Winter Silhouette Show in Kannapolis, NC (excellent show, lousy pictures)

[Martin Sweeney]

All,

I very much enjoyed the 1st ever Winter Silhouette Exhibit in Kannapolis North Carolina.

Here are some pictures

The following are of a Julian Adams literal Mother / Daughter display. The smaller tree is a cutting from the top of the larger. (please forgive my misnaming of the file).

The below is a Bill Valvanis Japanese Maple Display.

Hopefully, someone who knew how to take good pictures will post some as well.

Regards,
Martin

 

[prestontolbert]

It was a really awesome show. Im sorry I don't have any pics.

 

[Martin Sweeney]

Preston,

It was a pleasure meeting you and seeing your pots. You should post some pictures here for others to see and enjoy.

Regards,
Martin

 

[Dan W.]

Thanks for sharing Martin!

There are pictures here too: http://valavanisbonsaiblog.com/2013/12/07/bonsai-winter-silhouette-exhibition/

 

[Martin Sweeney]

Dan,

No problem, thanks for looking.

Yes, I saw those. Glad he didn't post pics of my trees, they
were seriously out classed!

Regards
Martin

 

[Dan W.]

lol... I have a little trouble believing that. I checked out some of your files, love the azalea!

 

[Martin Sweeney]

Dan,

I had to sell that one. I miss it every day.

Here are some more pictures of good trees at the Winter Silhouette Show.

Regards,
Martin

 

[MACH5]

Great show with some outstanding trees. This IS my kind of show! I may have to travel down south next year for this. Bill's trees as always are fantastic!!

Thanks for sharing Martin!

 

[Dan W.]

I may have to do the same M5! It would be south/eeaaasssst......... for me though...lol

 

[MACH5]

I may have to do the same M5! It would be south/eeaaasssst......... for me though...lol

Yes I know Dan! It is a hike for me but for you....

 

[johng]

It was a good weekend...I can see this turning into a show with really good trees! It was an amazing venue. enough with words... how about some pics

American Hornbeam on a wooden slab...Best Winter Silhouette

Best in Show - One of the dwarf elms??

One of my favorites...Japanese Maple...The red branch tips really looked nice!

Outstanding Korean Hornbeam

American Hornbeam

Chinese Quince and Chinese Elm

My display...terrible photo..Winged Elm slab, Satsuki Azalea(all the red leaves dropped off on the ride to the show), Korean Hornbeam...grown from a seedling.

Close up of the slab...winged elm

Overall I felt pretty outclassed by the large and beautiful deciduous trees but the slab planting was well received

Martin...thanks for posting and it was good to see you!

Preston...nice getting to know you a little...love my new pots!!

John

One more just for fun...looking down from the 4th floor

 

[Martin Sweeney]

Dan and MACH5,

Here are two of the lesser trees, but they are mine and I enjoy them as I grew them all from root cuttings.

If the Winter Silhouette Show is held again next year, it is well worth attending. The venue is 1st Class, the organizer (yes 1 man put this on basically by himself) had all the bases covered, the trees exhibited were extremely good overall and will hopefully only get better (although that may prove a challenge) and the attendance will grow. Every indication is that it will happen again, so keep your eyes and ears open

Regards,
Martin

 

[MACH5]

Very nice Martin and congrats! For some reason I can't click on the left pic?


Thanks for sharing Johng. Love your winged elm group!

 

[Dav4]

Dan and MACH5,

Here are two of the lesser trees, but they are mine and I enjoy them as I grew them all from root cuttings.

If the Winter Silhouette Show is held again next year, it is well worth attending. The venue is 1st Class, the organizer (yes 1 man put this on basically by himself) had all the bases covered, the trees exhibited were extremely good overall and will hopefully only get better (although that may prove a challenge) and the attendance will grow. Every indication is that it will happen again, so keep your eyes and ears open

Regards,
Martin

View attachment 45459View attachment 45460

Wow! ANOTHER great show to attend in the Southeast! The trees in all the pictures posted were top notch. It can be a tough time of year to break away, but the show sure looked worthwhile, to say the least. Fwiw, I don't think either yours or Jonh's trees were outclassed. Nice job!

