Monday 23 December 2013

Another Itoigawa.... imported material

It's been a few weeks since last post, what with preparations for Christmas and whatnot. Thankfully Christmas shopping is now done and the tinsellated drones of festive music are actually becoming bearable...

And with so little to post about at this time of year, I thought I'd go back a couple of months to a purchase I made in Autumn

Lee Van Vorvehoort had this one for sale at Capel Manor show. It's not a tree with any particularly fine features, asides from a snaking leaning trunk. However, I love Itoigawas and I figured that over time I might be able to create something cute from it. It is sitting in Akadama at the moment, being desperate for a repot and has so many faults that it was overlooked by many.

Issues:

The trunk shows inverse taper when viewed from certain angles. (it's slightly flat as opposed to cylindrical)

There aren't really any branches in positions you'd really like them

Most of the foliage is at the ends of branches, so will need chasing back.

So, obviously with all of these things in mind, it seemed like the perfect purchase!!!

I have a plan you see....

I want a tree on which to practise shari techniques, and also this would be the first itoigawa I'd worked on as raw material. My reasoning would be that if I worked on a tree like this, and fell foul of the multitude of issues I'd undoubtedly encounter, it would give me a better idea of what to look for in raw material when I venture into more costly stock....

Asides from all that, it's going to be fun developing a canopy for the very first time...

So watch this space.






 


I think I'll aim to get something like this....



Bearing in mind I've just turned 40 in the last week, if I can get it to here by my 50th, I'll be happy






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