A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF "THE ELEPHANT" LARCH.

Hi Hans,

This is one knockout tree, I agree with you regarding the stone/no stone issue, I think the gap supports the tree's story better and is more natural because you are not trying to hide it. No matter what stone you choose it will never truly fit as it was never there to begin with.

I like the idea of a moss or fern and was going to do a virt. So back to your original images & there is exactly what I wanted. I think this is also what Harleyrider means by not obscruing the gap too much. Because it is located just behind the gap it does not conceal but highlights it.

Matt

Hans van Meer. wrote:


29-9-2010.

Hope you enjoyed these pictures!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Hi everybody,
thanks for your thoughts about those exposed roots! You all know I do things my own way! But still, I am some what relieved that so many of you, like me, prefer or at least dont dislike those roots exposed! It strengthens me in the decision to keep them just as they are and see them as a rare natural bonus instead of a fold that could pull the over all quality of the whole composition down!
Not only in this case, but in general, I dont like the use of ferns or other small plants planted next to a solitaire bonsai. Although they are useful to hide small mistakes or to fill up space were there is a dis balance in the open spaces around the trunk base of the tree, they do have the tendency to dwarf your tree. Bonsai for me is downsizing things, to get as close as possible to the real thing. So if for instance, I have a 50cm/20inch formal upright Pine, with nicely balanced branch structure and small needles that makes the tree look believable to our eyes. But there is to much open space on one side of the tree (space between ground and branch or jin)! Now I could very easily ad a small fern there to compensate for that gap, bringing more balance to the over all composition. But in my believe and feeling, the larger leaves and the overall size of that furn, will always look disproportional large in comparison with the tree like image that I so carfuly tried to creat! It is counter productive! This is the same feeling that I get from looking at a perfectly proportionate tree like Azalea bonsai with those way to big flowers on it. Adding a rock, would proportionally be a better choice, but even that is something that I would try to avoid.
Hiding things, for me is always the last option! Only when there is no other option I will think about it. I prefer to look for a other styling option, incorporating the folds and ugly part of the tree into the design! Making a + out off a - is the most exciting part of working on Yamadori like this one!
Just like with this quirky "Elephant" of mine, I always felt that those exposed roots belonged there! They are such a intricate part of the live story of this tree, that it would almost be a crime to try to hide them! I do believe that leaving them just as the are, is the right thing to do! So for now, I will stick to my original plan! But who knows? My visions of the end resuld can still be altered! There is no hurry!!!!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Hi Hans

Your tree is amazing....I dont think, I would add anything under the roots ( maybe a very, very tiny fern).

If a stone, I would have to see it first, ( how it fits, the texture, sharpnes and direction, allso do I think it would have to be very small.
Sorry, I do not have photoshop, so I can not send you a suggestion about a stone.
I like Walter Palls third pot-suggestion best.

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne Graubaek wrote:Hi Hans

Your tree is amazing....I dont think, I would add anything under the roots ( maybe a very, very tiny fern).

If a stone, I would have to see it first, ( how it fits, the texture, sharpnes and direction, allso do I think it would have to be very small.
Sorry, I do not have photoshop, so I can not send you a suggestion about a stone.
I like Walter Palls third pot-suggestion best.

Kind regards Yvonne

Hi Yvonne, nice to hear from you! And thanks for you thoughts!
How is your little upside down tamarix doing that you showed in Alborg 2008?
Cheers,
Hans.

Hi Hans

You remember ..... The thing about the little tamarix is, that only the main trunk survives every winter. So last year I decided to grow it fatter, hoping the upper part of branches will survive ( the part near the trunk). For the further developement will I look forward to the spring.
Actully. do I use this tecnic for more of my trees now.
A part use of my tecnick would make your elefant-larix stronger on the lowest branch, or just keep it strong.
I can tell you about it at Neolanders.

Kind regards Yvonne

Hi Hans, I love larches and this is great.
My Pot suggestions.

Hans van Meer. wrote:


29-9-2010.

