An open window into the comings and goings of students and their trees attending our regular weekend and midweek bonsai classes under the ever watchful eyes of John Hanby.
Classroom Corner – Academy One Class…..December 2015
This was the final meeting for our new Academy group this year and the subject was an introduction to bonsai display.
The students worked in pairs and they were each given an established Juniper bonsai to prepare for an exhibition. The foliage had to be overhauled, branches and the trunk cleaned up, deadwood refined and lime sulphured. The soil surface had to be mossed up and the pots cleaned/oiled.
Under John’s watchful eye this took most of the morning session. After lunch John gave a basic talk on the essence of bonsai display. An example had been prepared in John’s studio in an alcove representation of the Japanese Tokonome.
The students then had to put on their own display using the Juniper from the morning session. They could choose from a selection of bonsai tables, accent plants and scrolls.
Th completed displays were discussed as a group and marked by the students. This was a really worthwhile exercise which provoked a good discussion. The students in this group had never prepared a tree for an important exhibition or even considered the subject of bonsai display so it was a real eye-opener.
