Do you like my pebble

This last week has seen pretty terrible weather, we are still firmly in the rainy season, however we have pretty much finished the azaleas on time and are moving on to the candle cutting on Black and Red Pines. It is also a time for Suiseki...traditionally a summer pursuit for those in the Bonsai world.

Life is still not getting any easier, I had to shout at the youths yesterday for being pillocks. They started working on trees without letting me know and one of those I had been working on for the last three years. It is most annoying to have someone else work on it and ut two years of work to waste. Still...what can you do?

Tomorrow we have a group coming over and so the Chief asked me to put on a few displays...the first time in a while he has done it. It was as much fun as alwaysmatching up scrolls and tables etc. They will undoubtedly change tomorrow morning when the Chief takes a look but here they are...

The first display is a Kurama stone, displayed on a half bamboo table. The scroll, written by the wife of a good customer reads "Kan UN" which translates as Floating clouds, rolling by slowly in the sky.

The second display is a tree of unknown origin, but it has fruits on which are yet to ripen. It is displayed on a very rough looking irregular Ji-ita . The scroll shows a willow branch hanging down wth a cicada clinging on. It is a little too early for their godawful constant crying but I love the scroll and it fits in the tea room perfectly.

Apologies but I am falling asleep...I have a few more pics but they will have to wait...along with more text on them. For now, it's bed time

Me and the moon...

It's a lovely night with the moon in the sky...

After another overtime session in the work room where I was the last man standing after the young lads left to go to bed...go figure, I went to buy an ice cream and on my way home I was struck by the beauty of the moon tonight.

There is something extraordinarily special about a partially obscured moon, drifting in and out of view, occassionaly illuminating the world below. I stood and watched the clouds drift slowly by, and forgot that I was in one of the worlds most populated cities. In the distance I could hear the lonely cry of a lost and solitary frog who has found his way by mistake into the garden. and was crying out desperate for a mate I felt there was at least one kindred spirit in the world and it was perfect.

The subtle nature of Japanese aesthetics appeal to me, always have I guess, hence my path in life. Sometimes it is better to not show everything off and keep a little hidden. We all know it is there, but sometimes imagination is much better than the real thing. Anyway, I'm knackered. Here is the best picture I could take before my battery died.

Summer's just begining baby...

I thought my life would get easier..

Instead it's getting harder...

So I haven't updated the blog in a while, I did write an entry last night but my computer died before I posted it. I then gave up and went to bed...it was after midnight after all.

So the Chief has come back from Germany where he had a great time by all accounts. Since he has been back he has been about as much fun to be around as...something not fun at all. It started off alright but then he has descended into his normal rollercoaster of emotional turmoil which is accentuated by jet lag and internal and external politics, a lack of motivation from the apprentices and the fact that he isn't as young as he once was.

Getting back to the previous thread, I went to the auction and it was pretty much a disaster. Despite doing a thorough recce of the stuff up for sale, nothing seemed worth dropping large amounts of money on, all the Chinese pots were damaged in some way or they were being sold by persona non grata. There were a few nice trees but our respective valuations didnt match up. I discussed potential purchases with a trusted friend of the garden who has his finger on the pulse so much he wears a nurses uniform in his spare time. My valuations were not too far away from his, and after setting some prices, I took pictures of the most likely items and emailed them to the Chief on his mobile phone which he looked at half a world away. How 21st century Bonsai has changed.

Everything that was worth a look at came and went for more than I was wlling to pay, including a lovely but unusual bamboo stand. It allegedly came out from some famous collection but netiher I nor my advisor had ever seen it before, it had not been in any books that we had seen and it was a little on the "I'm not prepared to drop $20,000 of someone elses money on a whim" side of things. It came up and went for almost three times more than I wanted it for...but thankfully, the Chief saw it when he got back and said I had made the right decision.

Times like this it pays to have spent the evenings of an apprenticeship looking through the hundreds of books, exhibition catalogues and collections that are available. If the object is in a book somewhere then it lends a slight air of authenticity to it and it can be traced back to somewhere rather than just listening to some sales spiel. Knowledge is power...as is the ability to pretend you are stupid, which is just as important. The whole poker playing atmosphere is fraught with subtle implcations and the unsaid but understood.

