MABS 2016 - April 15-17
- Thread starter whfarro
- Start date
Nybonsai12
Masterpiece
i got to say hi to @steve27 who I think was walking with @Paradox but she was gone before I could say hi. I had a great time with @whfarro and @MACH5 walking the exhibit and grabbing lunch. Pleasure to meet you Will! Always nice to talk bonsai with good folks and to also share a few laughs. Hope to do it again.
The exhibit was good. If I was going to be critical I'd say there were too many larch(9 out of 45 total trees). Not that I didn't like them, just more variety is always a plus for me because I like to see as many different trees as possible since my exposure to shows is so limited. Mach5's sharps Pygmy was the best deciduous tree displayed in my opinion and it is truly a special tree I'm glad I got to see in person. I didn't take pictures so I won't go on about some of the other nice tress, hopefully somebody else can share because there were some nice ones.
The vendor area was good, better than in past years. Better caliber stuff for sale and good pricing. My wallet got lighter for the three hour drive home!
The exhibit was good. If I was going to be critical I'd say there were too many larch(9 out of 45 total trees). Not that I didn't like them, just more variety is always a plus for me because I like to see as many different trees as possible since my exposure to shows is so limited. Mach5's sharps Pygmy was the best deciduous tree displayed in my opinion and it is truly a special tree I'm glad I got to see in person. I didn't take pictures so I won't go on about some of the other nice tress, hopefully somebody else can share because there were some nice ones.
The vendor area was good, better than in past years. Better caliber stuff for sale and good pricing. My wallet got lighter for the three hour drive home!
whfarro
Chumono
It was nice meeting up with BNutters.
It was a great exhibit. Many nice trees, including Mach's maple. Bjorn, Walter and Kobayashi San provided nice demos. I was fortunate to participate as both Walter Pall and Jim Doyle critiqued each of the trees and displays.
Attachments
whfarro
Chumono
More pics posted on Bergen Bonsai Society Facebook page. Take a look and follow us.
MACH5
Imperial Masterpiece
Great to see you guys there! Had a great weekend and glad I got the chance to walk the exhibit and spend some time with @whfarro and @Nybonsai12. Fun times! Was good to meet @steve27 and @Paradox as well.
I felt the quality of the exhibit was a little mixed but featured some really nice trees. Congrats to this year's winners!! And here are the winning trees:
Best in Show was a huge ficus. I helped place this tree up on the table and it was an elephant!!
John Kirby received People's Choice Award for his excellent juniper and display.
Second place was awarded to this beautiful and graceful crabapple in flower.
Award of Merit was given to this big collected larch with lots of character.
Here is my maple (with accent) that was leafing out fast due to the warm room it was in. By the time the exhibit was over this morning some leaves were out.
I felt the quality of the exhibit was a little mixed but featured some really nice trees. Congrats to this year's winners!! And here are the winning trees:
Best in Show was a huge ficus. I helped place this tree up on the table and it was an elephant!!
John Kirby received People's Choice Award for his excellent juniper and display.
Second place was awarded to this beautiful and graceful crabapple in flower.
Award of Merit was given to this big collected larch with lots of character.
Here is my maple (with accent) that was leafing out fast due to the warm room it was in. By the time the exhibit was over this morning some leaves were out.
jeanluc83
Omono
It looks like I missed a great show. Things just didn't work out this weekend and I couldn't make it. I'll need to make sure I keep the weekend open for next year.
JudyB
Queen of the Nuts
Thanks for the photos, that crabapple is gorgeous indeed. Serg, your tree looks so nice in display mode!
Nybonsai12
Masterpiece
The ficus won?
It's a nice tree and all... but but.. it's a tropical...
It was also the first tree you see when you walked into the exhibit
(runs and hides)
It's a nice tree and all... but but.. it's a tropical... It was also the first tree you see when you walked into the exhibit
(runs and hides)
MACH5
Imperial Masterpiece
Thanks Juds! I was happy with it except the lighting was slightly yellowish which I noticed and did not like so much. I also would have preferred a solid bkg but I understand that curtains are very practical as you can easily put them up and down. All in all it was a well run convention with exciting guest speakers and demos by Kobayashi, WP and Bjorn.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Andrew Thomas who was there with Boon and John Kirby.
