One of the ways that the Carolina Bonsai Expo is different than other shows, that I am aware of, is that each club display is judged for its overall appeal...not just individual trees...which are also judged. This was the 18th annual CBE and it took a few years for this side of the competition to really catch on....but now it has! And, it has certainly raised the quality of the show! Over the years the trees have gotten significantly better and displays have improved immensely as well. One other aspect that I am sure many of you are aware of is that clubs are encouraged to explore display beyond the traditional Japanese way.
Following are a few pictures from the 15 different clubs...I apologize as I did not photograph every display but here are a few that I did.
First is the Bonsai Empire Club from Virginia... Although not my taste, this effort took an amazing amount of work. It was well received by the public and won the Peer's Choice award from the bonsai folks in attendance. Mr. Clemons had several good suggestions for improvement and noted that the actual trees used were excellent. The base is two 8' tables placed side by side....~8'x5'
The display is the Hinoke Bonsai Club of Roanoke Va. This club featured photos as the back drop to their 16' display. The ribbon is for the small Elm bonsai...inspite of all the excellent large bonsai displayed this year, this tree was the winner of the Peer's choice award.
The next display is also from a Virginia group...16'
Atlanta Bonsai society tried something a little different in their 16' display. There were mixed reviews of this display and Rodney, who is from Atlanta, was pretty tough in his critique of this effort.
The Triangle Bonsai club from North Carolina...16' In the critique of this display, it was pointed out that perhaps the posters could have been place else where to allow more room for the trees.
The Susquahanna Club (I may not have that spelling correct) brought something a little different as well. unfortunately I did not get a full picture of the display. To the left of this image were 3 bonsai spaced closely together.
This is another club display...I think it is from the Wilmington, NC bonsai club. 16' In my opinion this display could have been better with fewer trees. Unfortunately, too many trees is something that nearly every club has suffered from at some point along this journey.
The Knoxville Club also came in with a nice display...more traditional(kind of accepted from the home club of Bjorn) but great trees including the best in show semi-cascade Rocky Mountain juniper.
The Blue Ridge Bonsai Society produced a very nice display of all small trees this year...12 in total. As Jim(jkl) pointed out in another thread this display was awarded the Curator's Award.
I found this display to be very appealing...very clean and easy too look at!
The last display I have to post is from the Black Creek Study Group. We opted this year to try and simplify a little bit...just three trees, no stands other that the large pedestals. We also opened are display to thru traffic and close inspection by not using tables. It was a little unnerving to see large groups of folks gathered closely around our trees throughout the weekend but in the end everything was fine. We were honored to receive the Best in Show for group display from Rodney. The Bald Cypress in the middle was also selected as the People's Choice award.
Unfortunately I did not get a good pic of the Carolina Bonsai Society's display as their lights were off the only time I had to take photos. They were the only club this year to incorporate their own lighting to good effect when it was on. Their display can be seen in the background of the Black Study Group display photo.
One of the things I noticed this year was that several of the displays used only 4 trees. While it is a very good thing that the number of trees were reduced, it seemed to me that this even number created a symmetry in the display that was a little distracting to the flow of the overall display.
I love participating in this event each year and it just gets better every year in respect to the displays and the quality of the trees. I want to commend and thank each and every group for their thoughtful displays. It is more and more apparent each year that the planning and work that goes into each display is growing...and I think the results speak for themselves.
Thanks for looking and I would love to hear your comments about the various displays.
John
Following are a few pictures from the 15 different clubs...I apologize as I did not photograph every display but here are a few that I did.
First is the Bonsai Empire Club from Virginia... Although not my taste, this effort took an amazing amount of work. It was well received by the public and won the Peer's Choice award from the bonsai folks in attendance. Mr. Clemons had several good suggestions for improvement and noted that the actual trees used were excellent. The base is two 8' tables placed side by side....~8'x5'
The display is the Hinoke Bonsai Club of Roanoke Va. This club featured photos as the back drop to their 16' display. The ribbon is for the small Elm bonsai...inspite of all the excellent large bonsai displayed this year, this tree was the winner of the Peer's choice award.
The next display is also from a Virginia group...16'
Atlanta Bonsai society tried something a little different in their 16' display. There were mixed reviews of this display and Rodney, who is from Atlanta, was pretty tough in his critique of this effort.
The Triangle Bonsai club from North Carolina...16' In the critique of this display, it was pointed out that perhaps the posters could have been place else where to allow more room for the trees.
The Susquahanna Club (I may not have that spelling correct) brought something a little different as well. unfortunately I did not get a full picture of the display. To the left of this image were 3 bonsai spaced closely together.
This is another club display...I think it is from the Wilmington, NC bonsai club. 16' In my opinion this display could have been better with fewer trees. Unfortunately, too many trees is something that nearly every club has suffered from at some point along this journey.
The Knoxville Club also came in with a nice display...more traditional(kind of accepted from the home club of Bjorn) but great trees including the best in show semi-cascade Rocky Mountain juniper.
The Blue Ridge Bonsai Society produced a very nice display of all small trees this year...12 in total. As Jim(jkl) pointed out in another thread this display was awarded the Curator's Award.
I found this display to be very appealing...very clean and easy too look at!
The last display I have to post is from the Black Creek Study Group. We opted this year to try and simplify a little bit...just three trees, no stands other that the large pedestals. We also opened are display to thru traffic and close inspection by not using tables. It was a little unnerving to see large groups of folks gathered closely around our trees throughout the weekend but in the end everything was fine. We were honored to receive the Best in Show for group display from Rodney. The Bald Cypress in the middle was also selected as the People's Choice award.
Unfortunately I did not get a good pic of the Carolina Bonsai Society's display as their lights were off the only time I had to take photos. They were the only club this year to incorporate their own lighting to good effect when it was on. Their display can be seen in the background of the Black Study Group display photo.
One of the things I noticed this year was that several of the displays used only 4 trees. While it is a very good thing that the number of trees were reduced, it seemed to me that this even number created a symmetry in the display that was a little distracting to the flow of the overall display.
I love participating in this event each year and it just gets better every year in respect to the displays and the quality of the trees. I want to commend and thank each and every group for their thoughtful displays. It is more and more apparent each year that the planning and work that goes into each display is growing...and I think the results speak for themselves.
Thanks for looking and I would love to hear your comments about the various displays.
John