 

[Martin Sweeney]

Very nice Martin and congrats! For some reason I can't click on the left pic?


Thanks for sharing Johng. Love your winged elm group!

MACH5,

Yes, me either. I think I saved the file so small, it cannot be enlarged. I will try again to upload as a larger file.

Regards,
Martin

 

[Martin Sweeney]

Wow! ANOTHER great show to attend in the Southeast! The trees in all the pictures posted were top notch. It can be a tough time of year to break away, but the show sure looked worthwhile, to say the least. Fwiw, I don't think either yours or Jonh's trees were outclassed. Nice job!

Dav4,

Thanks, I guess it is like pass interference calls against the Patriots in the end zone, some weeks you pick them up, some weeks you don't....

Seriously, the size of my trees compared to the others shown is not quite evident in the pictures. Mine were simply lost in the mix due to the scale and opulence of the space itself as well as the sheer size and incredible quality of the vast majority of the other trees. But, I am ok with that. They are what they are and as I said, I am very fond of them. I would like to know Bill Valvanis's critique of my trees and if he thought they meritted inclusion in the show, but may never know as I was not present to hear it.

Yes, YOU should make the trip. A 3-4 hour drive and family commmitments just reached the level of acceptable excuse.

Regards,
Martin

 

[Martin Sweeney]

Johng,

As always, it was a pleasure to see you. Additionally, it was nice to be at the same show with you Ken and Arthur and not see you win an award!

I enjoyed viewing your display, as well as Ken's and Arthur's displays. I really like the twigginess and starkness of the winged elm slab planting.

Do you have a picture of Ken's Crepe Myrtle? It deserved more love from all the attendees.

Regards,
Martin

 

[johng]

Johng,

As always, it was a pleasure to see you. Additionally, it was nice to be at the same show with you Ken and Arthur and not see you win an award!

I enjoyed viewing your display, as well as Ken's and Arthur's displays. I really like the twigginess and starkness of the winged elm slab planting.

Do you have a picture of Ken's Crepe Myrtle? It deserved more love from all the attendees.

Regards,
Martin

Here is Ken's display...

and a closer shot of his Natchez CM...2D just really doesn't do it justice!

Bill's critique was the best part of the weekend for me! I always learn so much from listening to him!! As to what he said about your trees, I am sorry but I don't remember at all...he didn't get to that area until the very end of the critique.

John

 

[Martin Sweeney]

MACH5,

Please try clicking on the picture now. Thank you for your interest.

Regards,
Martin

 

[William N. Valavanis]

Martin,

Thanks for bringing your two bonsai for display at the First Winter Silhouette Bonsai Exhibition. Size means nothing, beauty is the most important factor with bonsai. Here are my personal thoughts on your two trees based on my experience and taste:

Your two bonsai had good bonsai design and looked comfortable in the containers. The basic structure was there, but they both need more development for displaying in an important exhibition like the Winter Silhouette Bonsai Exhibition. They are fine for a local club show, but need a few more years of dedicated trimming to make them seem more mature. By the way, there were several trees in this stage of development...

Also, by the way, I liked the way you lifted the three tree planting off the table with a colored cloth, great! However, both trees needed a bit more preparation for exhibition. The soil surface looked messy and need to be covered 100% with green moss. This is a formal display. Also, the larger three tree planting had many leaves which distracted from the beauty of the twigs. Either in full leaf, (autumn color is OK) or bare, but not both. It looks like you forgot to remove the leaves. OK, perhaps you wanted to show the falling leaves, but in my opinion, it looked messy.

I hope you continue to develop these two trees and will return them to a future Winter Silhouette Bonsai Exhibition.

Announcing:

2014 Winter Silhouette Bonsai Exhibition, December 6-7, 2014!

Organizer Steve Zeisel has decided to put on another exhibition! Thank you Steve!

Bill