When it came round to me selling the stuff for the Chief, you could have heard a pin drop. Not a single bid from anyone except Morimae who bought a stand for much more than it should have been just to save face for me. It didn't help much but the Chef was happy that nothing sold...proves to him that his presence is essential at events like this.

We are allegedly really behind on the work (despite being ahead of the schedule from last year and every year previous to that) and as such I have been burning the midnight oil a little Working on into the night to get stuff done...iIt is a pleasant reminder of the joys of apprenticeship and how slack I become when I am by myself...but then we have a different work ethic in the West, based on efficiency and planning rather than just running around in circles until you get exhausted.

Speaking of exhausted, we went to the house of a customer today who has been coming to the garden for the last 7 or 8 years. A purely satsuki man who is a great laugh and has a big heart. We have always got on well and have a good understanding of each other. A couple of years ago he developed throat cancer after a lifetime of heavy smoking and is no unable to speak because he has a hole where his voice box once was. For two years he didn't come to the garden and nobody saw him, but everytime I was back in Japan I would make the effort to go around and see if he needed any work doing, which he always did. Cancer tends to take priority over Bonsai no matter how much of an enthusiast you are. It caused a few problems with the Chief because he was annoyed that I was being asked to go instead of him but it wasn't like that in a bad way. The customer was embarrassed to be seen in such a state, especially as it is very difficult to understand what he is trying to say at times. I guess he found it easier to ask me as we had history and I am also a foreigner, so our communication had always been bordering on the non verbal anyway. Thankfully he is pretty much back to his normal jovial self and The Chief, myself and Naganuma went around today to do all his post flowering pruning. He was happy to have us around and spent the whole day making rude gestures and playing around with an air hose, but he did it with a smile on his face.

One of the most important part of a Bonsai professionals life is the relationships you build up with customers, through good times and bad, when they are buying trees and not. Obviously there is a financial reward for the work done, but there is almost always a much more valuable reward for getting out of bed at 5.30 and working like a slave for 9 hours solid. Bonsai is more than just pretty little trees in pots...it is a chance to make people happy. As pretentious as that may sound...it is true.

Tomorrow I will start on with Candle Cutting on the pines in the garden. We have about 75 to do in a week or so. Thankfully the Chief is away for most of the week...and I still have to get some images together for my book! Oh well...to bed now.

Forgot to post this here..

This was originally posted on my website on Wednesday 8 Jun 2011

Day tripper

Long days and busy nights have meant I haven't posted anything recently. Been busy while the Chief is in Germany. Lots of work been done, satsuki shows are finished, plowing through the deflowering and also wired a couple more trees. In a throwback to my apprentice days I worked until midnight tonight, but unlike those days, I actually got loads of work done. It isn't until you actually graduate and your income depends on working quickly and efficiently that you learn how to not waste time. What would have taken me two days to do when I was apprenticing will now take me 3 or 4 hours and the quality is better.

Anyways, tomorrow is the big auction. The stuff I have to sell is in the van and I will be off at 5.30 tomorrow morning to have a good shufti around and see what is going on. The pressure to not waste money or the opportunity for getting something saleable is fairly high. Still, it's nice that I have been entrusted with it.

I guess.

I was looking around at photos for the e-book thing and I came across this lovely snap. Taken by the Chief's wife when we were at Niagara Falls last year. The Chief was demonstrating at the 2nd National Bonsai show in Rochester and Bill took us up to Niagara Falls. When the Chief was peering over the edge, I couldn't resist trying to push him over. Well, pretending to anyway. Don't think he has ever seen the picture...

Today has been a long day, a 2 hour drive from 5 am to see Akiyama, mt senpai who has married the Chiefs middle daughter and has given us two lovely baby girls. It was nice to just sit and chat with someone intelligent about the Bonsai world and trees, tools and fishing.

Sleep....until tomorrow

Summer is the time

"Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world."

After the right kind of day yesterday, last night we just got drunk. Still, I woke up this morning and taking a walk around the garden I realised again why I love Bonsai. You just can't beat it for seasonal beauty. It makes me drunk with the belief that all is right with the world.

