The Bonsai Blog of Hans Van Meer

Hi everybody,

for today I planed to remove all the wire that was starting to dig into the bark of (XL). This is something that  seams to happen in just a few days, so you have to check the tree everyday. But before I started to do this tedious task, I took some pictures of how the tree looks at this time, that I would like to share with you all! 

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

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yesterday my student and friend Ed van der Reek visit me to show and discuss his latest Bonsai/material find, a PUPLE SMOKEBUSH “Cotinus purpurea”. This former garden tree was so big and heavy that I allowed him to park it on our living room table for once, the poor guy had to Carry it all alone and I was afraid he would collapse under the weight before he could bring it into my back garden! How he managed to get this giant plant into his tiny car is a mystery to me !   But I have to admit, his find is a great one indeed! This old garden plant has great potential and almost all the Bonsai features you want to find in your material. Great nebari, great trunk, great natural shari and lovely foliage and flowers! Both sitting on the floor, withs is not to easy for me, we discussed all the possibilities of this powerful plant and made a plain for this future Bonsai. I made a drawing for Ed as a mental reference of the design we came up with. Than, with out hesitation, Ed removed the top section off this plant. Although it was very old and had a nice shari, it was just to long, strait and growing to far away from the base of the tree! This tree has all the possibilities to make a very believable powerful short tree, so there was just no room for this long branch! And not in the last place, cutting off this large top branch also meant that the tree would fit much easier back into Ed’s car .

     

I think that this tree has a great future under Ed’s care and I know that it will steal many hearts, when it hits the shows!

I will keep you all posted on the progress of this future bonsai, I hope you like it as much as we do? Well don Ed!

Regards,

Hans van meer.

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Hi everybody,

in the next couple of pictures you can see a impression of the styling proses of this Pine.

Left: After a lot of turning and tilt-hing, I selected this as the future front for the tree. Most of the flows are hidden from this side and the good point, like the Shari and the nice bark, are highlighted. I tilted the tree to the left and towards the viewer, to give it more movement and interest. The only problem with choosing this as a front is that the future top is growing in the opposite direction, away from the viewer.

Right: Back side of the tree.

Left: Here you can see the beautiful old bark on the trunk and right side branch. Because of the small Shari’s on this old branch, the bending to bring it into its possition must be don very carefully!

Right: Point A is the selected front. As you can see from point B, that section grows almost in the opposite direction. The old branch with the Shari is wired in such a way,  that the wire covers more branch, to prevent it from breaking!

Left: The top section is protected with a tight layer of wet raffia. Than 4 pieces of copper wire are placed along it length wise.

Right: Than a other layer of wet raffia is applied tightly. And than finally a layer of normal copper wiring is applied! The 4 long pieces of wire that stick out from under the end of the raffia are used to wire the rest of the thicker branches of the top.

In the above sequence you can see the top moving slowly toward the new front. This was don very carefully, with out any hast!

The final styling for now. I know that in my drawing I converted  the right branch into a Jin, but for now I Decided to leave it on. It fits better into the design than I had expected, so I will see how it fits into the overall design after a couple of years. I can always cut is off later. There is no rush! It has become a bit of a strange design, balancing on the edge of  dis balance.  The branch placement and the length of some are also not common. But that is what makes this design interesting to me and I hope to the viewer as well!? The new movement of this tree and branches can be better appreciated in real live. For now I am pleased with the outcome of the image for this difficult tree. And I hope that in a few years the tree is more presentable as a representation of a old and battered mountain Pine that I admired so much, wile walking trough the European Alps! I also hope that this styling has proven again that you can make a interesting Bonsai from not the obvius and best  material in the world! There is beauty to be found in almost everything!

Hope you enjoyed this styling session?

Hans van Meer.

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Hi everybody,

for the last couple of day’s I have been working on one of my Pinus sylvestris Yamadori I collected in  the Austrian Alps. The long hanging branches on this small tree, remind me of the large and tall trees I saw, while walking trough those wonderful mountains there! But to realise that vision into this tree, was and is not that simple! Although the tree has some nice features, like old looking bark and two old Shari on the trunk, over all this tree has really a lot of problems that needs to be solved or incorporated into the future Bonsai design! Just like I like it the best! I spent hours just looking at all the possibilities, looking for something exciting and beautiful in the material. And than it hit me, so as always I made a quick drawing of the design I  discovered in the tree! As a blue print for my mind!

I will show pictures of the end result in a few day’s. First some more puzzling needs to be don.

Later,

Hans van Meer.

Hi everybody,

this Sunny afternoon I shot this picture of one of my Larch Yamadori in full bloom. I would like to share it with you, because I believe  it is magical. This picture has captured that feeling, that urged me to make it in the first place!

Hope you like it to?

Hans van Meer.

Hi everybody,

for the last couple off days I have been searching for old pictures of my old Mugo Pine “BIG RON” to go along with the story of it’s history I am writing for my website. I had to look trough, 3 big boxes, full of old pictures and wile doing this I came across some old pictures of me with 2 inspiring trees that I would like to share with you. They proof that nothing is impossible for mother nature and that when it comes to styling, we can only bow our head!

Hi everybody,

last week my health insurance company decided for the second time in a row,  they will not pay for my already planed back operation in Belgium! Leaving me with not much options for any recovery from this debilitating and painful injury that I have  for so many years now!  You can imagine that after receiving this bad news, my spirits hit a all time low! Than the next day the mailman dropped a large envelope trough our mailbox, that to my surprise contained the April/May issue of the “Bonsai & Stone Appreciation Magazine” from the Bonsai Clubs International. I had received one copy earlier this year as a price for the pictures of my Bonsai I submitted into the  ” 8Th  International CETRE Online Award”. I thought this earlier copy was the only one I would receive, so I was not counting on this new edition ad all! That was a nice enough surprise as it is, but when I took the magazine out of it’s envelope I really had to sit down in wonderful disbelieve! Because there on the cover was a double picture of my Literati Hawthorn in full bloom and in Autumn colors!

I know that this is not the main reason that I am  in to Bonsai Art, but I would be a liar if I would not admit, that I am not happy and honored that my work and trees are appreciated in this special way! It gave my otherwise clouded week a unecspected silver lining and all the more reason to carry on with what I am doing, no matter how hard that some times is at this moment! Bonsai is my sanity and live joy at this moment and this magazine cover will go on the wall to remind me of just that, when ever I need it!

Thank you, my little trees!

Hans van Meer.