WEI
Yamadori
as a brief note, i should note that deciduous trees are my 'comfort tree,' in large part because i've always felt less intimidated in styling them. when it comes to drafting a 'vision of a tree,' I find it easier to imagine a finished product with something like a maple or hornbeam; full-grown versions of these species are much more common in cities/suburbia. it also helps that styling options are more limited. you usually can't make big bends in established deciduous trunks and branches. IMO, aside from grafting, major branch reduction (and just growing new branches/leaders), deciduous artistry is generally borne out by cumulative minor adjustments that add up to a sea change.
when it comes to junipers, though: kimura's magic is largely worked not on deciduous trees but on these for a reason. junipers' aesthetic versatility and amenability to radical change is peerless. they scare me because of just how many possibilities exist for each tree. my first juniper was a disaster. my second, a mame itoigawa with 5 tiny branches, was less of a trainwreck but was mentally taxing to restyle. I thought I'd just go with deciduous trees for the rest of my life, but then I realized I'd be making the same mistake with bonsai as I did with oil painting. I never learned how to properly paint people, and though I was pretty decent at landscapes and inanimate objects, I felt that dodging that fundamental challenge greatly detracted from my ability to infuse subtle emotion into art. it's been one of my major regrets, especially since I stopped painting - so never learning how to style a juniper became cardinal sin #2.
melodrama aside, i decided to acquire some nursery pre-bonsai to work on. so i made the 1.5 hour drive to meehan's, got myself a single juniper, drove back, and spent the rest of the day styling the tree. i set two major goals for myself: first, finish the styling in less than a day (i take pretty long to style), and second, create multiple potential fronts for the tree. some of my other work have one good-looking front and rather bad-looking sides/backs, but admirable trees in nature aren't beautiful from just one angle.
front and back of pre-bonsai as purchased:
after styling: 1st is preferred front, 2nd is viable alternative. I need to practice jinning and carving as well; that long bare strip was unintentional, unfortunately, as a result of me pulling the bark off awkwardly (rookie mistake). potentially salvageable later.
closer view. since i removed a lot of foliage + wired + jinned, I presume this tree won't tolerate any more insults (like repotting) for a while. the question is, how long? is repotting a 2025 thing now or a late summer 2024 thing?
anyhow, that's my first real unstyled pre-bonsai stock to styled semi-bonsai material. I now have an itch to get more mature, larger material, which is an unfortunate itch for my wallet
when it comes to junipers, though: kimura's magic is largely worked not on deciduous trees but on these for a reason. junipers' aesthetic versatility and amenability to radical change is peerless. they scare me because of just how many possibilities exist for each tree. my first juniper was a disaster. my second, a mame itoigawa with 5 tiny branches, was less of a trainwreck but was mentally taxing to restyle. I thought I'd just go with deciduous trees for the rest of my life, but then I realized I'd be making the same mistake with bonsai as I did with oil painting. I never learned how to properly paint people, and though I was pretty decent at landscapes and inanimate objects, I felt that dodging that fundamental challenge greatly detracted from my ability to infuse subtle emotion into art. it's been one of my major regrets, especially since I stopped painting - so never learning how to style a juniper became cardinal sin #2.
melodrama aside, i decided to acquire some nursery pre-bonsai to work on. so i made the 1.5 hour drive to meehan's, got myself a single juniper, drove back, and spent the rest of the day styling the tree. i set two major goals for myself: first, finish the styling in less than a day (i take pretty long to style), and second, create multiple potential fronts for the tree. some of my other work have one good-looking front and rather bad-looking sides/backs, but admirable trees in nature aren't beautiful from just one angle.
front and back of pre-bonsai as purchased:
after styling: 1st is preferred front, 2nd is viable alternative. I need to practice jinning and carving as well; that long bare strip was unintentional, unfortunately, as a result of me pulling the bark off awkwardly (rookie mistake). potentially salvageable later.
closer view. since i removed a lot of foliage + wired + jinned, I presume this tree won't tolerate any more insults (like repotting) for a while. the question is, how long? is repotting a 2025 thing now or a late summer 2024 thing?
anyhow, that's my first real unstyled pre-bonsai stock to styled semi-bonsai material. I now have an itch to get more mature, larger material, which is an unfortunate itch for my wallet
