A “rule breaker”

[Adair M]

So, I am known (and scorned by some) for having “rules” to style bonsai. And indeed, most of the time, I do try to apply the rules because I have found that the results are pretty good.

But every now and again, it’s best to look past the rules. And so it is with this tree:



The rule I’m breaking here is the “no deadwood on a JBP” rule. Well, this tree had a really bad flaw, an extreme “pigeon breast” bulging trunk that really detracted from it. So... I figured that the best way to handle it was to turn it into a feature!

So, I tried carving it out. I quickly determined that I had no talent or skill in that area, so I enlisted a pro: Danny Coffey. He carved out the trunk and created this interesting Uro that will only get better with age. He and I then collaborated on the design. I wired it in a workshop and together we figured out how to mitigate another major flaw: the two lowest branches are bar branches. We “fixed” this by pulling both branches down, and moved one forward and the other one back. They’re still “bar branches”, but they don’t kill like they are!

The white deadwood, by the way, is completely natural! I have not applied any lime sulfur. The wood was rich with sap, “sugar” was what Danny called it, and it now beginning to age gracefully.

I decandled it last summer, and I just finished pulling old needles.

 

[Dav4]

It's looking good, Adair... definitely salvaged that nice, fat trunk with the carving and subsequent styling.

 

[BobbyLane]

Good looking hollow. ive found myself having to hollow out pigeon breast trunks in the past too, the extra volume of deep, thick wood can seem abnormal and detract from the tree.
i never would of thought dead wood wouldnt be acceptable on a pine though, jbp is a pine after all. thats a new one to me, but what do i know, ive never owned a pine!

 

[Adair M]

Good looking hollow. ive found myself having to hollow out pigeon breast trunks in the past too, the extra volume of deep, thick wood can seem abnormal and detract from the tree.
i never would of thought dead wood wouldnt be acceptable on a pine though, jbp is a pine after all. thats a new one to me, but what do i know, ive never owned a pine!

Traditionally, deadwood on a JBP is discouraged because JBP are native to coastal regions of Japan, where deadwood quickly rots away. As opposed to mountain pines where the air is dry, and sun bleached deadwood can persist for centuries.

Ergo, JBP are usually styled without deadwood and/or shari. Whereas JWP and junipers can feature dramatic deadwood.

 

[Pitoon]

You got a before and after pic? The carving came out good.

 

[Adair M]

Here is an old picture from 2014;



And here is a picture from after my attempt to carve it, circa 2016:



Today:

 

[Shogun610]

Here is an old picture from 2014;

View attachment 336155

And here is a picture from after my attempt to carve it, circa 2016:

View attachment 336154

Today:

View attachment 336156

Did you guys have to determine where the live vein was in this pine? Or did you essentially cause the tree to form a live vein after carving was started. Cause there are jins and shari’s on all types of trees , but I’m not too knowledgeable on how hollowing out is done.

 

[TomB]

Massive improvement. Looks really good.

 

[Adair M]

It was all alive when I started! There were some scars where branches had been removed prior to my ownership. I started there, drilling them out. I then connected them to create the hollow. I tried to leave a live vein across the front. But, I was having trouble figuring out exactly where to go with it.

That’s when I decided to let Danny work on it. He has great carving skills!

I gave it to him before one of the Winter Silohette shows in Kannapolis. He kept the tree for a year, and would work on it from time to time. Open up a bit, let it dry out, come back and work some more, etc.

After a year and a couple months, I met up with him at his studio in Asheville, and worked with him in a workshop to style it. That was maybe a year ago. Since then, I decandled and pulled needles.

 

[Pitoon]

It really does look a lot better carved.

 

[Shogun610]

It was all alive when I started! There were some scars where branches had been removed prior to my ownership. I started there, drilling them out. I then connected them to create the hollow. I tried to leave a live vein across the front. But, I was having trouble figuring out exactly where to go with it.

That’s when I decided to let Danny work on it. He has great carving skills!

I gave it to him before one of the Winter Silohette shows in Kannapolis. He kept the tree for a year, and would work on it from time to time. Open up a bit, let it dry out, come back and work some more, etc.

After a year and a couple months, I met up with him at his studio in Asheville, and worked with him in a workshop to style it. That was maybe a year ago. Since then, I decandled and pulled needles.

Very cool , I especially appreciate that no preservatives were used on the wood. So when you water , are you going to hit on the other side so there isn’t too much moisture up in the hollow or by now will that not matter.

 

[mapleX]

The problem with the rules is that they are called rules.

Beautiful tree Adair

 

[JudyB]

Love it so much more now. And you certainly tapped the right person for that job!

 

[Adair M]

Very cool , I especially appreciate that no preservatives were used on the wood. So when you water , are you going to hit on the other side so there isn’t too much moisture up in the hollow or by now will that not matter.

When I water, I try to direct the water as much as I can to hit just the soil. But, of course it rains everywhere.

As it happens, I tend to water from behind. That’s mere a coincidence to how I have my benches set up. I walk between every other bench, watering both sides. I do take pains to assure water gets all around the pot

Boon has a tree styled like this, and over time, the cavity has turned quite black. The interior of mine is doing that, too. The tree faces West on the bench, so the front gets late afternoon sun which is bleaching out the deadwood. I don’t have any plans to treat it. If it really starts to rot away, then, I’ll have to do something.

 

[penumbra]

What a splendid transformation. To be honest, I did not like the tree in the least before carving.
You and your friend both deserve accolades.
Now it is a treasure to die for.

 

[Adair M]

Love it so much more now. And you certainly tapped the right person for that job!

Yeah, I have good connections!

 

[davetree]

Going to just get better with age. Really nice.

 

[Adair M]

What are splendid transformation. To be honest, I did not like the tree in the least before carving.
You and your friend both deserve accolades.
Now it is a treasure to die for.

And it will only get better! At the workshop, I only did “rough wiring”. Nothing smaller than 14 gauge wire. I a couple weeks, I plan to do a bit of detail wiring.

 

[Adair M]

What a splendid transformation. To be honest, I did not like the tree in the least before carving.
You and your friend both deserve accolades.
Now it is a treasure to die for.

And I didn’t either. But with a big, fat trunk like that, I figured I could do something with it. At first, I was thinking it would be a grafting project. Then Boon suggested using his tree “Godzilla” (now John Kirby’s tree), as inspiration, and make a “Son of Godzilla”.

Here’s a picture of me and Godzilla:

 

[coh]

So, I am known (and scorned by some) for having “rules” to style bonsai. And indeed, most of the time, I do try to apply the rules because I have found that the results are pretty good.

But every now and again, it’s best to look past the rules. And so it is with this tree:

The rule I’m breaking here is the “no deadwood on a JBP” rule. Well, this tree had a really bad flaw, an extreme “pigeon breast” bulging trunk that really detracted from it. So... I figured that the best way to handle it was to turn it into a feature!

What is this world coming to? 2020 has been crazy enough but now we find out Adair is breaking the rules!?

Great improvement since 2014.