The beauty of Bonsai is not found within the showing off of one's skills or the receiving of awards, it is found in the appreciation of nature, watching the seasons change around you and finding a way of expressing it. What we do with trees is nothing compared to what they should to us.

I am at my most thoughtful (or is it pretentious?) when hungover.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose

After all the satsuki shows have been set up, a little calm has descended upon the garden. That is mainly due to the fact that the Chief has left for a week for a Satsuki show in Germany. He will be working with Valentin Brose, a German apprentice who had to leave recently and is starting to work in Europe.

When the Chief goes away, everyone breathes a sigh of relief but there is something unnaturally strange about the garden when he is away. It gives us a chance to actually do some work for once rather than running around doing whatever pops into his head at the time. We are going to be busy this coming week, with the end of the satsuki shows, lots of pruning to be done and also an auction where I am expected to act on behalf of the Chief. He picked out some stuff he wants to sell and told me the reserv e prices. Bonsai auctions are a lively affair and I am going to have to hold my own against a number of buyers and sellers. I also have carte blanche to buy whatever I think is good. The Chief loves to buy stuff and people love him for it, the Satsuki auctions wait until he arrives even if he is two hours late. I am going to be put under a lot of pressure from everyone there, then there is the pressure of buying something for too much or completely unsaleable...as was the case in January. Still, all good fun and will be a learning experience. I am mainly going to see the action and report back...who is buying what, what prices etc.

The title of the post refers to the trend I have been following recently of being asked to do things that are completely out of season. Yet another Five Needle pine was given to me to wire, despite my protestations that it was the worst time of year to do it..."Just be careful" was the reply. The tree belongs to the same person who owns the Juniper I did earlier...so it was a bit under the weather, a lot of dead or dying branches on the inside, unbalanced vigour , branches with no buds. Not the ideal candidate for a massive amount of detailed wiring so I tried to balance the desire to make it look nicer with the need for a rest and hand in the right direction to achieving balance and stop losing branches.

Five Needle pines tend to send out three buds, one strong central terminal bud and two weaker buds to the side. If the terminal bud is allowed to grow too strongly, it restricts the growth of the two weaker buds to the point they die. This causes branches to become leggy and lacking in ramification. The key to pines is to protect the weak and oppressed and to hold back the strong. Much like Socialism ;-) This was done all over the tree and a considerable amount of foliage and unnecessary branching was removed. Rather than wire everything out to the tips and knock of the soft developing buds, only main branches and essential branches were wired. Again, a very rough and ready look borne as much out of horticultural sensibility than aesthetics. Almost nothing was wired in the apex as I cut back as hard as possible to developing buds. To wire them now will be counterproductive and that is what I will tell the customer. I will also ask him if he is willing to change the front.

Looking at the tree, I couldn't believe how flat and dull it had been styled...not by us I might add. It just lacked any interesting character point, with a big head, boring branch structure and totally unrelated second trunk. I turned the tree around to look at the tree from an angle and found a much better front. It had depth, movement, a dead wood feature and a bit more elegance. It seemed so obviously the front I had to spin the tree around a few times to double check.

The unfortunate thing about being me (well one of the things) is that I can't just do what I want, when I want. This tree belongs to a good friend of the Chiefs and although he has lost interest in Bonsai, I am not sure how he would take to me completely redesigning his tree. When I first started as an apprentice he was a bit on the rude side towards me which I took to heart and I am not going to provoke things any more than is necessary. Although he seems to like me now...I am not convinced.

With the restraint of not being able to go crazy on the tree and do what in my mind was necessary, I set about making a two fronted tree. Shock horror. A tree with two fronts. Yes it is possible. Admittedly in this case the current front is styled to look a bit on the boring side whereas the side I want to make it from is much more interesting...however, there has been no irreversible branch removal, which I would need permission from an absent higher power for. I will take it over to the owners house sometime in the week and ask his opinion. More branches need removing and internal buds need to beef up before a more detailed and final wiring but given the time of year, the tree and personalities in question, I have done as best I can.

If I get the nod, the bottom branch is coming off and it will look like it this.

