First time penjing exhibit

Hi IBC.
Coming October I'll be joining a penjing exhibition. I am planning to join in three to four composition. To make my entries a bit different, I wanted to send a penjing with "near view", as other penjings that we are more familiar with are the ones with towering mountains or landscapes with rivers and many trees.

Here are are a couple of compositions I am working on and trying to refine lately.

the first tree most of you are familiar with:








Jun for scale:




This one is ficus:
I might change the pot into a wider slab, The muck will be removed later and change the ground cover with moss.
Trained in lingnan Chinese style.











Jun again for scale...I am 5 feet 9 inches tall not a giant.



As always ladies and gentlemen of IBC, your comments and harsh and not too harsh suggestions are always welcome!
I got two more to post later.hehehe.

regards,
jun

JUN,,, Both trees look really good!! I like the ficus best i think??? if you put it on a slab imho please post it for us.. two good trees to enter this show.. good work as always...take care john

I like them, but please change the Ficus to something. It has muffin-top.

I like both. In the case of the first the Buddha looks Indian rather than Chinese. In the second the temple and the man are not to the same scale. I think I would remove the temple.

nice too see it again, its very nice ficus; i like both trees iam sure than they do a good performance, congrats Jun!

removed mypost - had a ittle too much wine that night !

Jun, your tree looks great. I love the seated figure. Wish I could find one like it.

jun wrote:Hi IBC.
Coming October I'll be joining a penjing exhibition. I am planning to join in three to four composition. To make my entries a bit different, I wanted to send a penjing with "near view", as other penjings that we are more familiar with are the ones with towering mountains or landscapes with rivers and many trees.

Here are are a couple of compositions I am working on and trying to refine lately.

the first tree most of you are familiar with:








Jun for scale:




This one is ficus:
I might change the pot into a wider slab, The muck will be removed later and change the ground cover with moss.
Trained in lingnan Chinese style.











Jun again for scale...I am 5 feet 9 inches tall not a giant.



As always ladies and gentlemen of IBC, your comments and harsh and not too harsh suggestions are always welcome!
I got two more to post later.hehehe.

regards,
jun

When and where is the penjing exhibit?

Hi Red.

Marquee, Pampanga on the second/third week of October.

regards,
jun

Russell Coker wrote:I like them, but please change the Ficus to something. It has muffin-top.

thanks Russell! I am still considering to cut more of the apex. But I don't have the guts yet. the branches are so thick.

regards,
jun


John,

thanks! i am glad you like the trees.

regards,
jun

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:I like both. In the case of the first the Buddha looks Indian rather than Chinese. In the second the temple and the man are not to the same scale. I think I would remove the temple.

Billy,
Thanks for the input! I think you are right. the ficus outgrew the other elements. this is the problem with ficus, It keeps on growing even in a confined pot.

regards,
jun


fM,

Thanks!
I am still trying to improve the design. the ground cover still needs some maturing.

regards,
jun

thanks Mike! Coming from you, an older (sorry) guy with much knowledge in the field is a huge compliment. I sent you a PM regarding the figurine.

regards,
jun

marcus watts wrote:in the first tree it is interesting you decide to keep all the foliage and branches lush, green and very healthy but the trunk you choose to keep half dead ?? i'm sure you pointed out recently a trunk and branches should show the same story of hardship to be a credible tree.

truth is a bonsai is a style of its own, it takes inspiration from nature but really it is a composition of images seen on many trees. - this tree is a very nice bonsai -the buddha is very ornate and indeed indian in appearance, the tree needs no further decoration as this detracts from a lovely tree with natural underplanting. it is the best of the two trees by a long way but not as penjing, just as a lovely tree

the ficus does not look at all mature - the main trunk has two equal heads fighting to be the leader (the tree only needs one apex) while the tree is very flat and level - the tiny temple has no credible scale to the tree trunk, i'd concentrate on making the tree good rather than try to make it fit the competition you wish to enter - penjing needs to conjour the image in the mind of a real landscape, adding a single decoration to the base of this tree doesnt really make me see a landscape.

