Gore Bonsai Club Workshop with Joy Morton Sept 2015

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_____________________________________Last weekend the Gore Bonsai Club had a workshop with Joy Morton from Dunedin. 

You-tube version: Gore Bonsai Club Weekend Workshop (Joy)

We always look forward to her visits and come away having learnt a lot. Personally, it motivates me to go home and attack some of those trees that I was a little unsure about.

On Saturday there were 7 members able to come along. Three were beginners and the other 4 of us had various levels of experience.

There were a wide variety of trees worked on, from small native kowhai to larch and a larger pine.

How many people does it take to cut a trunk? One to hold the saw, one to hold the tree, and the other to show them what to cut

Always forget to take pics before starting on a tree, but I got reminded half way through and managed to get a slightly after started and finished tree pic.  This cedar was reasonably tall (1.3metres), Joy thought the jin on the top could be shortened down a little, but I decided to leave it as it was for the moment, it's always good to ponder and think about some decisions like that before you decide to go ahead, there's no rush!

This was another reasonably large tree.  It had been semi styled by me a year or two ago.  It had been left to grow and was now ready to be styled by someone who knew what they were doing!  Once again I didnt take a start pic, but here it is half way through.  There's a flowing bend in the trunk that we made use of.  It ended up with about 4 or 5 layers of foliage pads.

This had the look of a Pinus Radiata, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it once had an old label in it that said Pinus "flexus".   It doesn't matter really, as its the tree that matters, not the name. (although it does make you sound quite knowledgeable when you can blurt out its botanical name instead of just saying Pine). I'm sure its written down somewhere, just got to find it

With a bit of time and growth, these pads will fill out and not look so sparse.  I was really pleased with how this one ended up looking, now I just have to make a pot for her to fit in!!

Yes, it is a she, as it has a nice light flowing graceful look about it, quite feminine.

 Joy made her way around everybody in the room, giving them each choices and options for their trees and explaining everything in simple understandable language.  From teaching a beginner how to wire and then moving onto a tree that needed a good styling, it must have been quite an exhausting day for her.

Joy taking out a centre branch on an old larch of Carols. It made a big difference to the whole feel and look of the tree.  Less is definitely more.

They say behind every great man that there's a great woman.....well in this case its the reverse.   Joy is lucky enough to have a husband that supports her on all of her travelling workshops.  Colin quietly looks after all the tool and pot sales, makes cuppa's, assists Joy with sawing, holding, moving, shifting trees, and the list goes on, what a lucky woman Joy is!

Among his many and varied jobs was to sneak out the back and gather up some lovely looking moss for a future project.

On Sunday we were only able to muster 3 members for the workshop, but for those three it was another day full of information and learning.   Thanks Joy and Colin, we cant wait until next year.

The Bonsai Pot and Tree Unite

Hmmm.........I wonder.

I always wonder when a bonsai pot is packed up and sent away, where it will end up and what tree will sit in it.......

Sometimes I will politely ask if they can email me a pic when the pot is planted up.  But due to repotting times etc, I think that most people just forget, or more than likely just don't have my email address any more.

So its always nice when I do receive a pic or two.

I'd made a couple of pots for a local chap who had some older pines that needed a new home.  The one below was 30cm dia x 9cm high.

 It was a little darker than I had originally thought it would turn out, but it worked in the trees favour.
Here is a pic of it planted up with one of his beautiful old pines.

The second pot was of a similar style, size a bit different though.

This was the Scots Pine that went into this one.

And with a little basic wiring a bit later.

I like how the pot has picked up the colouring and the roughness in the pine bark and they compliment each other.

Too often I see tree/pot combinations where its the pot that jumps up first and gets your attention. Whether it be the bright unnatural colour, or the weird "clonky" feet, if its the pot your eye keeps getting drawn to first, then perhaps the match is not so good. 

The pot/tree is an even partnership. One shouldn't overpower the other, well if the tree does I think that's acceptable, but if the pot does, then that's not so good.

However, beauty is in the eye of the beholder......so if you're happy with it , that's all that matters!

One of my pet dislikes is the shape/form of some of the feet on bonsai pots.  While a foot that is quite high can make a pot look "lighter", it can also draw your eye to it, sometimes in a bad way.  I much prefer to have very subdued quiet feet, you know they are there....they are doing their job of making space for air to circulate and water to drain away, but they aren't so obvious, they don't jump up and poke you in the eye at first glance.

Some of you will agree, some wont.

Keep those pics rolling in, they help my bonsai pot making greatly.....I'm still learning just like everyone else.....hopefully until I'm much older and much more wrinkly!

The bonsai pot reglazing attempt , success or not

I had a failure with a wee glazing experiment a couple of weeks ago.  The bonsai pot looked like an old bread bun that had been lost at the back of a cupboard for months!

