Bonsai Society of San Francisco tokonoma display

mike_p

BSSF exhibited about 100 bonsai at the San Francisco Garden Show at the Cow Palace. This portable tokonoma was loaned to the club by Gordon Deeg of San Mateo.
The bonsai is shimpaku grafted onto San Jose understock 50 or more years ago. This tree is the BSSF logo and resides in the GSBF bonsai garden in Oakland. It's under the care of curator Kathy Shaner, and was recently restyled by Yasuo Mitsuya.
The rooster scroll was chosen because it's the Chinese Year of the Rooster.
The tokonoma was built in Fresno, and Al Keppler is familiar with the details, if anyone has questions.

Attached Images

toko_cp05.jpg (59.8 KB, 89 views)

__________________
Bonsai is not a hobby.
Bonsai is a way of life.
MP@BBB Studio

There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way
Gautama Buddha

Advertisement

TreeBay

I started a post on this a short while back but got distracted by a 3' tall minion running around here under the radar.

That is a very fine table you have there, and a good choice for this venerable semi cascade juniper.

I like these three elements individually, and was thinking about the composition a little bit more. The height of the rooster seemed to compete with the tree, being so closely placed and at the same height. I think I would let the rooster breathe a little by moving it to the right a bit and up.

Also the rooster seems to be trying to associate himself with the tree in some immediate way, which looks a little strange but I don't have anything but a comment to offer.

Thanks for posting this interesting group. I hope to seem more.

Regards,

Matt

__________________

Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today!

bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!

Bart Thomas(deceased)

He's looking for a place to fly through the tree.

Ooops! That was yesterday! Besides, he can't fly, although he can fry.

(Really, a very nice display. Thanks for sharing.)

mike_p

Hi Matt
I think the rooster has treed the hen
Regarding placements in display, I sometimes call on Willi Benz. He says on page 178 of his book, BONSAI KUSAMONO SUISEKI "Objects should be so chosen that their lines of flow or their spheres of action are related to each other. The spheres of action must communicate with each other and the lines of flow must be directed at each other". In this display, the rooster is "talking" to the tree. If the rooster was pointing to the right, he wouldn't have worked for this display.
I would have preferred the rooster to be somewhat smaller, but being the only rooster scroll I have, he was it. I also would have preferred rooster to be somewhat lower, but that would have necessitated using a short scroll, which I don't think would have looked very good.
Without vast resources, compromise is necessary. However, I'm sure our viewers enjoyed the display.

Regards

Mike

__________________
Bonsai is not a hobby.
Bonsai is a way of life.
MP@BBB Studio

There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way
Gautama Buddha

spookybonsai

Truly novice question here, as I'd like to get a feel for how the styles are distinguished on BonsaiTalk. From my reading, there are different methods of distinguishing semi-cascades and cascades. Seems most often its considered semi-cascade if the cascade tail doesn't fall below the lower rim of the pot; cascade must. But then, there's Deborah Koreshoff's advice* to look at the angle from the base of the trunk to the tip of the tail. If its between 45 degrees above and a few degrees below the horizontal then its semi-cascade; if its between 30 to 90 degrees below the horizontal its cascade.

I would have called this a cascade, because it looks like the tail falls almost vertically once over the edge of the pot (or it that a branch not the trunk?). What made you consider it a semi-cascade, Treebay?


*Koreshoff, D. (1984) Bonsai, Its Art, Science, History and Philosophy, ISBN: 0864391943, pp 169, 173.

__________________
Bonsai was meant to keep me away from the computer

mike_p

Spooky, without getting involved in the question about which type of cascade this is, I'll show a picture that gives a truer view of the bonsai, and let you decide for yourself.
This was shot at a lower angle which I feel shows the tree better, and gives a more realistic view of the branching.

Mike

Attached Images

bssf_05logo.jpg (66.1 KB, 22 views)

__________________
Bonsai is not a hobby.
Bonsai is a way of life.
MP@BBB Studio

There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way
Gautama Buddha

spookybonsai

Thanks Mike,
That's a clearer picture, but I still can't tell exactly whether those lower branches are directly off the main trunk or the trunk actually goes out to the right above the pot, and this is just a low hanging branch. The foliage pads cover the line of the trunk in this photo and I can't be certain (sorry). If I was actually there, I'd be moving around to check. Still, it is a venerable tree with beautiful nebari.