The Frankenstein Maple

[LanceMac10]

No pitchforks and torches for this stocky little tree full of "Smoke character".......thought I saw a little "cheek peek"!!!!!

 

[queenofsheba52]

What a labor of love! You've done a fantastic job with this patient, Dr. Frankenstein.

 

[Jcmmaple]

That is some impressive and tedious work, nice job and nice tree.

 

[Smoke]

Looks better than I ever thought it would. Oddly enough the first shot of the tree in the new pot, still seems like it has a moyogi feel to it. I'm sure that you have a plan though.

hmmm..I used the word Moyogi specifically because it conjures up a certain look that seems to be the international rage in trident maples. I did a search on the word and came up with these images for "Moyogi" as a bonsai style or Form.

 

[Smoke]

These are some of the images of most of my maples.

Nearly text book , what the book calls Moyogi.

 

[Smoke]

I didn't want that single Hogarth shaped trunk supporting a 1,2,3 branch structure.

I wanted something with open branching, natural in shape, with a rugged gnarly trunk showing some age. Where did I go wrong?



The next two pictures are the same view, just a about 3+ years apart.



This is the look I would love to have later down the road...but you gotta start somewhere. I'm kinda weird I feel like I got to do it myself. There is something I get out of the satisfaction of developing something from nothing and totally erase the original image. Not just improve it, I mean really transform it.

 

[Smoke]

When I say transform it I mean erase all that was before and make something totally different. How many see that tree in there. I did, thats why I bought the stump to transform. This was an Ian Price grafting donor tree. Ian Price is the owner of Lone Pine. It is now run by Steve Price his son.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

So is this about developing a deciduous tree with branches that extend out and up instead of sharply down?

 

[JudyB]

I think what I'm seeing is the one clear leader that is taking the obvious standard shape from the base to the apex. If that were not so strong, and the lower branches take more of a shaping role in the canopy, I would not be seeing it like that. I'm sure with more time and your development skills, you will have what you started out to do.

 

[coh]

Nice to see you "branching out" a bit...

 

[Smoke]

Nice to see you "branching out" a bit...

Thanks

 

[pbrown00]

You can see some scarring on the trunk from the wires that were so tight trying to keep the trunks in place. Upon photos tonight it seems that I had added three saplings into the gaps during the 2016 phase. I found this stub that I had cut off cause it had grafted to the trunk and was not useful as a branch.
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The tree now has doubled in size with a 4 inch trunk from 2 and the tree is about 13 inches tall from 10. hope you like the tree. I think its a damn sexy ugly swan. Not anything most people will find at your local bonsai show.

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This is incredibly well-done. I wish I had the experience and skill to even attempt something like this. Nice job, Smoke!