To create penjing from the first tree a simple weathered and old looking buddha would match the weathered old appearance of the tree - this would give the image in the mind you hope for and would look very good in the competition - good luck - i'd enter with quality not quantity again

...Did I say that? I guess I did. hehehe. Anyway, I am glad it caught your eyes and attention. curiosity will result to knowledge,
that is the purpose of "art" (I think), to gain curiosity then, question, then analyze, then perhaps an answer.

In nature trees fell, trees struggle, trees burned down but if the tree is strong and got the luck and will to be alive it will form a new trunk a new branch structure different from the previous one, a new set of being, and perhaps it will evolve into a whole new tree...but the scars and mark of the struggle will always be there.
For this particular composition I wanted to create that image. a whole new renewed youthfulness of a tree, but the old life is still much visible.
It is not a literati, by which a literati is still in the the process of struggle to survive, having a lesser canopy a twisted trunk and branches trying to find sunlight and very few foliage just enough to feed the tree of light.

With regards to the sitting figure, I thought it is more of a Thai Buddhist rather than Indian...but does it matter. I am actually looking for a praying Christ, an image when he is talking to his father in heaven...that image always moved me as a Catholic, but no luck finding one.
This is the beauty of creation like this, you can always change the accessories or not put anything at all, but like I said this is for a penjing exhibition.


Quality over Quantity? Why not strive for a quantity with lots of quality? hehehe. I am trying...

Thanks again, nice talking to a fellow curious cat like me.

regards,
jun

Jun

That first one is exceptional. I love the Buddha, and the comfortable little niche you created for it. This is one of the few bonsai I've seen that really doesn't look contrived. Congrats. It's coming close to repotting time on my big ficus, and you've given me some serious inspiration. Thanks for that!

Jun

Buddha meditating under the tree is excellent. The surrounding ambience trully emulates the nature. Just one little comment.. if the buddha is of a smaller scale I guess it will be perfect.

Nd

Good day Jun,

Thats a great presentation you have there, the trunk formation really fascinating, i just wonder my Dear Mentor, where do you possibly get the moss that you rap around the base of the ficus, is that an artificial moss that we usually buy in the mall or the actual moss that we can get in any wall or interior of the garden, and do you also use a net in rapping the base of it or a clay perhaps as a medium of growth of the subject trees, kindly educate me the process that you made in that two trees of yours, thank you and more power..

ferdz

Damienindesert wrote:Jun

That first one is exceptional. I love the Buddha, and the comfortable little niche you created for it. This is one of the few bonsai I've seen that really doesn't look contrived. Congrats. It's coming close to repotting time on my big ficus, and you've given me some serious inspiration. Thanks for that!

Thanks Damien! good luck with your ficus. do share it with us.

regards,
jun



ND,

Thanks!

regards,
jun

Ferdie,
Your Mentor!!! hahaha! more like a classmate here in IBC classroom.

The moss at the base of the ficus is naturally grown moss from the initial sphagnum moss. but during shows, the moss you see there are not at all old moss that grows naturally in the pot, the moss is added a week or days before an exhibition to add up an extra natural appeal to a tree or penjing and forest planting, it also enhances the scale illusion of a bonsai. Mine, i just look around my garden area. i like different kind of moss in one pot, as one type of moss alone looks too artificial and newly placed. Some people buy moss as far as Europe and sent here weeks before a show. those are the really nice ones.

Placing a ficus is no problem at all, it will easily adopt to its new position. I am currently changing the layout of the ficus in a new pot, but my kids wanted it to have a water and living fish in the "pond" . That is my biggest problem right now and not the design and the muck.

The first tree is a "blue bell", That is more challenging to position it that way and to become stable at once, please see its original form here in IBC. There is an extra trick applied to that tree otherwise it will become to heavy and filled with too much soil. For the muck I used clay, grass/hay and sphagnum moss to hold the base together. If you have time I'll show you how it is done, and some other magics.