It had that mouldy look to it, thanks to some experimental dabs of glaze that should have done much more spectacular things.

This mouldy pot sat on the shelf staring at me every time I walked in the garage, so I decided one way or the other it was going to be reglazed, easier said than done.

I poured some green/blue glaze around the side, but it promptly ran off.  You see the problem is that during the glaze firing the clay will vitrify and it wont absorb water(or very little, 2-3% if I recall rightly).  Good if you don't want it to freeze and crack in the frosts, but not good if you decide to try and get a layer of liquid glaze to stick.

Problem solved, well it helped.   I shoved it in the kitchen oven on a very low heat for 10 minutes.  It was warm enough so that when the glaze got in contact with it, it dried instantly and didn't run off.   I only got a thin layer on though, but that was enough to try.  This is what it looks like now.



Ok so it still does have that mouldy piece of bread look to it, but gosh what a difference.  I get a real kick out of seeing how glazes react to each other.  The colours are much more vibrant than what the camera has picked up.

This one is a keeper, no idea what tree I'll put in it, but it'll sit proudly on the shelf now as something to inspire me to keep experimenting.

The family cant understand why I get so excited about things like this, my daughter thinks it looks even worse now, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

How I Pack to Send a Bonsai Pot around the Country

NEW WEBSITE :   Fionna's Bonsai Pots

I'm using a new website for both Blog Posts and for Selling my Bonsai Pots.   Click the above blue link to be redirected. Thankyou.

_____________________________________This is a subject that I was hesitant about posting on, everyone has different methods and materials, some work, some not so well.

I have to admit that maybe once or twice a year there will be a damaged pot received by someone. Considering the number I send, that's something that has to be expected, and am quite proud of our record so far.

A pot can be sent all over the world successfully, but when it comes to parcel handling in New Zealand we are faced with parcels that can be treated quite roughly.

This is how I send my pots around New Zealand.

Each individual pot is wrapped in several layers of newspaper, I like to recycle.



Then each pot is wrapped in layers of bubblewrap and taped.  It does use a lot of bubblewrap but sometimes you can get it on special.  Its always handy to have around for something.

Almost there!!    I must mention that all wrapping etc must be done in front of a nice warm fire away from frosty icy garages.  The cat and I jostled for the best position, unfortunately she won, that was her spot.

Finished, it takes quite a while, but the extra time put into it now, can save you having to replace any that get damaged.
I estimated that these would fit into 3 cartons, but until you get them wrapped up, its really just a guess.
My biggest challenge is finding boxes that are sturdy enough to handle the weight of several pots, and are the right shape, I didn't realise just how hard it is to get shallow square boxes.  Being mostly round pots there is a lot of wasted space using a rectangle box.  That's just something I have to live with as I have chosen to make different size pots.

The above picture shows a banana box bottom tucked inside another box just to keep the sides rigid.  A layer of scrunched up newspaper is put on the bottom and the pots are arranged so they aren't touching the sides (very important)

Nearly finished. The pots are placed in the box with layers of newspaper surrounding and in between them.  They shouldn't be able to move at all.  The box is filled up this way, being careful not to make it too heavy.
The box top is folded down and taped, by taped I mean all around several times, just one or two strips wont do.

Several "Fragile" stickers are placed around the box and its addressed and ready to send.  I also write "TOP STOW" around the box.  This supposedly means that it wont be put at the bottom of the crates they are stacked into while traveling around the country. It should be stored near the top, therefore not getting crushed with all the weight on top of it.  Well that's what I've been told by the courier, but not sure if it actually happens.

The couriers are beginning to get a bit more particular about the size and weight of box's sent, I underestimated the weight on one of these box's and ended up having to pay for an extra Courier ticket.  Sometimes the estimate is spot on, sometimes its not

So that's how I do it, maybe you do it differently, I'd be interested to hear of any different methods that don't require you buying lots of expensive packing materials:)





It's Been a While....an Oval Bonsai Pot at Last.

After numerous failures and disappointments while making large oval bonsai pots, I decided to give it another go........ opening the kiln this afternoon I was a little apprehensive.

Turned out beautifully!  I added a little bit of soft clay around the join, a slightly different colour but you don't see that when its planted up.

The glaze has a grainy almost wood fired look to it.....very pleased with it.  Being 48cm long it'll be a very handy pot to have.  I have a group of alders that would look great in it.

This pot however, got the "holy moly" reaction.  Being one to always try something new, I decided to dab a little dark glaze on with a sponge. Thinking it would melt and blend in with the brown glaze, I was disappointed when it didn't move/melt or anything.  Looks like a pot that has gone mouldy.  This has been put aside to try reglazing!  It's not growing on me at all.

 
 

These turned out well....love this glaze, it's darker in the grooves of the textured pots.

It has a nice antique look to it.

