I received a bunch of photos from my cousin yesterday of all the new Pines that he got over the passed few months. He spends a lot of time walking trails and every now or then he stumbles on a tree that he likes.
Here are a few of the photos he sent me:
As you can see I tried to make a few notes on my phone to tell him what to do. He is still in school but he has a great eye for bonsai. He is a bit cautious when it come to wiring trees. I help out where I can with his trees and to boost his confidence in developing this own trees. I just want to be the mentor I wish I had when I started styling trees. That would have helped me develop faster and allowed me to focus on the right techniques. I spend a lot of time figuring out how things work and how trees respond to different techniques.
The worst that can happen is a branch breaking off. You can grow in a new one in a few years. Once you realize that with time you can cover up past mistakes styling becomes a breeze. Not really but the fear of breaking limits your creativity. If you over come this the possibilities can only be limited by your skills. The only way to get good with styling is practicing. Along the way you will break a few branches. Breaking branches builds character.
I’m busy preparing myself to host a workshop on Saturday. Its only my cousin but still I like to be prepared. He said he will be bringing a few trees long. By the looks of it there will be a few pines. Not sure what the rest will be so I will have to wait and see. I do not really care what trees he brings along as long as I can work on a couple of new trees I will be happy. It’s going to be a long day… he just send me a message asking if I can come and pick him up at 06:00 because he can’t load all the trees he wants to work on, on this bicycle.
Most of the work in my garden is done so I am grateful for the opportunity to share my knowledge. We all know the saying: “Idle hands are the devils playground”. If I do not get anything for these two hands of mine to do I will start losing my mind. It’s like waking up with no purpose. I know it sounds a bite dark but I’m so use to working on trees and trimming back new growth that I feel like I’m have no purpose as the growth rate has slowed down and the highlight in my garden is watering my trees. No one ever said bonsai is a walk in the park.
I just came to the realization that there is a fine line between enjoying bonsai and overloading yourself with bonsai. I like working on new trees but I hate maintenance as I feel it takes more of my time than anything else. I want to see that what I did made a difference. I forget that changes I made in the past has help me shape trees I have now. It’s a journey of discovery for me and it feels like time passes slower in Autumn and Winter than in Spring and Summer. Bonsai is a long term project. Initial styling lays the foundation for the next few year of the trees development. Bonsai is an art that is never finished. A tree changes over the years and you need to adapt to the changes in the tree to get the best you can from the tree but you also need to keep the health of the tree in mind. Is all about finding the balance.
Hope you enjoyed my blog. Please feel free to leave your comments below.
Bonsaiwithromano 
Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.
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