Hope you enjoyed these pictures!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Hi everybody,
as you can see above, it has been a while since the last update of my Larch named "the Elephant"! In a heartbeat, almost 2 years have gone by since then, and all that time "the Elephant" was allowed to grow almost freely with out any wiring on it! Most of the desired branches are already there or almost there, including the finer branches! But most of these, still young, new main branches are still bending under their own weight and still wont stay in their desired positions! So to overcome that problem, I used wooden sticks, chopsticks and pieces of thick (second hands) wire, to lift and hold in place those main branches, just above their desired position (to allow some room for gravity when their support is removed). Than during this and last growing season the tree was, and still is, spoiled with plenty fertilizer and water to let the branches grow/thicken rapidly! Well since than the branches have thickened considerably and are starting to fixate more and more into place! And as a bonus the bark on the branches is ageing more rapidly and looking much better! During this growing period, the work on improving the finner branch structure went on like always! Cut what needed cutting and let grow, were growth was needed! Like the new branches you can see sticking out on top, like a antenna! So forgive "the Elephant" for looking like a static woolly mammoth, but it looks like this for a reason! In the near future, all those foliage pads will be much smaller and more refined and open! So I hope, that in just a couple of more years time, I will be able to start to work on making "the Elephant" more presentable! It takes a while to get it right, but I am sure that it will be worth the wait and to enjoy the seasons like "the Elephant" those!



Hope you appreciate the update and the picture?!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Hi Hans,
Your larch is looking great with vigour.

With some pot virtuals have you already choose one that match your taste?

Regards,

Very nice piece! Wish I had something even remotely close to this in my collection. Ah well..

Thx for sharing,

Jelle.

Fantastic looking tree. I'd love to get material like that someday. You are really doing it justice.

Rui Marques wrote:Hi Hans,
Your larch is looking great with vigour.

With some pot virtuals have you already choose one that match your taste?

Regards,

Hi Rui,
yes she seams to be enjoying her life, doesn't she?! And yes there were some nice and clever virts, but I have some slightly different ideas in my head for this tree! If they will be possible to achieve, well we will see when that time has arrived! And I dont plan to repot it for at least 2 more growing seasons after this one! Bonsai on the scale that I am doing it, is often a waiting game! I simply dont have that much room in my small garden and there for dont have that many Bonsai or Bonsai projects to work on! So I learned to extra enjoy the planing and working towards a future goal! But I am not complaining about that, because it only makes my Bonsai work even more personal to me, and that can never be wrong! Just a few more years of T.L.C and than I will know if my idea for this tree proved to be a good or maybe even a special one?!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

leatherback wrote:Very nice piece! Wish I had something even remotely close to this in my collection. Ah well..

Thx for sharing,

Jelle.

tmmason10 wrote:Fantastic looking tree. I'd love to get material like that someday. You are really doing it justice.

Thanks guy's! Yes I was quit lucky to be able to get this amazing tree and to work on it for all these years. And it is not even half finished yet!
For those who dont know: You can find the whole progressive story of this and most of my other Bonsai on "KARAMOTTO" my personal Bonsai website!
My Bonsai gallery on there is sadly lost and because I was locked out for a long long while, it dos need a lot of updating! Sorry for that! But all the stories of my work are still there for those interested to enjoy!
And naturally, I will keep posting it's progress here on IBC!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

HANS,, The tree is awsome !!!!! it don,t matter what pot you put it in.. great job take care john

Hi Hans.

The Larch is getting better and better. Its really a stunning and fascinating creation.

Cheers, roland

moyogijohn wrote:HANS,, The tree is awsome !!!!! it don,t matter what pot you put it in.. great job take care john

Thanks John! I am glad you like it!

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

rolandp wrote:Hi Hans.

The Larch is getting better and better. Its really a stunning and fascinating creation.

Cheers, roland

Thanks my friend! I hope I can show it in real life to you and the rest of the guy's some time real soon, when you find a possibility to visit my little garden! For a diner and a few beers!
beers,
Hans van Meer.

This tree has been and still is my faviorite example of larch bonsai. I am glad to see it doing so well. On a side note what if you slowly started to bring those roots on the left in twards the trunk .I think it would give the illusion of a stronger nebari if you could bend them in reverse of where they are now concave instead of convex.I know it would be a big undertaking and would take a few years but the nebari on that side would balance the right side and make the over all compisition stronger. Just my thought take it with a grain of salt.

Without exposed roots
[img][/img]

Hans van Meer. wrote:

rolandp wrote:Hi Hans.

The Larch is getting better and better. Its really a stunning and fascinating creation.

