General Average
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Oct 26 2008 | 5 Comments »
Breaking News
November 3, 2008 The container with the book was not damaged in the fire and the book has been released. It will be available for purchase very soon!!!
See http://www.haskillcreek.com/index.html
It’s going to be a while before my book gets released. The book was printed in Hong Kong and shipped via container ship to Seattle. There was a fire on the container ship and the maritime law of “general average” was invoked. We don’t know if the container with my book was damaged but general average will slow everything down while the damage is investigated. It sounds like for general average to be invoked some cargo had to have been jettisoned from the ship (yikes.) Could make for soggy reading if it was our container. We’ll keep you posted.
I have received an advanced copy of the book and showed it to several people at the recent US National Exhibition. It received many favorable comments so let’s hope the damage was minimal. This is the cover design.
Here is an article about the fire on the APL Peru.
https://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/21/232146/
The smoldering continued for several days.
http://coastguardnews.com/agencies-continue-work-aboard-apl-peru/2008/10/10/
An update from Oct 13, 2008
http://www.safetyatsea.net/login.aspx?reason=denied_empty&script_name=/secure/display.aspx&articlename=dn0020081013000018
This is the ship in happier times - unloaded. Looks strange with no containers.
And here it s loaded.
More photos at
http://containerinfo.co.ohost.de/vessel_9252230.html
From answers.com
“The law of general average is a legal principle of maritime law according to which all parties in a sea venture proportionally share any losses resulting from a voluntary sacrifice of part of the ship or fleet to save the whole in an emergency. In the exigencies of hazards faced at sea, crewmembers often have precious little time in which to determine precisely whose cargo they are jettisoning. Thus, to avoid quarrelling that could waste valuable time, there arose the equitable practice whereby all the merchants whose cargo was on board would be called on to contribute a portion, based upon a share or percentage, to the merchant or merchants whose goods had been tossed overboard to avert imminent peril. While general average traces its origins in ancient maritime law, still it remains part of the admiralty law of most countries.
The first codification of general average was the York Antwerp Rules of 1890. American companies accepted it in 1949. General average requires three elements which are clearly stated by Mr. Justice Grier in Barnard v. Adams:
“1st. A common danger: a danger in which vessel, cargo and crew all participate; a danger imminent and apparently ‘inevitable,’ except by voluntarily incurring the loss of a portion of the whole to save the remainder.”
“2nd. There must be a voluntary jettison, jactus, or casting away, of some portion of the joint concern for the purpose of avoiding this imminent peril, periculi imminentis evitandi causa, or, in other words, a transfer of the peril from the whole to a particular portion of the whole.”
“3rd. This attempt to avoid the imminent common peril must be successful”.”
Steep Adventure
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Oct 18 2008 | 7 Comments »
While hanging out with my new friends at the recent BCI/IBS Congress I got invited to go mountain climbing and collecting with them. For a Florida flatlander, this was true adventure. I hadn’t been climbing on the side of a mountain since my Army days.
Initially I climbed above the other guys. I soon figured out it was too steep for me without ropes and harnesses and let them go to the top.
This was the elusive prey - Juniper sabina.
The mountainside required some effort to safely negotiate. Finding a collectable specimen requires scouting among many. They key is to find one growing in a duff pocket with limited roots growing into cracks. That limits the ones that can be taken safely. I took time for a self portrait.
Mauro was our host for the excursion. He’s a part rugby player part mountain goat. 
Notice the railing ends by his hand, the rest of it was swept away either by a rock slide or an avalanche earlier in the year.
Here the adventurers return down the shallow portion of the slope. Hands and packs full.
Some of the group, regretting they didn’t bring a snack look for roughage to eat. That’s Franco, Rocco, Mauro, Carlos, and Octavio.
Here is a tall Scots Pine near the site.
Back at the main camp, Min and Budi admire the haul and are glad they didn’t risk their necks.
BCI/IBS 2008 Congress St. Vincent, Italy
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Oct 16 2008 | 2 Comments »
In September I attended the BCI/IBS Congress in St. Vincent Italy. Mr. I.C. Su was not able to travel so I represented BCI as the acting president. That kept me busy.