I hope this helps.

regards,
jun

marcus watts wrote:in the first tree it is interesting you decide to keep all the foliage and branches lush, green and very healthy but the trunk you choose to keep half dead ?? i'm sure you pointed out recently a trunk and branches should show the same story of hardship to be a credible tree.

truth is a bonsai is a style of its own, it takes inspiration from nature but really it is a composition of images seen on many trees. - this tree is a very nice bonsai -the buddha is very ornate and indeed indian in appearance, the tree needs no further decoration as this detracts from a lovely tree with natural underplanting. it is the best of the two trees by a long way but not as penjing, just as a lovely tree

the ficus does not look at all mature - the main trunk has two equal heads fighting to be the leader (the tree only needs one apex) while the tree is very flat and level - the tiny temple has no credible scale to the tree trunk, i'd concentrate on making the tree good rather than try to make it fit the competition you wish to enter - penjing needs to conjour the image in the mind of a real landscape, adding a single decoration to the base of this tree doesnt really make me see a landscape.

To create penjing from the first tree a simple weathered and old looking buddha would match the weathered old appearance of the tree - this would give the image in the mind you hope for and would look very good in the competition - good luck - i'd enter with quality not quantity again

Forgot to answer some of the queries you made specially with the ficus.
matured- refer to base of trunk, and branch size ratio, and tapering trunk
Two heads- better than one! seriously though- matured ficus in the wild formed a multiple conopy specially this variety of Chinese banyan? Have you seen one in the wild? lots of them here, Single apex is more applicable to pines and Christmas tree
The tree flat and leveled- That is design I want, and I am not slave to any rules. I make my own design, (of course with some IBCers suggestions) I am a free man. and the strict rules and path you follow is not applicable to me. Sorry.
If you dont see a landscape- I do. but thanks.

...lastly, What is it with the Buddha? I really can't understand if it would make any difference if it is a Chinese, A Thai, A Cambodian, A Tibetan, or Caucasian Buddha?< Honestly I can't understand that point.... I don't really reveal some of the design considerations I made, but for you I will make a little exception, Check out the little detail of the tip of "hat" of the Buddha, that is the key for selecting this particular piece, and its particular placement on that precise spot.
...Can you see it? It got a pointed tip, aligned with an imaginary line to the first long shari and the lower deadwood to the left of the tall dead wood, then the tip of the pointed hat, then the imaginary line dip further down to the tip of the cantilevered rock then finally to the pointed edge of the slab, then from the edge of the right side of the slab the invisible line connects to the tip of the tallest shari, What you got is a perfect triangle with the top of the invisible triangle perfectly aligned to the form of the canopy of the tree... Do you think it will have the same visual effect if it is a bald head of a fat Buddha? Details my friend,,, continuity and repetition is one of the factors in creating art. the eye is always guided by invisible visual line.

I hope to see one of your penjing works to educate me further as I am always hungry for new wisdom.

regards,
jun

Hi Jun,
I think the first tree with the Buddha is amazing ,great work. Good luck with it.

I think the first composition is genuinely outstanding. It strikes me exactly as a 'real' full-size scene, especially in the picture with the close-up of the figure. The tree is only part of the image, and perhaps not even the biggest part. Beautiful.

Tom

Yo Jun,

I think your two trees are great... Good luck with the competition... Id rather be in quantity than quality, besides you have nothing to lose... show your art...


Gexx

Thanks Gexx,

i'll be moderate. I'll just send 3 to 4 compositions. I am preparing other trees too for Mang Pabling's different show, need more exposure to understand people and trees more (specially on understanding -the other people more). hehehe.

regards,
jun



Tom,

Thank you! I am glad you like the concept well. You are right-The tree is just part of a whole, but should also have a character.

regards,
jun

Smithy?

Welcome back my man! Thanks. I am glad to see back here again. I see you are active in other forum,,, lucky them.

regards,
jun

jun wrote:Smithy?

Welcome back my man! Thanks. I am glad to see back here again. I see you are active in other forum,,, lucky them.

regards,
jun

Thanks Jun,
I thought it was time to get vocal again. I always love to see your work.