A regular update on the life and times of John Hanby’s Newstead Bonsai Centre……..
Topical Times – Beginners Two Class October 20th 2013
We have just enjoyed a splendid beginners weekend. On saturday we had a group of 8 taking part in Beginners One and on sunday we had a different group of 6 completing Beginners Two.
During part two we discuss the practicalities of keeping bonsai but most of the day revolves around the first styling of raw material. Students select a piece of raw material from our stock and then I discuss with them the various styling options available.
Once a decision has been made I prune away everything I don’t think we will need. The student then wires the remaining branches with the help of Derek and Ian. After any deadwood has been created and the tree wired I can then position the branches to try and achieve the desired style.
This is a first styling so we are not trying to create a pristine show-like image. The health of the tree and the ability to recover is much more important. Sufficient foliage and long growing tips are left on the tree.
The students have the option to purchase their tree at the end of the day and everybody is generally keen to take their tree home.
Already I have received e-mails from two students attending the class and it is nice to get some positive feedback. Ian wrote “thank you for a great day at the weekend,I love my new Mountain Pine and I was very impressed with what you did to everyone else’s trees. I would also like to say that the choice of quality raw material was amazing.”
David also contacted me and said “Just a brief e-mail to thank you for a really interesting day yesterday. As you said it is unusual to see so many transformations from raw material to completed first styling in a 6-hour period and there seemed to be some really interesting material worked on the day. I certainly feel I learn a lot every time I come over to Newstead.”
I hope you enjoy the series of pictures below. If you are interested in attending a bonsai beginners course please contact the nursery or keep checking the courses section for when new dates are released.
