The renovated old mining building in Heusden-Zolder was almost too small for all the visitors. More than 2500 bonsai friends visited the extraordinary exhibition. Extraordinary in several ways.

Thanks to a growing organisation, Bonsai Association Belgium was able to welcome over one hundred excellent bonsai. They all can be proud of having ‘made’ this show. Bonsai society lives by the effort of these people who bring their trees to exhibitions, close or further away, and not leaving them in their backyard only for themselves.

Lively were the discussions and remarks between these enthusiasts about the trees in the exhibition. But discussions and remarks were only there to learn from each other, and to go home with a good picture in your head of the discussed trees.

Seldom were so many different species of trees shown together. What to say about a magnificent Salix babylonica, a great Acer sieboldianum, a very natural Erica arborea and Pistacia lentiscus.

Almost all styles were present in their most refined form. Everyone remembers two distinct kengai trees, and the very nice ikadabuki and yose-ue.

Lots of kifu sized bonsai were presented. Some were presented alone, others as a whole presentation just taken away from a tokoname. Some trees and accents were real jewels in their kind.

The jury had indeed a hard time in choosing the winner and the nominees. The winning tree – a Juniperus chinensis of Luis Vallejo, originally styled by Kimura himself – and more than a dozen of trees were nearly of the same level. The refinement of ramification that is so typical of quality deciduous trees could now be appreciated in several conifers.

Each afternoon the demonstrations of Bill, Ryan, Vaclav, Jorge and Mauro were attended by a lot of people. The trees they could work on were of very high quality. We have seen a nice new way of presenting a demonstration by Jorge Campos. He had prepared a digital presentation about the original work that had been done on his tree. So the audience was able to see the next step in the creation of his bonsai.

Around the exhibition were more than thirty commercial bonsai stands. The place in between was completely occupied by visitors on Saturday afternoon. If you needed anything for you hobby, it was there! Keep this in mind for next year. Traders of all over Europe presented pre-bonsai, pots, tables and all tools and materials that one can think of.

The organisation was honoured by the presence of the presidents of EBA and BCI Mr. Robert Kempinsky and Mr. Reg Bolton.

We, the BAB, expect to present the book “Noelanders Trophy XIII”, printed by Bonsai Focus, in spring 2013. In this edition one can find high quality pictures of all the trees at this exhibition.

Because of all the positive feedback, Bonsai Association Belgium has already set the date for the next Noelanders Trophy : January 19 -20, 2013, same place.

Save the date, and tell your friends!

Overview

Demonstrations

Award Ceremony

Winning Trees

Noelanders Trophy XIII

Juniperus chinensis, shakan by Luis Vallejo of ES – 110cm

Nominations Trophy

Pinus sylvestris, kengai by David Benavente of ES – 83cm

Salix babylonica, shakan by Simon Temblett of UK – 70cm

Picea abies, moyogi of Nicola Crivelli by CH – 95cm

Pinus sylvestris, han-kengai by Luis Vallejo of ES – 40cm

Pinus densiflora, moyogi by Mario Komsta of ES – 45cm

Kifu Trophy

Juniperus chinensis ‘itoigawa’ by Mauro Stemberger of IT

Nomination Kifu

Fagus sylvatica by David Barlow of UK – 35cm

Nomination ‘Best of BAB Member’

Pinus mugo, shakan by Christian Vos of BE – 77cm

Now there are a lot of mass-produced bonsai in Japan that are grown to a rough formula but these trees are not a good representation of bonsai in Japan as a whole. On the other hand there are a lot of trees that can seem similar at first glance on benches in nurseries throughout Japan but closer inspection reveals quite dramatic differences.

What was one of the biggest surprises to me when I first visited japan was the huge amount of irregular styles and forms of trees that by no means could be classified as what some people dismiss as ‘cookie cutter’. In fact most of the nurseries I have visited were full of unusual and or ‘different’ bonsai. I know that when you look through various exhibition books you see some unusual trees, but its only when visiting the nurseries that you actually get a clear idea of just how many irregular bonsai are being grown.

Cookie Cutter?

During my last trip i met with Peter Tea at Aichi-en and he explained what his Oyakata Mr. Tanaka had explained to him about unusual trees.

He said that unusual bonsai would always be worth less than ‘standard or correct’ trees during the developement stages. Once the trees reached exhibition standard however, the unusual tree would suddenly become much more valuable. There are many correct bonsai in Japan and most nurseries could sell you one. Unusual trees on the other hand are one offs and if a customer wants to buy one they must pay accordingly as they cannot simply go next door to get something similar.

Strangely we don’t get to see many of these types of trees in western magazines or literature instead these forms are associated with European and American yamadori. I was certainly surprised to see so many when I first travelled to Japan. Now I find that they are the trees that I gravitate towards when I arrive at a nursery.

Below are a few interesting trees that i saw during my travels that didn’t fit the mould (some of them look like they totally broke the mould!) I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Dramatic movement.

A close-up of the twisted movement.

A very angular exposed root style.

I wonder if this tree was grown or collected?

Black pines shouldn't have shari? Well this one does.

I think you will agree that it works very well in this case.

Unusual?

A very non-conforming Nebari for a non-conforming tree.

Read more about this strange trident HERE.

Bunjin, Semi-cascade or a combination?

Interesting.

