This last december I had the opportunity to have tree workshop by my teacher. The first one was on a pinus sylvestis (scots pine), the second on a juniperus chinensis (juniper) and the third was on a picea abies (spruce) owned by Nicola himself.

Normaly I have an idea about the first styling on my trees, but in this case it was a little weared because he purchased 2 trees at a local nursery on my request. Off course he send me some pictures to be sure I will be happy with the material, but I had no idea about the real potential and let’s face it, his the teacher, I had to be happy. Would you contradict your teacher?

First: pinus sylvestris.
For me pines are the top of bonsai art and I consider them way to advanced for my knowledge at this moment, but I wanted a…

Continuing where we left off, today we take another visit to Shunkaen, Kimura’s garden, and S-Cube, and Yorozuen and check their pottery. So, without further ado:
Shunkaen
Kobayashi San has one of the most impressive collections of antique and world class pottery available anywhere in Japan. Many of the containers on display and in the several sales areas are famous and published in exhibition albums(and those albums are always available nearby for you to take a look!).
There are several display areas, and, sadly, I didn’t get any decent photos of the upstairs display area with smaller and medium pots, but, suffice to say, it was impressive, nearly everything in pristine condition.

Kobayashi San showing us the large antique and specimen containers in the Shunkaen museum.

Drool…..

Shelves of antique and specimen pots in the sales area.

Another view.

A selection of Sharaku containers.

Some nice antique containers.

Old Crossing…