Art in the Valley

bonsaial1

Sunday April 30th saw the sixth annual exhibition of bonsai at the Ruth and Sherman Lee Institute for Japanese Art. Around 850 people showed up for a full day of Japanese art and vendors and of course Kenji Miyata doing what he does best, sculpt bonsai!

The bonsai part of the event was hosted by the Hanford Bonsai Society, and about half of the trees on display were from members. The other half was part of the ever growing collection of donated trees to this fledgling central California permanate bonsai collection.

I was display chairman and had the opportunity to put together a display like I had not had the privlidge to do in the past. I posted the small prototype back drop some months ago, and built 32 feet of display back ground. each end was anchored by a full size Tokonoma with a full size Japanese Tatami in place.

In all there were 25 trees on display. 8 displays were arranged like Kokufu and the remainder were on monkey poles amid a carpet of California Poppies.

In this post I will show the 8 displays I was privlidged to arrange. The last photo is wrong and the arrangement had to be changed at the last minute due to a technical issue. (chipped pot)

Attached Images

	juniper and Cal.jpg (29.5 KB, 97 views)
	trident and Itoigawa.jpg (38.2 KB, 83 views)
	juniper and boxwood.jpg (24.5 KB, 80 views)
	foemina grove.jpg (33.2 KB, 104 views)
	DSCF0218.JPG (27.6 KB, 84 views)
	DSCF0219.JPG (27.3 KB, 76 views)

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bonsaial1

Some more..

Attached Images

	DSCF0223.JPG (24.8 KB, 64 views)
	DSCF0221.JPG (37.4 KB, 57 views)
	DSCF0220.JPG (26.3 KB, 56 views)

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bonsaial1

Kenji Miyata's demo was very well recieved and the bleacher/stage set up for the demo was full. many noteable names from the bay area and so. Cal. were on hand to watch Kenji do a rare demo. The tree he worked on was a small california juniper. The tree had been previously worked by the person that donated it and all it need was some aire and shaping. Since Kenji had only one hour to work during the action packed venue, he chose this tree specificly for this time frame.

the shots will start with the tree as ofered and some shots of his progress, ending with the finished product. The tree was ofered for auction at the end of the demo, and the winning bid was won by my best friend from the Japanese club I belong to. I will have the rare chance to continue work on the tree with my friend.

Attached Images

	DSCF0214.JPG (43.1 KB, 88 views)
	DSCF0229.JPG (30.8 KB, 72 views)
	DSCF0236.JPG (36.3 KB, 77 views)
	DSCF0240.JPG (28.7 KB, 57 views)
	DSCF0242.JPG (30.2 KB, 94 views)

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Ashbarns9999

Al what an absolute priveledge to view such a mighty effort. The trees on display were of good showable quality but what a magnificent backdrop they were allowed. How many of the stands were made by you?
Kenji did a really good job with the juniper and what a stroke of good fortune that you will have access in the refining process of this tree.
Do we take it that the display background will be retained for future shows? If so a magnificent legacy has been bestowed upon the club by a true craftsman.
Now about that discount I am after on a stand..........

Kind regards Ash

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TreeBay

Thanks for the summary Al, looks like a great time!

Regards,

Matt

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rockm

Very nice Al. I particularly like the group in pic 36288. Very effective (although I would have a shallow wider pot--put I'm nitpicking). What species are the trees in it?

pootsie

Fantastic stuff, Al! Thank you for sharing.
I really like the shohin display.

That Kenji tree is gonna be something special.

pootsie

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bonsaial1

Thanks for the kind words. The group of junipers are "Foemina" the same as the famous Goshin by John Naka.

Here are some of the credentials of the displays:

Photo #36285 Click to Enlarge

main tree is Prostrata Juniper owned and styled by Bob Hilvers, the acent tree is a Shohin California juniper that I would like to get my hands on as well as half of the shohin clubs in Cal.

Photo #36286 Click to Enlarge

Main tree is trident maple by Al Keppler, and accent tree is Itoigawa juniper

Photo #36287 Click to Enlarge

procumbens juniper donated by Bob Hilvers and styled by Marco Invernizzi, accent tree is boxwood by Gary Biggs

Photo #36288 Click to Enlarge

Foemina group donated by widow of Sam Kawaguchi. This group was in fair condition when recieved but a repot and new composition revived the group. It will undergo a pot change next year into a better pot.

Photo #36289 Click to Enlarge

main tree donated by Jeff Kelly styled by Kenji Miyata, accent tree catlin elm clump donated by Bob Hilvers and restyled by Al Keppler

Photo #36290 Click to Enlarge

Procumbens donated by Bob Hilvers and restyled (in progress) by Kenji Miyata, accent tree trident group by Al Keppler

Photo #36293 Click to Enlarge

Broom styled Catlin Elm donated by John Naka, accent tree procumbens windswept styled and owned by Bob Hilvers.

The two Shohin displays were by Al Keppler.

Attached Images

DSCF0243.JPG (34.4 KB, 43 views)

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Shawnsai

Al, this is Shawn from HBS. I've been looking foreward to seeing these pictures since the day of the show. Nice day for a sunburn. Thanks.