Page 57 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2014Q4

less is more

Recipient of the BCI Award

of Excellence; Cryptomeria sp.

By Francesco Damini, Italy

Introduction by Massimo Bandera, Italy
Translation by Joe Grande, Canada

t the recent Arcobonsai exhibition, a Japanese
Cedar that I saw for the first time had an in-
Acredible impact on me, so small and yet so
much a tree, so suggestive.
When you experience particular emotions from a
bonsai, whether the tree is strong and formal, elegant
and refined, or informal, you can try to analyze the
aesthetic values and delve into the emotional experi-

ences that a bonsai masterpiece can provide.
What comes to mind with this tree is what the Japa-
nese literati describe as a “suggestion of feelings,” a
world of innuendo, relationships and evocations,
where “less is more,” where a suggestion is enough to
spark the emotional imagination of the viewer. This
suggestive power is a poetic ideal that evokes by im-
plication.
Francesco Damini’s Japanese Cedar has an amazing
force, yet the absence of its large size is obvious: it is
very small! A small tree that suggests a cedar of great
size. This is the tree I selected for the BCI Excellence
Award .
Afterwards, I asked Francesco about the tree’s
history and following, in his words, is the story of this
small wonder.

In 2000, I purchased a beautiful Japanese Cedar,
Cryptomeria sp., a big bush about 60 cm high, in a
training pot from Shozo Tanaka, one of the many
dealers at the Arcobonsai event. I was attracted by
the beautiful surface roots, the taper in the first part
of the trunk and above, the extremely compact and
miniature foliage, ideal for making small branch pads
to create a small bonsai that would please me.
The idea I had in mind was to use only the first two
opposite branches, eliminating the apex to a height
of about 8 cm, and train them to become the first
branch, and by straightening the second, to become natural bonsai, or as Carlo says, give your plants a
the new apex. tree-like quality.
Carlo Oddone, our teacher at Arco Bonsai Club The following year, in spring, I placed the plant in
and under whom I had the good fortune to get closer another training pot and took the opportunity to clean
to the world of bonsai, suggested this approach, and up the roots by cutting away the larger ones close to
to repeat it at different heights, to get more taper to the trunk. I carried out the removal of the apex and
be able to manage the plant according to the concept. the straightening of the second branch to build the
It’s definitely a slow process but it results in a very future apex.

October/November/December 2014 | BCI | 55