Marin Bonsai Club

At our March 15^th meeting, Jonas Dupuich brought an almost academic air to the gathering. We could have been sitting in an art or design class for all the discussion of angles, flow, and form. After a demonstration of formality using a collection of stands, the audience was riveted by Jonas’ slideshow of some Japanese show displays. Jonas posed a couple questions throughout, and the audience had a host of questions of their own. It was all very analytical as we all sharpened our artistic sensibilities, engaged by the display scenarios and comparisons presented by Jonas.

Jonas Dupuich discusses displays

It is important to grasp the concept of formality in bonsai displays because many of the decisions are based on formality. For instance, the main tree in a multi-point display should be placed on the most formal stand. Some factors that increase the formality of stands are darkness, detail, and height. Even the type of wood is important, with bamboo being the least formal stand material.

Another valuable point Jonas made was the importance of establishing context within your bonsai displays. The scroll and accent plants in a display are particularly important in establishing both the location and season the artist wishes to convey. Continue reading →

For those who find them useful (and who doesn’t?), Peter Tea’s handouts made a return in January, to help summarize and enhance the information he gave us in his engaging repotting demonstration.

In any case, I am not going to try to summarize Peter’s entire demonstration because most of the important information is in that handout, and I still think you should really go there Continue reading →