As I was packing up my maple, I noticed that it is full of flowers! This in my experience it is a rare occurrence. With the exception of shishigashira that seem to flower freely, I have never had a maple flower for me as a bonsai. I will try and post pics when I get a chance.
EDIT: Those flowers sadly need to come off!
The ficus won?
It was also the first tree you see when you walked into the exhibit
(runs and hides)
Easy Bri!
Was good catching up with you my friend!
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
Thanks for posting those pics! I really like the crabapple, bet it will look really good in full bloom. As for the ficus...based on the photos, I'm surprised it won. I think I would have placed any of the other pictured trees ahead of it.
Hey Sergio, your maple is looking great as always! Do you mind sharing any of the judges critique of the tree? I'm sure it was well received, and I can't imagine there was anything they didn't like about it. lol! Maybe in the thread for this tree? Of course don't if you don't want to. 
MACH5
Imperial Masterpiece
Sure Dan. I will post their critiques/comments on the sharp's pygmy thread as soon as I am able to. Stay tuned
Paradox
Marine Bonsologist
One thing is I will never, ever look at broccoli the same again........
You been listening to Walter Pall?
Paradox
Marine Bonsologist
Would you care to share his broccoli comments here?
Andrew Robson
Shohin
Nice to meet you too, Sergio! Sorry it was so short, I had been working at John's all week with Boon and we were rushing around to get John's display set up before everyone left for dinner.
Till next time!
Andrew Robson
Shohin
I was indeed surprised to hear that the ficus won.
My critiques (for what it's worth.....)
The ficus was on a stand that was too small and it had several wounds that needed to be healed over. It's a nice tree, don't get me wrong, but it didn't feel like a show winner to me.
My top 3 trees (in no particular order) were John's Shimpaku, Brian's Larch, and Doug's Crabapple. I would have had to really think about what order to place each tree, but these were easily the show standouts to me. In addition to these 3, I also liked John Romano's shohin and Sergio's maple.
I felt many trees in the show were not show ready, and many of the displays didn't make sense. Several people had framed pictures placed behind their trees that was totally confusing to my eye. I'm all for innovative display, but for innovative display to be effective it has to be logical and have a good artistic aesthetic. Also the presentation of many trees was very poorly done. In most cases, pots and stands were not properly oiled and cleaned and moss was poorly applied. Most accents plants were not prepared well either, either being too dense or too sparse, and often the wrong size.
To me, display is the ultimate goal of bonsai. I personally would love to see people put as much thought into their displays as they do their bonsai. Because this wasn't the case, I thought the show was pretty bland and unexciting. I'm saying all these things because I feel like the show, and bonsai in the northeast, has a lot of potential to be much, much better.
Cheers!
My critiques (for what it's worth.....)
The ficus was on a stand that was too small and it had several wounds that needed to be healed over. It's a nice tree, don't get me wrong, but it didn't feel like a show winner to me.
My top 3 trees (in no particular order) were John's Shimpaku, Brian's Larch, and Doug's Crabapple. I would have had to really think about what order to place each tree, but these were easily the show standouts to me. In addition to these 3, I also liked John Romano's shohin and Sergio's maple.
I felt many trees in the show were not show ready, and many of the displays didn't make sense. Several people had framed pictures placed behind their trees that was totally confusing to my eye. I'm all for innovative display, but for innovative display to be effective it has to be logical and have a good artistic aesthetic. Also the presentation of many trees was very poorly done. In most cases, pots and stands were not properly oiled and cleaned and moss was poorly applied. Most accents plants were not prepared well either, either being too dense or too sparse, and often the wrong size.
To me, display is the ultimate goal of bonsai. I personally would love to see people put as much thought into their displays as they do their bonsai. Because this wasn't the case, I thought the show was pretty bland and unexciting. I'm saying all these things because I feel like the show, and bonsai in the northeast, has a lot of potential to be much, much better.
Cheers!
Andrew Robson
Shohin
For everyone who owns (or even for those who don't) Michael's book Post Dated, the chapter on display is quite informative and excellent!
https://crataegus.com/post-dated/
https://crataegus.com/post-dated/
Paradox
Marine Bonsologist
I can probably do that better with some pictures.
