casual friday: Little Hunterman

I discovered this little guy thank to Facebook and fell in love. Not only because Little Hunterman is a Parson Russel Terrier like our Kim, but also because the similarity to my own dog. He has such a refreshing art of telling stories. He has a rubber duck as buddy, loves to snooze on his pillows, he behaves exaclty like a dog does and his just hilarious.

 

Hope you find him as funny and entertaining as I do.

…love, Melanie!

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Happy new year!

This were my favorites in 2013! My pets, my bonsai, nail art,  japanese and my new and old friends.

Wish you all the best for the upcoming 2014

…love, Melanie!!

Archived goals and new issues

Just do it!

Well well! Another year went by and so much has happened. New families were made, some families fell apart; some new friends have earned the title of “friend”, some not; some bonsai were styled for good and some need time to mature.

I did have 4 goasl for 2013 and I achieved at least 3 of them, well it would be all four if I included doing more bonsai in my goals instead of restyling my garden which was a complete failure.

Starting in January with the first session at the Università del bonsai, then finding Nicola online and immediately booking  a workshop for the end of March. In May my first article was published on Bonsai Empire and in June I visited the Swiss bonsai show in Lugano. Summer passed up to the first week of September which was the highlight of my year:  Bonsai Summer Festival in Fai della Paganella. Only one week, but boy did we ever have fun! Not only did I learn a lot about complementary tags all around bonsai art, like presentation, accent plants, bonsai pots, and much more, but also, and most importantly I made a whole new group of friends that like me appreciate bonsai as they are and not for their monetary value or winning potential. I am so grateful to Paolo who managed to introduce me to this new world of bonsai without prizes, seems weird but in my opinion it’s more peaceful and in tune with the whole idea of bonsai itself.
After this wonderful event the wheel started to turn. Articles were published, trees were styled, new enthusiasts were known, well… I had to work more on PR rather than concentrating on my goals, but I did find the time to achieve some other goals.

Another goal reached is to lose weight, and although I gained some kilos this holiday season I am still very motivated to do more for my figure. And last but absolutely not least: learning Japanese. This is one of the main goals for next year as well. I am going to Japan in May 2014 and it’s very important to be able to understand the basics of conversation, or, if at all possible, to understand what Fujikawa San will say.

Talking about new goals, since not all goals have been achieved in 2013, I will not be setting my goals too high for this coming year, although they are indeed demanding: 1) Learn more Japanese;2) Lose more weight and 3) Write more on my blogs and for other bonsai magazines. The highlight in 2014 would be the trip to Japan. I am so excited about it, as are all my bonsai friends who are already asking me to bring home this and that!! I am hoping for the best and I am absolutely positive that no matter what Fujikawa San and Björn will teach me, it will be an amazing experience.
For the rest, I will follow my new styled tree and care for some new species, visit the Roku Shun-Ten, participate at the Swiss New Talent, and maybe visit more shows in Europe as I did in 2013. Of course, there will be more workshops with Nicola and I hope to be able to visit Paolo in Turin.

Hope to be able to achieve all of my goals and more importantly learn more about bonsai and related arts!

…love, Melanie!

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Related articles

• Learn Japanese with bonsai (gracietheturtle.wordpress.com)
• Casual friday: mini tokonoma (gracietheturtle.wordpress.com)
• Shohin workshop enthusiasm – part one (gracietheturtle.wordpress.com)

Casual Friday: Motivation

 

Casual friday: Dogs are always fun!

No matter what kind of dog, no matter how big or how old. A dog is always fun!!

…love, Melanie!

The Art of Kusamono

Ever since I started out with Bonsai I wondered what those grasses and weeds were doing near the bonsai? In fact for a neophyte it’s not immediately clear and if you don’t ask, nobody will give you an answer. To find out you could take a workshop or a private course or a University course as I am doing.

A couple of elements in the Tokonoma: the main tree, the scroll and the shitakusa

Why should a small little pot with some green inside be a companion to the tree? This companion plant is not really a Kusamono but it’s called Shitakusa (“shita” meaning under, below and “kusa” meaning grass, weed) and it evokes the season in which the tree is exposed. A flowery Shitakusa evokes spring, an airy grass evokes the summer, and a rusty, brown grass evokes the fall, just as grass with fruits will. I am still very new to the Bonsai world but this can be a big help when you visit the next Bonsai show. Also; sorry, but no Bonsais in this post folks!

This is one of Nicola “Kitora” Crivelli juniper. He shows it in the Tokonoma at every season of the year. Guess which season?

