Swindon Winter Image Show 2013

I spent an enjoyable day down in Swindon yesterday.......yes you can have an enjoyable day in Swindon......it's the day they have the Swindon Winter Image bonsai exhibition !

Here are a few pictures of stands I've made, (in use at the exhibition), and a few other pictures of Ashfield Bonsai Club trees on display and other trees/accents that I liked.

I'm sorry about the poor quality of some of the pictures, the sodium lighting at the venue is a pig and editing the pictures doesn't help much either.

John Armitage's chojubai on a low cherry root stand

John Armitage's ligustrum (I think) on a burr elm ji ita

John Armitage's painfully awesome itoigawa juniper on a mahogany root stand

 My chojubai on an American black walnut root stand

Kath & Malcolm Hugh's lovely bronze dragon on mahogany ne taku (root stand)

I'm glad I finally got to see these items used together and get a picture

Fern and moss accent in an old "Dansai" pot, sit's on a simple black poplar ji ita

 John Pitt's lovely ezo spruce on rock

John Armitage's chojubai on rock

 Mike Rose's  deshojo maple, (Ashfield Bonsai Club)

 My Ilex Serrata, Japanese winterberry/holly, (Ashfield Bonsai Club)

John Pitt's English yew, (Ashfield Bonsai Club)

John Pitt's English elm, (Ashfield Bonsai Club)

 A close up of John A's itoigawa juniper......."aaaaah Bisto"

Lovely accent on the Wirral stand, a prelude to the coming month, mad March hare's

 Mark & Ritta Cooper's trident maple

Gerry Wheeler's fantastic blackthorn

Mark & Ritta Cooper's awesome trident maple on rock

Blowing my own trumpet.......if only........

Peter Warren kindly offered to take one of my root stands over to Japan for some feedback and advice on how to improve them. I've added his comments from a recent blog on his web site

"And for the eagle eyed amongst you, there is a John Brocklehurst root stand in there. I took it to show a number of people in Japan and have orders for as many as he can make. The general consensus was that the retail price he is selling at was cheap even as a wholesale price for the Japanese market. So think yourselves lucky."



I normally only allow my missus to call me cheap......but I'll let Trev off as he's giving me free product placement.

If you don't follow Peter's blog you really don't know what literary genius you are missing...you heard it here !

http://saruyama-bonsai.blogspot.co.uk/

I'm on a roll people !

And he finishes another one......

Here's another Maple ji ita board, the grain wasn't as sexy as the previous board so I went for a "fake burr" effect finish.
Also as I'm taking these two babies to Swindon Winter Image show this weekend I need to show the different finishes available.

Enough of my babbling here are the pic's

Size is 615mm x 255mm x 7mm.....and it's flat !!

Rock & Roll

Good enough to eat.....I think so

A few more items ready for upcoming shows

Being the eager little beaver that I am, here are a few more stands that I've been working on for upcoming shows.

Maple ji ita board 595mm x 220mm x 7mm
There is a lovely ripple in the grain of this ji ita, almost like viewing a hologram

Close up of the "bark effect" edge detail and you can make out the ripples mentioned above

English Oak ne taku (root stand)
165mm x 140mm x 22mm
Grain effect border added for interest

Iroko ne taku 125mm diameter top x 43mm height

I've carved this stand with more "root detail" to exaggerate the flow of the composition

English Elm root stand (ne taku)
320mm x 270mm x 23mm
English Elm has such a great grain feature to it

Close up of the edge detail