The first day I was there I joined a tour of the Aosta valley. This valley nestles in north west Italy next to the French Alps and the ski town of Chamonix, and underneath the Matterhorn in Zematt, Switzerland. The area has a very beautiful Apline feel to it - a great mix of Italian culture and alpine scenery. The steep valleys, fairly young at 10,000 years old, were carved by the glaciers of the last ice age (thank goodness for global warming ) There are many 12th to 14th century castles in the valley. (Click on the images to enlarge them)
The Romans occupied the area around the time of Christ and built many structures that are still standing, such as this bridge. The river under it has long since been diverted but the bridge still stands.
We visited Courmayeur, Italy, an exclusive Alpine resort town next to Mount Blanc. The group shot shows a good international mix of BCI members from the USA, India, Taiwan, and Indonesia.
The tools in the confectionary shop looked like rusted old tools but they were made of chocolate. Budi and I admire the village streets and expensive shopping.
We admired this private garden with its own tower.
It wouldn’t be Italy if there weren’t a few statues in the area. These were in the same private garden. Min Hsuan Lo, Mrs Sue Azi and Budi Sulistlo take a break in the sun.
Fenis Castle was open for tours so we visited it. Very impressive - a nice but perhaps drafty place to live. People had to be hearty back in those days.
The front of the hotel that hosted the convention. Very traditional and nice.
How about some bonsai action. The IBS group set up many demos for the weekend. I documented mine in a prior post. Here are a few before and after shots of the other demos. Unfortunately I don’t have before and after photos of all the demos - like I said I was quite busy.
I think this first one was an Aleppo Pine Pinus halepensi. Quite a transformation by Samuel Corza (nice guy by the way, even if he squirted me in the face with water one afternoon. I don’t get mad, I get even ) and Donato Danzi.
Here is a Phoenician juniper J. phoenicea by Aldo Cetorelli, an art professor and also nice guy.
When I did my demo on the same stage Mr Omachi of Japan was also working on a juniper tree and Joyti and Nikunj Parek, of India, were making a forest planting.
Here is a before and after of Mr. Omachi’s tree. The fellow on the right is another of Mr. Suzuki’s apprentices. He was Mr. Takahashi I believe.
Here Nikunj describes the finished forest with Joyti looking on.
A Sabina Junper by Valerio Gianotti. Very nice job.
Patrizia Cappellaro wired this juniper into a pleasing shape. She and I agreed to exhange e-mails in our native languages to practice learning each.
Gaetano Settembrini did a fine job on this specimen Japanese Taxus.
Pauline Muth, of the USA, was the only artist to work on a shohin tree. She refined this shimpaku juniper into a dramatic shape.
Min Hsuan Lo, Taiwan, was worried about the survival chances of this juniper as he felt the tree was too weak for styling- but the owner said he wasn’t worried and Mr. Lo did a major transformation.
Carlo Van Der Vaart, Holland, did a nice job on this spruce and exhibited some advanced technique.
Roberto Raspanti, the gent who helped me wire my demo tree, did a wonderful job on this Cypress (exact variety I can’t recall. He said it was a common Mediterranean variety)
Giovanni Genotti composed this forest planting. The shale rocks on the surface are his trademark and remind him of the woods near his home.
Stefano Frisoni offered another amazing pine tranformation and typified the talent in Italy.
Enrico Savini moved some branches to make this tree.
Giogio Castagneri made a literati pine that reflected his tall stature.
Wong Chau Shing, Hong Kong, made a Trident Maple penjing. Modest trees converted into an artistic planting.
Shinju Suzuki, Japan, had two days to work on this juniper. He said he could have done it in one day! Nice job even if he stretched it out.
Adriano Bonini converted this pine in a spectacular manner.
Sandro Segneri and team made a dramatic change to this pine - it entailed fire, wire and desire.
Michele Andolfo and his two Sicilian team members Rocco and Octavio, worked to tranform this unruly juniper. Unfortunately I was not able to get an after shot.
I might have missed a few demo trees - there were so many. If so I apologize to the artists I missed. Very impressive material and a feast of Italian bonsai talent. The quality of this demo material was amazing. The secret is, unlike US conventions, these trees for the most part belonged to the artists working on them. The IBS did not raffle or auction off these trees. For the visiting artists, the tree owners loaned the trees to the IBS for work by the artists and then the trees were returned to the owners. Interesting concept.
