Burrs 2009

Harleyrider wrote:P.S. I suggest we start a 'Get Terry Foster back into the limelight' campaign. Who's with me?

I'm in.

Me too

And me

Yes, count me in too. He likes Shohin!!!
Graham

hi all , what a truly fantastic weekend that was . arrived in devon about 8 pm after the long drive home.
[ jerry , saw you guys on the hard shoulder but thought you we're just lost ! ] well i would just like to thank all my bonsai friends and mentors , old and new for making it such a good time , and such a special event. extra thanks to steve for taking the photo's . to terry your time and patience helping me to reshape the neglected pine was much appreciated , i hope you enjoyed it as much as i did. to mr. and mrs. T thank you again for making it all happen. can't wait till next year !!
roy

I have been told that the weekend that has been booked for next year is school half term and flights are expensive. So I have booked the following weekend 5-6-7 November. So Put these dates in your diary

Tony, how much are the flights from Ramsbottom to Burrs!!!!

It was obviously some new meaning of the word 'work' which we were previously unaware of!

Oops, did I just say that out loud?

Joke, it was a joke, ferchrissakes, sheesh!

Come on!!! Stop waffling and show us some chuffing trees!!!!!!

will baddeley wrote:Come on!!! Stop waffling and show us some chuffing trees!!!!!!

I agree Will, just like the weekend... way too much chatter not enough wiring.

Tony one

Dont you mean Toni wan?

Hi Bonsai Buddies,
I would just like to add my congratulations to Tony & the Team for a fantastic weekend. I was blown away by the camaraderie of everyone involved and the patience of our teachers. It was great to meet so many new people and I think that I’ve gone away from this weekend with a lot of knowledge and some wonderful Bonsai friendships.

There are too many people to single out for their help and guidance but I thank Andy for taking me in the first place, “Beaver Bob” for his input and carving, Simon Jones for pointing out that my trees are not the best and for Tony for his help and making this Southern Softie feel at home. Last and by no means least Terry Foster, the man is a star. He transformed my Hawthorn and his patience with my slow wiring and various questions is something I will remember for a long time. He even came up with a pot for the Monkey to make for me!!!

Thanks again one and all and I will do my utmost to come back next year, brownie points permitting!!!

Love, Peace & Bananas,
Simon

PS
Steve, have you never seen a White Tardis??????

will baddeley wrote:Come on!!! Stop waffling and show us some chuffing trees!!!!!!

Hi Will,
this Sabina was fully wired and styled over the weekend.
I had worked and prepared this tree for 2 years ready for it's first proper styling.
Most of the deadwood had been cleaned and prepared, the foliage encouraged to
grow in the right areas, this made it possible to get a very good image.

How I aquired the tree in 07, already very healthy, maybe 2 years in the pot.



The tree last year, some work done and foliage "opened up to recieve the light.



and the tree today.

Aaaaahhhh. At last! Thanks John, great transformation, is it Spanish? Did you do the styling work on it, or one of the demonstrators?

I have now uploaded 150 pics from the weekend to my Photobucket account. Please feel free to take a look here:
https://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn15/harleyrider_2008/

I'll bring a few of them over here later for your perusal.

will baddeley wrote:Aaaaahhhh. At last! Thanks John, great transformation, is it Spanish? Did you do the styling work on it, or one of the demonstrators?

Well, over the 2 yrs I prepared this tree I always had a vision of what I would like from this tree, the trees are my hobby and passion and so I love to work with other like minded people on many of my trees, this, for me, is the real pleasure of bonsai as a hobby, sharing the fun.

So Marco had a hand in this 2 yrs ago, we did some preperation work together, since then I worked the foliage and deadwood, eliminated some branches, until it was ready for another styling.

Over the weekend I wired the tree, and as I did so placed some branches etc then many people had opinions on how to do this or that, thats the way Burrs works, it's not like other workshops, literally dozens of trees take the "next step" to becoming bonsai, some have major work done, some are maybe only talked about, possibly a dozen people had input into this tree, we all have the opportunity to help out or discuss any of the trees, but ultimatly the owner has the final decision,
this is what makes Burrs unique. You can learn so much without even working a tree.

Enrico did the final tweaking on this one, and he did it beautifully in my opinion, but always taking into account my opinions and thoughts,
and lots of discussion followed, there is always more than one solution for any tree.
I have lots of ideas to take home with me, little changes here and there.

OK, as promised, here are a few shots of some of the trees worked on over the weekend.

First off, because it's my post and my pics, is one of my Privet, collected from a neighbours garden earlier this year just before he threw them in the bin.
Before: (3ft high!)

After styling advice from Simon & Kev and carving by Tony Wan (Thanks lads) Tree now 6ins high. BSA, here I come!:





Terry deciding where to start on Scots Pine:

Some pics during the transformation:




And the (almost) finished tree awaiting final refinement by Terry:


Matt's Beech waits for a haircut:

I only asked for a trim!:


Bob tidying up his lovely San Jose Juniper. After taking Tony's styling advice, Bob spent a good few hours trimming, shaping and wiring the tree. After popping over to the pub for a break, he returned to find Enrico had styled it for him exactly how Tony and he had envisioned it! Great minds etc:


Faisal taking styling advice from the Masters:






Those of you who remember the Pig's Head Buxus from a few weeks ago will agree that there was only one bit of styling it needed:


There are plenty more pics in my Photobucket account. Click on the link in my previous post to see them all. I'll be posting my Burrs Report sometime in the next week which will include pics of the demo trees worked on by Tony, Enrico, Evo and Terry. In the meantime, here's a pic of Evo's finished Mugo, without the backside, Fiona!
Before:

During:

After (Yes, he bent it in half and turned it upside down!):

Nice to see my two teacher Enrico and Ivo at burrs 2009. Good works and very good trees!

Jhon, you have an amazing sabina

Terry Foster is as Tony say`s one of the most talented artist in bonsai and without doubt one of the most pleasant and easy going people I have ever had the pleasure in knowing. I have worked with both Terry and Tony on many occasions over many years and I have to say we are extreemly lucky in the north west to have two such talented artists in close proximatey. So come on Terry get your act together, come out of the wildeness and share your knowledge and your fantastic trees with the rest of us.

Ian.

Here, here Ian I totally agree

I will post a pic of my Hawthorn in the Spring when it's been re-potted* and when its got some foilage so you get a better idea of the transformation that Terry achived.

(*some people did notice that some of my material was over potted )

Me with the "Burrs Sunday feeling" taking advice from Yoda

I have to agree Ian. I think Terry's work is fantastic! Don't here much about him though.

Simon, it's amazing what you find in the bottom of umbrella stands these days!

Harleyrider wrote:Simon, it's amazing what you find in the bottom of umbrella stands these days!

Leave anything outside long enough Steve and all sorts of rubbish will grow out of it
Mind you the end result looked good, shame I forgot to take a picture.

Note to self:
Less booze, more pictures

Take a pic now!

Personally, I managed to be busy just as all the finished trees were being packed away, so I missed getting shots of them. Damn!