Styling urbandori juniper

Some pics from my latest work, first styling and carving of juniperus chinensis.
Any comments welcome.

nice one!!

like i said on the AAC blog - well done !

Since you say "any comments welcome", I really enjoy the work and texture on the deadwood and jin. I am not crazy about the one on top however. It just doesn't match the movement in the rest of the tree. I would recommend removal or major reduction, but I cede that it is much easier to remove than it is to put back on, so take your time with the decision. Great tree overall in that I would proudly display on my bench if I had a bench; Mine are all on the ground right now

Thanx lads
Those jins are one of the things that might change, the shape of them or reduction/removal in time.
For the time being I will keep them and we´ll see what hapens next.
I cannot be trusted with the branch cutters and scissors

i see what fancy plants (dang - i forget your name - sorry) means now... maybe if that top jin didnt rear back like a horse before leaping forward, it would be maybe better and flow more... but that is only an opinion of a viewer and it is the artist/owner's view that counts the most... (something we all, myself included, need to remember )

Did another 2 trees recently of the same batch I got last year.






and here the 3 of them in virtual pots/slab

I really like number 2 & 3, nice future ahead for both.

To my eye, number 1 is a bit contrived. The ''upside down'' placement of the foliage strikes me as artificial. The natural nature of the juniper to grow upwards. The tree will ''correct'' this appearance over time if you don't actively intervene. But this is my taste.

I really do like that you created 3 distinctly different trees from relatively similar starting material. You have a good eye, and experimentation is good. Many, sometimes myself included will create the same tree over and over again. Well done.

Thanx Leo

I try hard to come up with something slightly different everytime I style a tree. Sometimes it works and sometimes not - many times I see that it is not working only after some time passes as my "bonsai eye" evolves
So there might be some changes on some trees as time goes by...

First pot for number one - made by Ivet Mikešová of Atelier Cascada

and the third in a new pot

great carving and deadwood fabulous design work

Mimo,

I like your trees very much, very good work.

Question about the first juniper - (sorry if I missed this info) - how much time between collection and the first major styling? (You are able to really keep your trees vigorous.)

Thank you,

Hi all, I didn´t visit for some time and now I would like to update this thread.
Augustine, sorry for late reply - I styled it one year after the collection because of vigorous growth

I like them and would happily have them on my benches.


ps are you really Rick Wakeman? LOL

Thanx Fiona
Well, I have been called many names so far ... not counting insults I was Jeff Hanneman, Johnny Winter and most often Jerry Cantrell

MIMO !!!
welcome back brother...

Those 3 are looking really good man... did you do some carving with Harry when he was around you ?
I see great improvements since you 1st posted these...

btw - speaking of Harry, I see that he gave you a shout-out in the "thanks" section of his re-issued book...
Thats pretty rad !

Kevin

Hi Kevin, thank you :-) These 3 are purely my work. Even Harry liked the first one and complimented my styling :-)
Yeah we got on pretty good, I did a proof reading for him of this 2nd edition, hence the thank you in the book.
And since his visit I translated his Bonsai Inspirations 1 to slovakian language and at the moment we are doing the last arrangements before publishing it hopefully in the end of summer :-)

right on man !!! your carving skillz are getting really good...

and i really hope harry's plans to come stateside work out for 2020 !!!
i would even offer to translate both books into american language if he wanted

I love traditional Czech fairy tales. Those, you know, where the good is the winner at the end and gets the right reward. Beautiful, good hearted princess ( well, its a fairy tale isn't ) and half of the kingdom. Very often there are three paths that are offered to the good to select to reach his fortune. NEVER EVER one should pick the easy one...


Mimo-san, despite the fact you have selected the most easy way to create deadwood on your Junis you still manage to get the reward. Three beautiful small princesses and a great family.

Looking great Mimo

Thank you for the kind words
Vlad, yep, sometimes I feel like King in the castle in my yard when the kids are running around and I am working on my trees.
(...and sometimes like leaving the yard without a word for a long long walk alone when I get way too much of "Daddy...daddy....daddy....daddyyyyyyyy, daddyyyyyyyyyy, daddd.....you got the idea )

Well, it is quite easy now I suppose. You still have the compost bin, don't you. Then later on you should buy a really good walking boots once they grow older