Winter Silhouette Show Submission

[PowerTap]

The Puget Sound Bonsai Club is doing a winter silhouette show, and I'm thinking of submitting my magnolia, which is in good shape right now and generally has leaves that are to big for summer displays, and flowers to early for the spring show. So I spent some time today taking some pictures and I'd love to get some feedback. I'd love to hear what you think of the tree and some of the options that I've been playing with for display. I don't have a ton of materials by way of stands or accents. But I'm trying to put something interesting forward when I submit.

Option 1:

This is the most straight forward presentation, front of the tree on a stand that I both have and I think compliments the tree and pot. Smooth curves all around.

Option 2:



Option two uses a slab that I'm still working on, but could finish before the show (I hope). The slab is was a Norway Maple street tree that was in front of my house. When it was cut down this spring the arborist was kind enough to cut a slice of it out for me. I like the idea of this, but I think that the rough bark from a mature maple doesn't go well with the smooth bark of the magnolia. But it is a more evocative arrangement.

In the future slab will be finished on both sides and I could flip it over and put an accent on the other side. But not yet.

Option 3:



Option three adds a shohin Juniper as an accent plant. I'm not sure that the juniper is in particularly good show shape and adding a conifer to the silhouette show feels wonky. I'm honestly working with the material that I have on hand. Yes that is on a lego bonsai tree stand, that probably would probably not fly in the show. But it the tree needed to be just a bit taller.

Option 4:

While I was playing with arrangements I did actually try with the lego bonsai itself as a stand-in for an accent plant. I leave it here for humor.

 

[WavyGaby]

Nice summary of the thought process. I like option 4 but sub out the legos with a little slab or stand and an accent plant.

 

[PowerTap]

I think I've settled on a "best" arrangement that I can conceive. On a walk to the beach near my house I was struck by the tall see grass gone to seed and collected some. I think that it gives a sense of place and season to the display, placing this as a tree in winter near the ocean.



Side note, freaking cows keep ripping the moss off my tree so that they can look for grubs in the roots. I keep having to reapply the moss to this tree for photos.

 

[stewarjm192]

Nice summary of the thought process. I like option 4 but sub out the legos with a little slab or stand and an accent plant.

…..a stone could be nice as well!

 

[stewarjm192]

I’m a little bias, but that tree needs a better stand IMO

 

[JudyB]

the tree moves to the right and the accent moves to the left in#5 I like #4 but with an accent plant instead. I do like the slab from #2 but it needs to have a strong second plant on the right hand part of the slab or maybe a tenpai or stone. Either way the tree needs to sit higher than the accent, and that slab rises higher to the right. Good for you for trying to do a display it makes us all better when we have to show the art form.

 

[PowerTap]

I’m a little bias, but that tree needs a better stand IMO

I agree, but alas that is the only stand I currently own. And I got that one from a club raffle of free things. Someday I'll collect never stands.

I have the option to further cut down the accent grass, it isn't grown in that container, but wat cut off at the beach then cut down to what I felt was an appropriate height. I might need a shorter vase (which I have).

Thank you for the feedback. This is the first time I've tried this.

 

[PowerTap]

the tree moves to the right and the accent moves to the left in#5 I like #4 but with an accent plant instead. I do like the slab from #2 but it needs to have a strong second plant on the right hand part of the slab or maybe a tenpai or stone. Either way the tree needs to sit higher than the accent, and that slab rises higher to the right. Good for you for trying to do a display it makes us all better when we have to show the art form.

I did also try the with the tree and accent reversed which might resolve some of the left / right issues. moving both towards the center felt very awkward.

I think maybe the amount of cuttings in the accent could help put the visual weight in better ballance.

 

[stewarjm192]

the tree moves to the right and the accent moves to the left in#5 I like #4 but with an accent plant instead. I do like the slab from #2 but it needs to have a strong second plant on the right hand part of the slab or maybe a tenpai or stone. Either way the tree needs to sit higher than the accent, and that slab rises higher to the right. Good for you for trying to do a display it makes us all better when we have to show the art form.

I agree completely with Judy here. As much as we each have our own critique and opinions, the act of showing bonsai elevates the art for all of us. We as the viewers see more bonsai display and see more and more of what we like and don’t like, and as the person displaying, you are encouraged to elevate your tree and display technique! Great work.


Now, onto my previous point…..the stand. I’d love to see that tree on a “sangi” style stand, a simple and clean design with lots of vertical dowels to provide a grounding feeling. Please see an included photo of a “Sangi” stand.

 

[stewarjm192]

I did also try the with the tree and accent reversed which might resolve some of the left / right issues. moving both towards the center felt very awkward.

I think maybe the amount of cuttings in the accent could help put the visual weight in better ballance.

So two things here….
Firstly, I like the grass, but having it so tall pulls attention away from the tree. Accents should always be compliments to the tree, never overshadowing, a point that applies to all parts of bonsai in my opinion.(IE: never should the pot/stand/scroll/accent outshine the tree). But who am I, but a humble woodworker.

I did a walk through of the last National show(8th?) with kora Dalger, a great bonsai artist, who specifically critiqued accents. Points worth noting: accents should strive to be mostly shorter than the stand that the main tree is on, and they should also never be in more formal pots, or on more formal stands than the main tree.

I think my last point to mention, forgetting everything listed here before; in favor of the grass, if the tree leans towards the right, the grass leans to the left. This directionality keeps the viewers eyes bouncing back and forth in your display, rather than left to right and right onto the next display, if that makes sense.


Take all of this with a grain of salt. There is formal display, and there is display for fun. If it moves you, and your heart, and there is intentionality to your choices, even if they break rules, that is art!

 

[JudyB]

I did also try the with the tree and accent reversed which might resolve some of the left / right issues. moving both towards the center felt very awkward.

I think maybe the amount of cuttings in the accent could help put the visual weight in better ballance.

The tree and the accent should "speak" to each other. Multi tree displays like a shohin display have very important designations about how the trees are oriented. I think if you study that aspect of display (even though that's not what you're doing here) it will inform your thinking about display in general. If you have a shorter accent as suggested, or a taller tree stand, and give more space between the two points of display, you'll be able to see that it's more harmonious to have them moving toward each other. This is why I feel like display is so important, it really does make you LOOK at your trees. Even if you don't put it into a show, just staging photos can make you see things in a different light.