During the tree set up I snapped a few photos prior to the posting the “no photos” sign. The IBS team plans to sell an album with official photographs of the trees. I encourage all to buy the album and see some great photos of great trees. This juniper raft appealed to me.
Here Willi Benz of Germany takes a break in the entry garden of the hotel.
Chiari Padrini, the convention President, joins the Indian ladies group for a day.
Demo at the BSOB
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Oct 16 2008 | Comment now »
The day before leaving for Italy and the BCI congress, I did a demo at the Bonsai Society of Brevard (BSOB). I did the phase 1 styling of a Indian Laurel Fig Ficus Microcarpa Nitida. Here is the before shot. And one showing the defoliated leaves to get to the branch structure.
Some of the members were interested in grafting, so I did a sample graft, although this tree buds back so well, grafting would only be needed to change the variety/size of the leaves.
Ronn Miller’s granddaughter won the tree in a raffle. She is our youngest club member.
Thanks to Ronn for sending me the photos.
US National Exhibition
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Oct 15 2008 | 4 Comments »
The First US National Exhibition concluded this weekend. I am so thrilled at the quality of the trees and the display. Bill Valvanis and his team did a great job. The number and geographic diversity of the exhibitors was also noteworthy. The show had many west coast trees - when I saw the boxes and the shipping containers these trees had I was most impressed at the heroic effort to get those trees to NY. There were several tropical trees from Florida and Puerto Rico and other northern private collections. The effort of all these artists to display these trees points out their dedication to the art.
The festive entry that greeted guests. (click on the photos to see larger images.)
In summary, the trees reflected world class status - excellent styling, great maturity and a wide variety of species. While some trees had wire, the lack of wire on most of the trees was especially noteworthy. This to me indicated the maturity many of the bonsai displayed.
In this shot take a look at the variety. The first tree on the left is a Atlas Cedar Cedrus atlantica by Jim Gremel of California, an Oriental Bittersweet Celastrus orbiculatus by Martin Klein, Massachusetts, European White Birch Betula pendula, by Dennis Vojtilla, Oregon, Texas Persimmon Diospyros texana by Howard Smith, Texas, in the corner which is hard to see a Porcelain Berry Ampelopsis brevipeduculata by Bill Valvanis, NY, a Kurume Azallea Rhododendrum obtusum by Martin Schmalenberg, New Jersey, and on the right you can see just a bit of a Rocky Mountain Juniper Juniperus scopulorum by Mike Blanton, Tennessesse.
Here is another aisle shot showing even more variety. From the left you can see a nice Maidenhair Tree Gingko biloba by Christine Samuel, NY, Limber Pine Pinus flexilis Larry Jackel, Colorado, Sargents Juniper Junipersus chinesis var sargentii Shimpaku by Suthin Sukosolvisit, Massachusetts, Japanese Maple Acer Palmatum also by Suthin, then an American larch forest by Bill Valvanis and a few others it’s hard to see. Off on the stage in the background are a large Bougainvillea by Erik Wigert, Florida and a large Indian Laurel Fig Ficus Microcarpa nitida by Jim Smith, Florida.
Another aisle shot.
The quality of the shohin displays also caught my attention. These little trees competed well with their larger brethren.
Stylistically I’d say the trees were very similar to what I have seen in Japan. The branches were well placed, bark had lots of character and the displays well done. So well done that the whole exhibition had a Japanese feel to it. Maybe next time we can focus on a more American feel.
There were so many good trees that the display space was just a bit cramped. I seemed to have caught a cold, perhaps from hanging out in a hospital. Hopefully we can find a larger yet similarly cost effective venue for the next version of the show.
Here is some info on the wide variety of trees displayed.