Back to Kusamono which, by the way, is displayed alone in the Tokonoma with a Tenpai (small little figure) and/or a Kakejiku (Japanese scroll). It’s very important in Japanese Bonsai art to display the tree when it’s finished and has matured to its best. So, for instance, if you have to show a juniper, which is always green, in winter it’s a good idea to have a nice Shitakusa that gives a wintery feeling and maybe a Kakejiku picturing a snowed mountain. The same applies to Kusamonos. Again, it’s displayed alone as the main item with a Tenpai and/or a Kakejiku only when it’s mature; at least 3-5 years old.

Kusamono are showed alone. The scroll evokes that is still cold and the cute tenpai (the litte badger figure) evokes the end of lethargy. Spring!!

At the Swiss Bonsai Show I went to last May, Paolo Giai gave a demonstration of Kusamono and I was thrilled to try this at home myself. Kusamono (“mono” meaning object, thing) is a composition of different grasses, so at first you have to be sure that the grasses come from the same area: swamp, alps, lakes, dry areas and so on. Basically it’s a hint of a piece of nature that you could find in the wild! Ideally, it would be displayed in a round, shallow pot because in the course of the years the front may change, but there are other typologies of Kusamono; on a plate, exposed roots or as mentioned before, in a round pot.

Paolo Giai with his finished Kusamono

the same Kusamono a couple of months later

The soil is a mixture (in ratio 50/50) of waste of sieved Akadama and universal soil, also sieved. A small amount of 3-5 mm Akadama soil will be placed at the bottom of the pot for drainage purposes. Kusamono are not fixed with wire and will be placed in a shadowy area of the garden, not in full sun. Fertilization is done in moderation with a liquid fertilizer on a ratio of 3/9/9 plus microelements 2 times a year to avoid a speedy growth and not to lose the smallness of the leafs. A re-pot is made every 2-3 years depending on the composition.

Make sure to choose grasses that aren’t too flashy, with small flowers and small fruits. Lastly: the compositions are endless!! So go out in the wild and collect or take some inspirations or you can do as I did and go buy the plants at your next door gardening shop.

This is very little, very rudimental information about how to create and cultivate Kusamono and here is my first composition:

Fragaria vesca (wild strawberry, Paolo gave it to me as a gift, thank you pal), a Calamagrostis acutiflora (Reed Grass) and Epimedium x versic (Bicolor barrenwort).

My very first Kusamono

What do you think of my very first Kusamono composition?

…love, Melanie!!

PS: I will like to thank Nicola for giving me permision to use his pictures as an example.

Lone Wolf with Cub. How a Samurai became Bonsai (Transfer to Bonsai Empire’s blog)

Lone Wolf with cub

Blog post is moved to Bonsai Empire’s blog:  How a Samurai became Bonsai, Literati style.

Thank you for following.

…love, Melanie!!

Casual friday: pictures of the week

Casual Friday: Japan is a wonderfull country

This week the press brought some Japan themed news.

For example the most old living man on planet. Jiroemon Kimura is 116 years old and lives in Kyotango (Kyoto prefection)

Or one of the biggest Wisteria of Japan. The beautyfull tree is located in Ashikaga

Japan is really a wonderfull country. Can’t wait an see it.

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1° Livello, 3a sessione

It’s pre-summer and I had the third session of the Bonsai University in Italy.

This third session (3a sessione) was held in May the 18-19 from 9:30-17:00 and the topic were:
Theories:
cutting and pruning, watering and fertilization
the botanical point of view of Bonsai
diseased and their treatment

Practice:
maintenance work of project 1 and 2: pruning and fertilization for the summer

At the same time Crespi held the 2nd edition of his Satzuki Bonsai Festival and in this occasion some of the most famous Bonsai artist was Guest for demonstration and workshops. More in a following post.

Pre-summer is in general already very hot in Italy, so I was expecting a really hot week-end. Luckily for us the weather was lousy; can you imagine how hot it could be in a greenhouse with no air conditioning! We had rain, again. And cold, again. How long do we have to wait for the nice weather, Europe is still waiting!
The session was, as usual, really interesting and informative. Master Kajiwara is always endeavours to explain the best way possible. He wants to be sure everybody understands his explications.
We had lots of theory: botanic, fertilization, cutting and pruning but for the most of us the best part was watering. It’s seems an easy task but is not. Water is for a bonsai much more than a liquid element, it’s perspiration and also transpiration. The doses of water are very important as well. We learned that a bonsai has to be watered three times in the morning and depending on the weather conditions or by checking the forecast it can be one, two or three times. Off course every plant is different and every country is different, just as every garden or balcony is different, so in order to archive the best watering dose for your plant, everybody has to make they own experience and find the best possible recipe for his own.
Not an easy task but manageable.

Have a nice day

…love, Melanie!!