Just a wee note about my pots freezing.  I got an email from Simon Leach a very well respected potter who had the same thing happen to some of his freshly  made jugs.  He noticed ice crystals in them,  he just reworked them and smoothed them down again, and they all  turned out perfectly.  So that's something to keep in mind if it ever happens again.



Gotta Love Winter in Southland New Zealand!

This is what we woke up to this morning.....wow, breath taking!

These larch are hardly recognisable.

 I had to knock a bit of snow off the pines as there was quite a bit of weight on the wee branches.

 This Chinese elm looks majestic with its temporary snow foliage pads.

 This Wisteria looks quite artistic now!

 Snow seems to get rid of all the clutter and shows you the bare bones of the bonsai, as with this Alder.

 This large Hornbeam was sitting on the deck, ready to get some attention over the winter, perhaps its just as well I never got around to it yet.

Snow puts a whole new perspective on our every day views, its natures way of making us take notice of what shapes are around us...........brrrrr, time to put another log of wood on the fire.  MAYBE REPOTTING TIME IS A WEE WAY OFF YET!!

A Bonsai Pot Disaster

A hard overnight frost put me in the most suckiest (not sure if that's a word) mood in a long while.

I'd just spent all my spare time the previous weekend making some larger bonsai pots - one for someone who had been waiting a while.

Yesterday when I got home I strolled into the garage to check on my pots and make the feet etc, I was greeted by the most heart breaking sight.

The frost had snuck its way into the garage and froze the freshly made pots.  The still wet pots must have defrosted during the day and ended up a cracked useless mess!

I'm normally a fairly placid person, but when I discovered this I was so angry, all that time and effort wasted. 

After I'd calmed down a little I thought I'd share this, as I'm sure I'm not the only one this has happened too.

Here's my You tube Channel LINK: https://youtu.be/ZlvsUfHi0l0

My main concern is that the pots that were waiting to go into the kiln may have fine cracks in them now that I'm unable to see...... do I risk wasting more money by bisque firing them now?  At least I can recycle the freshly made ones, so its not all bad.

They spent the night inside the house with the family last night, and not a work was said by any one, I don't think they were game enough too, considering my mood.

We had another heavy frost last night and the inside of the garage windows where all frozen this morning.

Those of you that have nice heated studios attached to your homes are so lucky in many ways after days like this. (I'm green with envy!)

I love pottery, even with its ups and downs

Looks like I'm going to have to suss out where in the house I can put my pots without causing the least disturbance for the family.  Wish me luck.

Use for a Broken Bonsai Slab

The weather has been absolutely rubbish this week. You don't wanna be outside and you're sick of puddling round inside!

So, I got to reminiscing over previous posts and found one that hadn't had many views way back when I first started blogging.  It was quite relevant to last weeks topic on some slabs that had just been successfully completed.

Have a wee look.  Its a bit out of date....but still very relevant.

http://howimakebonsaipots.blogspot.co.nz/2013/08/a-broken-bonsai-pot-is-useful-pot.html     Here it is....below

Have you ever broken a bonsai pot or slab and ended up throwing it in the wheely bin?

Many of us have.

Too many of us think that if a pot isn't perfect that it will never look any good with our tree in it.

Recently, I was asked if I had any broken/cracked bonsai pots that I was going to chuck out. Strange question I thought.  Normally people want solid unbroken uncracked pots-brand new.

On questioning him he was adamant they would definitely have a use.  So I quite happily gave him a couple of rejects from my latest kiln firing.

I got an email from him recently  with a couple of pictures of his latest bonsai creation using a slab that had broken during the high firing.

Now this bloke is obviously talented.  To think outside the square and make use of these two pieces of pot and create a beautiful forest/group planting of beech is something to be proud of.

Here is a picture of the beech planted up on a "one piece slab" (broken one pushed together)

Looks great don't you think,  But look below

In my opinion, I think this looks even better, two separate plantings but still with the one group.

The river/stream is imagined between them.

 I managed to get him to agree to put his name to this creation, well sort of, he's about to start out his own bonsai venture and  is going by the name of Fredric Bonsai. (fredricbonsai@gmail.com)  If you want to get in touch with him, I may be able to pass on any queries.  Better still, I'll see if he wants me to add his email address. 

So the next time the dog/kids/wind/rugby ball knocks over one of your trees and breaks the pot/slab,  take a good hard look at it first before turfing it in the bin.  Nature isnt perfect, after all,  isn't that what we are trying to recreate?

Slabs and Textured Bonsai Pots

 These came out of the bisque firing successfully, always a relief.  A lot of flat pieces like large platters etc are a bit more at risk of cracking as the bottom is in full contact with the kiln shelf, especially as there are no feet to raise it up slightly.  The air surrounding the sides of the pots cools them down a lot quicker than the part of the pot touching the kiln shelf.  It holds onto the heat more and cools down a lot more slowly.  The trouble comes when the sides are cooler than the bottom - with the whole expansion and contraction tug of war going on, this is when the cracking can sometimes occur.  I'm not into the whole chemistry/physics explaination of things, simple understandable language suits me fine!