In other developments, I was allowed out of the garden yesterday and ventured into the real world. I had a meeting about the proposed e-book which I have been asked to write.

I had done very little preparation for it

so I scribbled some notes on the train but it was not necessary. I have a free hand with regards to content, it is left entirely to me. I will also be able to publish it as a proper book if so desired. After the discussion was over I realised that I actually have to sit down and write it, rather than writing about how I am going to write a book. Bit of a difference.

The good thing about the real world is getting out and seeing some pretty girls, of which there are a great number in Tokyo. Seeing the female form is always refreshing for young(ish) bonsai apprentices and somehow our conversations always revolve around to them. The other night we were sat around after work talking over a beer and I told them what I had written about here, what I was thinking with regards to styling and the approach of natural beauty rather than prettiness. Naganuma, who is a bit on the coarse side but quite insightful described it as "Ranchou no bi"....the beauty of disorder. He also made the point that the reason that women go to so much effort to make themselves pretty is so that after a suitable period of courtship, a dinner date for example, men can ruin it....thus making them suitably disordered and therefore beautiful. His language was a little more colourful...but his point true to an extent.

Anyway, I have to get some thoughts down on paper...

Satsuki show and a day off?

This blogging lark is becoming quite regular. I guess it is because I am all alone and have no money to go out drinking if I get any free time.

Last night was spent working on getting a ahead start on the post flower pruning of the hundreds of satsuki that we have here. Trees that are not going to be on display or are not up for sale are worked first, removing the flowers and flower buds so that the tree does not tire itself out. Pruning back satsuki is an essential technique for keeping them healthy. It generates new growth which keeps the tree going, and it also enables the branches to ramify and develop. Pruning needs to be done before the end of June so that the new growth will have time to set flower buds. A good explanation can be fund in this months Bonsai Focus.

I have a funny relationship with Satsuki...I have been doing them sice I started Bonsai, they are fun to do and have taught me some essential skills, but compared to thin trunked aged pines and twisted Junipers, they lack a certain depth. Without a doubt they are very pretty when in flower and can be interesting when styled but...they are not beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I love them, especially Aozora and Hoshi no Kagayaki which are not only lovely trees but have wonderful names, "Azure Sky" and "Brilliant Star"...cute and pretty.

The closest you come to wabi-sabi with an azalea is the pile of semi finished flowers and unopened flower buds on the floor when pruning. The flowers work so hard to be pretty and they are discarded by the way side. Buds which have yet to open are robbed of their potential and thrown in the mud. There is something quite lonely about a deflowered tree, slightly naked, used and then put back on the bench. For one week, it is the centre of attention but then...it is finished. I enjoy the pile of used flowers that builds up after a day of pruning.

Satsuki shows are a big reason behind their popularity. There are a number of awards and categories based on trunk thickness and height. The awards are as much for good cultivation as they are design and artistic ability. There is a great freedom with Azaleas and they are made into some interesting shapes, but the standard triangle of foliage on a thick trunk is hard to escape from.

This week there are many shows on and this morning the Chief suddenly decided that because of the rain we would all go up to see the shows and learn something. What I learnt is that in typhoon conditons, driving on the expressway when there is a torrential downpour and standing water on the road is not a good idea and should be avoided at all costs. Some idiot cause a pile up which delayed us for an hour. It was worth it though to see The Chief walking around in this slightly un-Chiefly pink cardigan. People change when there are flowers around I guess.

Morimae is doing an exhibition at the moment at the same place and we popped in today. It is superb, the man has incredible taste and the ability to put things together. Sadly my battery died as soon as I took one picture when we got there so you will have to wait until I can go another time. The Chief is off to Germany in a few days so I will pop up then.

Some of my favourite trees from the Satsuki show....The Prime Minister award winning Osaka-zuki which belongs to one of our customers, a shohin sized and an absolutely perfectly made Akemi no Tsuki (named after the daughter of the guy who cross bred it). I wish I could show you the branching structure on this tree. The amount of work that has gone into it is outstanding.

Except for the rain we had fun and saw some pretty trees, picked up a few things and got home in time for tea.