Carved my buttonwood

[Poink88]

Today, a friend visited and after some discussion we trimmed my buttonwood. I think we ended removing 90% of the foliage. After he left...I reduced it further leaving about 3% foliage from original then proceeded to carve it using my die grinder. All the work was done with one bit and no other tool. It is very rough but I will clean it up later and add more details.

What do you think?

Old picture showing the original wood that I carved.

After 2 hours of carving...

Note that this branch was just one...I made it look like 2

What do you think? Comments, good and bad....welcome. Suggestion for improvement encouraged.

 

[stacy allen muse]

?????????????????

 

[Poink88]

I know about the carving not what you would find normally on buttonwood but I aim to please. My wife "encouraged" this design finding the one I did earlier (see lower part of total dead wood) not as exciting.

You hit the design part square on the head on both counts...jin should have been higher but I had an "accident" so it got lowered. The apex is also intended to be diverted to the right.

 

[stacy allen muse]

?????????????

 

[JudyB]

I think it's a pretty good looking carving. After it ages, you can go back in and hand tool it a bit to ease the tool marks some. I find that letting nature do some of the work gives it a natural feel.

 

[Poink88]

I think it's a pretty good looking carving. After it ages, you can go back in and hand tool it a bit to ease the tool marks some. I find that letting nature do some of the work gives it a natural feel.

Thanks Judy.

We will clean it up a bit (probably within a week) to reduce the tool marks but do plan on letting Mother nature do her magic on it so no sealers or lime sulphur for at least a year. My wife volunteered to do it and it will be a fun project for us. She is more artistic than me anyway.

 

[JudyB]

Sounds like you're doing a good job of infecting your wife with the bug...

Do you have Will's book about Dan Robinson yet? There is a great deal of carving inspiration in the book and the photos of the trees in it. I look at it before I carve anything, just to get a feel of how to make it look like I never touched it. There is of course no comparison, but it does help to see how it's supposed to look...

 

[Poink88]

Judy,

If you are talking about this...
Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees: The Life and Works of Dan Robinson - Bonsai Pioneer
http://www.amazon.com/Gnarly-Branches-Ancient-Trees-Robinson/dp/0615378501

I do not (yet), a bit pricey but if you say it is worth it, I will buy it.

By the way, she is in it with me from the beginning (in less active role) but have the eye and I consult her every now and then when I am not too sure (esp a major chop). The dangerous part is that she tend to "claim" ownership of my better trees. LOL.

 

[Poink88]

I would just let it grow for now and see what is there for you to work with next year.

Before the final branch reduction, I tried wiring some but they refuse to bend and the ones I forced broke so I decided to cut further. By clip and grow, I actually managed to get 4 levels of ramification on this before the drastic cut yesterday so it is a bummer but I know I can re-grow it in one season so better do it right this time.

Any BW tips you can share?

 

[JudyB]

Judy,

If you are talking about this...
Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees: The Life and Works of Dan Robinson - Bonsai Pioneer
http://www.amazon.com/Gnarly-Branches-Ancient-Trees-Robinson/dp/0615378501

Yep that's the one. You will be happy you did...

Crazy new avatar

 

[stacy allen muse]

?????????????

 

[Poink88]

B-woods are very slow at growing roots, ...

That's odd and not my experience with this tree. It is very top heavy for the pot (dish pan) I used so I buried it in deeper using the clear plastic sleeves to stabilize it. Through it I can see that the entire sleeved soil is full of roots!!! :O I got this tree around February this year and it just exploded with leaves after sulking a bit. It is a shame I didn't take a pic of it with all the foliage before the carnage. I also pulled/yanked a small (newly grown) branch at the base with lots of roots, the 2 biggest are 1/8" and 3/16" in diameter...I planted it and hope it takes.

 

[Poink88]

Yep that's the one. You will be happy you did...

Crazy new avatar

Thanks about the book.

Re: the avatar, I always wanted to have something like this (with Edward Scissorhands)but never got to it. My son visited me last night and I asked him if he can make me one describing what I envisioned and he emailed me this an hour or so ago.

 

[Poink88]

Yep that's the one. You will be happy you did...

Judy,

I purchased the book (from Elandan Gardens) this weekend...can't wait for it to get here.

 

[Poink88]

Time to fezz up. I never got to cleaning the carving on this

...but the good news is that it grew a new top already (yeah even while inside) and I'm pretty pleased where it is going.

I know useless w/o pics, but I am bored so I am dredging some old posts LOL. I promise to post some once I got to it.

 

[Poink88]

Just an update pic...

View attachment 30608 and back View attachment 30609

 

[stacy allen muse]

Just an update pic...

View attachment 30567 and back View attachment 30568

I think that the second photo makes a nicer front...
The deadwood on the left side of the tree in the second
photo can be brought down to the soil, seeing that there
is not any foilage above it.

 

[Poink88]

Update pic.

View attachment 39097

 

[Poink88]

Today is my 2nd year bonsai anniversary and decided to post a few updates for some of my trees in training. (hope you don't mind)

 

[Cadillactaste]

Judy,

I purchased the book (from Elandan Gardens) this weekend...can't wait for it to get here.

Not that I will ever be daring enough to carve...or have the material to do so on. I am intrigued by it...put the link into a special file of possible books to later purchase.