This above slab shrunk to 47long x 28cm wide in the bisque firing

 All slabs were made of different clays, and all turned out differently in colour, texture and shrinkage.

Final completed size 46cm long by 27cm wide. 

This was oxided and had that beautiful rough texture.  I'm not sure if I'm putting in too many drainage holes, as I have had the odd comment that they use a lot of "gauze".  I'd rather put too many than not enough.  The tying in holes are also another method of drainage, especially if the bottom has warped slightly up during drying and firing (it sometimes does).

Gotta love that texture!

This slab was a surprise as it fired to a light terracotta colour, it was a mix of 3 different clays if I remember rightly.  The sandy surface will give the roots something to cling onto, rather than have it smooth as so many are. Bisqued size was 47 x 31cm wide, final size  after glaze firing was 45cm long by 30cm wide. 

Along with working on these slabs, which by the way are happily on their way up to the lovely climate of Auckland as we speak, I squeezed in a couple of other textured bonsai pots.

 The two brown ones are really nice, much nicer in person than the pic shows.  One has a shallow crackled texture and the other much rougher.  The bottom one is already sold but the other will make its way onto Trademe shortly. Nice light feminine style pots.



 This one was a bit of a surprise. I acquired a bucket of glaze that had been made up, but one of the ingredients we are guessing was labelled wrong and the resulting glaze was....well....(bl.... awful!)  Not one to see things wasted, I offered to take it home, perhaps thinking that if I fired it up high enough it might be nicer.  WRONG....looked even worse.  So being one that doesn't follow recipes, I added this and that, along with little bits of left over glaze.  This glaze couldn't be repeated anyway as it was in an unlabelled bucket with no ingredients listed.  I did a couple of tests and tried it out on a pot just to see.  All of the pot is a uniform colour until this bit on the front.....shame it didn't happed between the gap in the feet, it would have looked like it was done on purpose.
Would look nice with a golden totara in it.  The winter colour would match the goldeny yellow colour in the runs. (not sure if I worded that well, considering the colour!)

Opening the kiln after a glaze firing gives me more of a kick than opening presents at Xmas by a long shot, gotta love pottery.

Autumns Almost Done and Dusted

The days are shorter, the nights are colder and the bonsai trees are getting ready for their winter sleep. 

After spending spring and summer sending out new shoots and growth, its time for our trees to shed their summer outfits and have a well earned rest before next spring.

60 - 70% of my  bonsai trees are deciduous, so winter time around my garden looks a little bare.  In another week or two most of the leaves will have dropped properly off my elms and beech etc.  So I'm making the most of the change in colour, especially with the swamp cypress which is now a beautiful rusty red colour. The leaflets fall when you touch them, so no doubt the wind will take care of that job shortly.

  You get to see the "framework" of the trees after leaf fall.....sometimes (well most of the time) they don't look as appealing and other times there is a nice surprise with the branch structure.  Perhaps I have learned something and its looking the way it should be.

My beech always puzzle me though.  Some loose their leaves and others hold onto them with all their might.  The purple beech tend to loose their leaves more than the plain green beech, but I assume that because of the leaf colour and the different rates of photosynthesis.

 This beeches branches are trying to grow up vertical again, so I'll have a go at wiring them down into the sweep type characteristics of the large old mature beech.  One of the many jobs to do this winter.

My oaks are very similar to the beeches, in that some have totally lost their leaves and others have only slowly started to yellow off and remain quite green.  This English Oak (Quercus robur) is a classic example.  It'll probably hold onto its brown leaves over the winter if it gets the chance.  But I usually go around and cut the leaves off about July and just leave the petiole or stem attached.  I figure lots of eggs overwinter amongst the leaves, so I find it best to get rid of them. Many will disagree with doing this as they say the leaves protect the buds over winter....doesn't seem to harm them from what I've seen over the last few years as the leaf stem must still protect them to a certain degree.

Another tree that likes to hold onto its leaves is the good old Hornbeam.(Carpinus betulus)  This one was given its first wiring last year. The wire is still on as it hasn't seemed to have cut in at all.  I think it got such a shock that I was actually doing something to it, that it decided to sulk for a while.  Will have to repot it this spring as its been in that cut down pot for a year or two or three.

These larches are also not very coordinated in their approach to colour changing and loosing their leaves...some quite green still and others looking bare!  Just goes to show how each tree is totally unique and how it adjusts to its environment whether its in a large pot/small pot, in the sun/sheltered, well watered/not. These are going into a group planting hopefully, soon as I get a decent size slab made for them. 

You've gotta love these wee trees each with their own characteristics, a bit like us, all totally different.

Roll on spring.