Cheers, roland

Thanks my friend! I hope I can show it in real life to you and the rest of the guy's some time real soon, when you find a possibility to visit my little garden! For a diner and a few beers!
beers,
Hans van Meer.

Hi Hans. My friend, this sounds like a great plan for a perfect day:)

cheers, roland

Seth Ellwood wrote:This tree has been and still is my faviorite example of larch bonsai. I am glad to see it doing so well. On a side note what if you slowly started to bring those roots on the left in twards the trunk .I think it would give the illusion of a stronger nebari if you could bend them in reverse of where they are now concave instead of convex.I know it would be a big undertaking and would take a few years but the nebari on that side would balance the right side and make the over all compisition stronger. Just my thought take it with a grain of salt.

abcd wrote:Without exposed roots
[img][/img]

Hi Seth,
thanks for the compliment! I am glad you like it! The possibility of bending this aerial root toward the trunk, was one of the first things that I checked when the tree made it into my garden! But I soon found out that it is not only to thick to bend (12 cm around), it is also has a long/large section of a deadwood running trough the middle of it! And even if it would be possible to bend, there is no way to close that large gape between the root and the base of the trunk. Not even if I would saw a large wetch out off it, to make it easier to bend! And even then it would not close completely or even enough! And than there is the health of the tree to consider as well! This large root feeds a large part of the tree, so cutting deeply in to it, to be able to bend it, is not realy a option for this uncertain end result! Removing it completely, like abcd? did (thanks for your virtual), looks like a good option in this picture! But in real life it is much more complex than one would get from only looking at my picture or the virtual! My decision to try to incorporate this aerial root into my design is not only based on my taste or style, it is also based on what is possible to do, with out damaging the health of this precious old tree! I made a new photo that I used for the next virtual to try to explain how the base of this tree looks close up in real life! Before I made it, I removed some of the (cleverly placed) top layer, around the base of the tree to better show the real shape of it!
Yellow arrows: This section of the trunk is thicker than the section directly above the base of the trunk (red arrows)! This makes that section look like a Buddha belly. The transition of lower trunk into the thick left and right base roots is not ideal as well! And to make things worse, they look like twins! This will be even more obvius when the line/flow disturbing root (blue arrow) would be removed in the future! Green arrow: The disturbing areal root that grew here is removed just before I made the picture!



So you see that the planes for a design with this areal root in it, are not only based on my stubbornness as a artist! They are also based on looking at all the pros and cons of the different design possibilities! The design that I have in mind for this tree and it future pot are hopefully doable in time! And only than will I know if my vision was right or not?! But I sooo want to give it a try!
Below: Just a few more years!



Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

i dont know what it is i just love this larch ever since the first time i saw it on your website great job.

Hello Hans,

I would shorten the cascading branch.

AlainK wrote:Hello Hans,

I would shorten the cascading branch.

Hi Alain,
yes I know! Believe me, I made those virts and sketches also! There is even a beautiful moyogi hidden in there, with that bottom branch even shorter! But you know what it is Alain, you can always cut things off, but putting them back is harder! And I want to finish or almost finish this tree first with that cascading branch as a main focal point, becauce that is what I first saw and feld when I first laid my eyes on this tree! And forgive me for saying, but as a artist (boy I hate to use that word) I want to follow my feelings first, even when logic would dictate differently! I hope that this makes sense, but it is how I feel and think about Bonsai and live in general! And believe me when I say, you should see this tree in real live, the feeling that this design (even now) gives off is soooo different than how it looks in most pictures! All those, now over sized and heavy foliage pads, will be 5 or 6 times multiplied by division, creating many much smaller and detailed foliage pads! That combined with the future shorter needles, will open up this tree completely and show the branch structure and more importantly: all those open spaces that are now still hidden behind all that green! Creating a far more distance image of a immense tree crowing on and over the edge of the mountainside, way ahead in the distance. And that long cascading branch plays such a important roll in creating that feeling or image! And when I have reached that point, when all is more or less were I imagined it, well only than will I finaly see and feel if my gut feeling was right all those years ago?! If not...well like I sad: I can always cut it off! But I will show it first here and hope that you and others will have a other look than? And I hope that I can surprise you!

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend!

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Beautiful !!!   

Fantastic work to make this fantastic Tree

Congratulations