SIMPLY BLACK AND WHITE

Its the time of year when we are looking for the tell tails of the better weather and after the winter we have had it cant come soon enough.
With this in mind I would like to share this uplifting image with you all.

Wow!

I'll say it again. WOW Why wasn't this at JoB? love the red flowers on the Trumpet Moss.

Thanks Will, it was offered but as you know there was very little room
Regards Chris

That is a lovely composition.

Very nice!

I think this is very beautiful. I like the lay out of everything, from the tree to the slab and the accent.

will baddeley wrote:I'll say it again. WOW Why wasn't this at JoB? love the red flowers on the Trumpet Moss.

Double "WOW" Definately JOB's loss.

Tom

I like the tree and the accent. The scroll looks a bit worn and wrinkled.
But the stand really bothers me. It looks llike a burl slab with a set of roots or twigs on top - very discordant. Also one of the twigs/legs has an anthropomorphic characteristic somewhat distracting. Might have been much better with a shallow table or board under the whole slab planting.

I have to agree with Rob here. The scroll, while a lovely picture, is in sad shape and appears to me to be irrepairable. The stand with the slab on top looks dreadfully unstable to me. It probably is not, but the image it gives to me is that the tree and slab are in peril.

Scrolls like this one have to be rolled carefully and VERY tightly when put away. Otherwise, these wrinkles and folds occur and they cannot be fixed. It also is badly foxed or stained as if it was not stored in a dry location.

Hi Rob thanks for the feed back I agree with you on the stand but its the old thing about having the right stand etc for the tree, I am constantly looking for stands, I would love to find a good root stand for this and many other of my trees and I would love to be able to aford it if ever I found one!, however I think its important to lift the tree within the image. As for the scroll it is a very old Japanese job, for me the age and condition is in itself the soul and truth. I have a large collection of Japanese scrolls I just love them but it does mean I struggle to use them within a western display and both myself and Jeremy have looked long and hard to substitute them with some other element as the modern scrolls make little sense to us.
Hi Jim, the foxing and condition of the scrolls that I use is just genuine age and for me that makes them real.
I have re done the image on a flat slab see what you think Rob
Thanks to everyone for your comments

chris wrote:

Now that looks great.

The second redo with the slab under the main tree and the slab under the accent would be a no no. (Mario taught me the Japanese word for the slab is jita). It's a good idea not to try to use the same item/species and design in a display. The 2 jita are different colors and that makes we want to think, "Why are they different?" which detracts from the tree. Also since they are about the same thickness they keep both elements at the same height which is a bit too static and doesn't highlight the main tree. Hence the last photo with only the tree and the scroll looks best to me.

Hi,
I paid Chris a visit today, but he was out.
Chris's blackthorn was still on his display area.
So I took a few pictures.

and then the sun came out.


A close up.


Rob,

The second redo with the slab under the main tree and the slab under the accent would be a no no.

Chris I think knows this, we have discussed it on a number of occassions.
Personal taste and refinement develop with time and exposure to new and other displays. Therefore making a new addition to your personal visual libary.

Dear Chris and Jerry

First of all , what a beautiful flowering blackthorn!

Actually for my feeling,not japanese,just dutch,the first
or the last , Jerry's, presentation speak.

With the first,the stand and slab and tree keeps shape resistend,
all the way and this is comforting,'known' and easy to deal with
for they eye and accepting the presentation.

The last,is the shape dualism ,the natural soil,landscape,tree and slab
against the not natural,transparent shape of the stand.
The accent pot has also the basic shape language , the little slab
underneath the accentpot is a repetition of the big slab.
The only thing that give me a visual itch is the accentplant.
Like it does not belong there , the pot planted with only mosses,
or much lower creeping plants feels better for me.

Lovely to see this all
Kind regards
Morea

Spring unfolds from snows white
The sun radiant bright
A blackthorn blooms
My heart smiles

simply beautiful!

Hi,
Chris was there today.
The blackthorn flowers last for such a short time. It is important to get the best of the opportunity each year.
So we tried a darker background.

Very nice composition.

The last picture taken by Jerry in black background is the one I like most.
Nice composition Chris, Its beautiful!

Just wanderful