scholar-bureaucrats, of imperial China. Like literati ink paintings, this style of penjing has a subtle elegance distinguished by a lone, lean trunk with sparse foliage exhibiting distinct lines and simplicity.

The term "literati style penjing" has been widely accepted by the bonsai community and is becoming more common within the bonsai world. It is well suited to melding concepts from Chinese painting, poetry and Zen into a stunning bonsai work, making it of interest to a wide variety of gardening styles.

Literati Style Penjing; Chinese Bonsai Masterworks explains the concept of penjing with a literati bent, exploring its rich history and aesthetics, as well as cultivation techniques, and care and maintenance. It includes 12 examples of literati style penjing creations, which incorporate a deep knowledge of the art form together with practical creativity and artistic beauty.

I only mention it because it has been so helpful to my understanding....

Here's a photo of my latest addition to work into a decent literati