Ilex Verticillata bunjin

fredtruck

Attached are 3 pictures of my Ilex Verticillata ‘Winter Red’ bunjin, taken from 2005 to the present. The first picture is very similar to an image in my gallery. I had just begun working on branch structure, and I had just begun to tackle the difficult problem of the front.

What is not apparent in this flattened, digital image, is the drastic foreshortening caused by the position of the tree. It extends towards the viewer over 3 feet. The trunk appears very dark because you are seeing only the shadowed bottom side.

The second picture was taken last year. During the year, the tree seems to have extended out, and is much less vertical. The approximate tree position, determining the front, is similar to the first picture, but the very heavy berry load, and the continued branch development, make the tree appear quite different.

The last picture was taken this week. I have rotated the tree somewhat to the viewer’s left. This decompresses the curves at the base of the tree, but makes the angle of the top of the tree more apparent. Again, the flat nature of digital photography prevents me from showing that the top angles back towards the center of the image about 50 degrees. The branch structure is much more defined now, and the berry load this year is much lighter than last, due to an early May freeze that threw off flowering and fruiting cycles. The raffia and wire on the trunk are where I split it and bent it down just enough with just enough rotation to accent the top’s thrust back to the center.

I have followed discussions on exactly what a bunjin tree is closely. I think Mike Page’s recent comment that grace is important is on the mark, as the picture shows. My own view of the bunjin is that it is rooted in the nature of traditional Japanese art, which is both freely representational and calligraphic at once. There is no counterpart in Western art of this blend. To me, the bunjin tree’s trunk line is a brush stroke.

Attached Images

	ilex ul.jpg (50.0 KB, 27 views)
	ilex6ul.jpg (46.2 KB, 40 views)
	ilex v 3c ul.jpg (56.8 KB, 48 views)

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Victrinia_Ensor

Fred...

Can you describe for me what your goal is with the branch structure?

I am a big fan of bunjin myself... I'm trying to decide in my head what I would want to do with the branch structure if it were mine, and I'm at a bit of a loss. There's such a long journey for the eye to go, you want there to be something very visually catching when the viewer gets to the end.

I would probably have to sit down and sketch a half dozen ideas to get the right flow. I'm curious as to what you have come up with for it.

Kindest regards,

Victrinia

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