I like to look at trees such as the above and think about what they must have looked like pre-styling. Material such as this requires a high level of creativity to style into a well-balanced image and often results in trees that really stick in your head. I know that it is these types of trees that I always spend the most time in front of.

So next time you are out and about evaluating future material keep an eye out for the unusual, you never know, you might get yourself a bargain!

This article was originally published at http://nichigobonsai.com

The book is organized into 10 well thought out chapters. These include An Introduction to Shohin Bonsai, Growing, Shaping and Styling Techniques, Aesthetics, and A Working Calendar. One of my favorite chapters follows the creation of a shohin bonsai step by step, from raw stock to “finished” bonsai. Also included is a comprehensive species guide with care tips and tricks for a variety of shohin bonsai.

Morten Albek is truly a master bonsai artist and a talented photographer. This book has the most awe-inspiring, amazing, crisp and detailed photographs of bonsai that I have ever seen. It is a shame that this book is only offered in softcover. Call me a snob, but books like this one should be preserved with a hard cover. This book is great for everyone, from those who just enjoy great bonsai photographs to bonsai fanatics of all skill levels to those that want to know more about shohin sized bonsai.

Disclosure: I agreed to write this review and received the book for a discounted price. I will always tell you the truth about anything I review, free or not.

A few years ago I received a commission for a round pot that would be the biggest I had thrown on a wheel up to that point. The customer gave me the INSIDE diameter and depth that he wanted and explained that he wanted it made from stoneware and finished as some of mine he had seen that I had made in smaller versions.

After calculating out shrinkage for the clay I was using I began the job. This calculation is important as most stoneware clays shrink 10-13% during drying and firing and you must figure out just how big you need to make the pot to arrive at the desired size after all of the firing is finished.

I then needed to figure out about how much clay I’d need for the pot and started to center it on the wheel. I started with 50 pounds of clay which is a job to center!

After centering I began to expand the ball and open it up.

As I expanded the pot I had to constantly keep in mind the size and depth I needed to throw to arrive at the correct commissioned size after drying and firing.

Please note that the bat I am throwing on is 24 INCHES IN DIAMETER!

After I got the walls and bottom the thickness I wanted I then trimmed the rim to the height I needed.

After a couple days of slow drying the pot became the right level of ‘leather hardness’ so I could carefully flip it over and trim the bottom and add some decoration to the sides. On pots over 12 inches I trim in an inner ring that helps support the pot while drying/firing and helps keep it from cracking while drying/firing. Here are some shots of the pot being trimmed.

Pots this size and weight can be a challenge to flip during construction, finishing and drying. Some pots require flipping many times. Try thinking about holding a 24 inch/50 pound pot between two pieces of board out in front of you and flipping it over quickly without dropping it! This is accomplished by two people placing boards on both sides and quickly flipping it as you press on the boards. To make it even more difficult it is often placed on layers of slippery plastic which acts as a slide bearing while the pot is shrinking during drying.
Here are some shots of me flipping a different large oval pot I constructed. The photos explain the process pretty well.

Here are a few photos of the pot after trimming is complete and drainage/wiring holes added and signature. I have also added a band around the outside of the pot rim in a contrasting color of clay as the customer desired. This takes quite a while to do neatly.

The next photo shows the pot coming out of the kiln after being bisque fired to around cone 04. This burns impurities out of the clay, and makes it easy to handle and to finish with stains or glaze. This bisque firing is to around 1,920 degrees F and leaves the clay in hardness and porosity similar to terra cotta pots.

The next photo shows the pot after applying an oxide wash to darken and enhance the color of the clay during high firing.

The next three photos show the pot after high firing to cone 10 (about 2,350 degrees F.) in my gas kiln. This leaves the stoneware clay with only a slight amount of absorption (of water) which makes it fairly safe to use as a bonsai pot and fill with soil which might freeze in the winter. If practicing bonsai in a climate that will allow pots to freeze it is very important that they be made from a good quality clay that is fired to maturity which will leave it ( and the glaze if used) , in a glass-like state that is mostly unable to absorb water. We call this ‘Vitrification’. A vitrified pot is very important in cold climates but lower fired pots with more absorption to the clay can be used in warmer climates where freezing is not a concern. However, quality clays and matured clay firing levels are desired so your pots don’t absorb too much water and leave salts, etc. dried on the outside surface.

You can see some firing marks on this pot where flames were hitting the sides of the pot. This is a great effect which I feel is desirable and I suggested that this be the ‘front’ side of the pot when the tree was potted.

The next two photos are of me holding the pot so as to give you a good finished scale view.

This large pot has been potted with the intended tree for about 3 years now. It is a very large San Jose Juniper. Here is a photo from 2010 winter in storage. I hope to see the tree in a symposium bonsai display within the next few years. The owner says it’s getting close to being ready to show.

Here are a few other photos of customer’s large commissioned pots that I’ve made over the last few years. They are potted with their trees. These are all in the 16 inch to 21 inch range.

Harkaway larch in my pot at midatlantic 2011

Mike Page with myrtle in my pot

Mike Page Live Oak tree and my pot

Mike Page and Calif. Juniper in my oval pot

NC arb jade in my shino pot

Colin Lewis Alder

I hope you enjoyed this brief view of making a large wheel-thrown bonsai pot.