Tree Species Count
Sargents Juniper Shimpaku 14
Trident Maple 13
Japanese White Pine 10
Japanese Maple 10
Japanese Black Pine 8
Satsuki Azalea 7
Chinese Elm 6
Dwarf Hinoki Cypress 5
Gingko 5
Korean Hornbeam 5
Buttonwood 4
Ponderosa Pine 4
Willow Leaf Fig 4
Crabapple 3
Eastern White Cedar 3
Scots Pine 3
Apple 3
Japanese Red Pine 3
Privet 3
Nia 2
American Larch 2
Pitch Pine 2
California Juniper 2
San Jose Juniper 2
Indian Laural Fig 2
Firethorn 2
Little Gem Dwarf Spruce 2
Western Hemlock 1
Japanese Holly 1
Juniper robusta 1
Ashe Juniper 1
Asian Hornbeam (H. laxiflora) 1
Japanese Beech 1
Eastern Red Cedar 1
Blue Moss Cypress 1
Atlas Cedar 1
Oriental Bittersweet 1
European White Birch 1
Texas Persimmon 1
Porcelain Berry 1
Kurume Azalea 1
Rocky Mountain Juniper 1
Chinese Quince 1
Limber Pine 1
Senoran Scrub Oak 1
MountainHemlock 1
Texas Mustang Grape 1
Red Maple 1
Sugar Hackberry 1
Prostrata Juniper 1
Japanese Boxwood 1
Corkbark Japanese Black Pine 1
Aussy Pine 1
Wild Plum 1
Pomegrante 1
Japanese Spindle Tree 1
Jaboticaba 1
Dwarf Black Olive 1
Blaauw Juniper 1
Bougainvillea 1
Colorado Blue Spruce 1
Bald Cypress 1
Needlepoint Ivy 1
Mugho Pine 1
Fukien tea 1
Chinese Hackberry 1
Winged Elm 1
Ilex Vomitoria nana schllings 1
Japanese Hornbeam 1
Kingsville Boxwood 1
Dwarf Norway Spruce 1
Japanese Yew 1
Cotoneaster 1
Dwarf Gardenia 1
Needle Juniper 1
Parsons Juniper 1
Common Juniper 1
Japanese Quince 1
Zelkova Elm 1
Lemon Hill Juniper 1
Ezo Spruce 1
Coastal Redwood 1
I figure there were about 184 trees with 83 different species and of those species almost half were native North American species.
There will be an exhibition book documenting the trees so no tree portrait photographs were allowed. However, we could take photos at the banquet where the winning trees were announced. Here is a hasty photo of it with the background cleaned up. It is a Shimpaku Juniper by Jim Gremel of California.
Here is a shot of the best tree - pot combo, a Scots Pine, Pinus sylvestris by Julian Adams of Virginia. That’s Bill Valvanis in the background announcing the awards.
This was a shot at the banquet of the winning Western Hermlock, Tsuga heterophylla by Scott Elser of Oregon.
Congratulations to all the artists that put on this wonderful bonsi exhibition.
The exhibitors were allowed to take informal shots of their trees. So here are a few I brought to the show. Note the placement tags still hang from the branches. They were removed for the show.
The first is my Buttonwood called Tree Spirit. The leaves were a bit large but my travel schedule did not permit the constant pinching required in the months up to the show.
This Australian Pine Casuarina equisetifolia took most visitors by surprise. Most had never seen one before and thought it was a pine tree. The smaller tree is a Indian Laurel Fig, Ficus microcarpa nitida, growing over a piece of volcanic rock. Sorry for the blurry shot - as these we taken during set up.
This is my shohin set up. In this photo the stand is actually reversed, the trees are in the right spots but the stand needed to be flipped. I noticed this a few hours later and flipped it. Hope the official photo was set up correctly. The top tree is a Willow Leaf Ficus, Ficus salicaria, going clockwise next is Chinese Hackberry Celtis sinensis, Winged Elm Ulmus alta, Dwarf Yaupon Holly Illex vomitoria nana schllings and Firethorn Pyracantha. The semi cascade off to the side is a Buttonwood Conocarpus erectus and the accent plant is Dwarf Mondo Grass Ophiopogon japonicus.
A pet peeve of mine is exhibiting trees with guy wires. In Italy recently almost every conifer had guy wires on them (including the Spanish Scots Pine that won in Italy - but it had two small subtle wires). While there much fewer guy wires at the US National show there were still several. To me a guy wire is an early phase training technique and really should be removed prior to showing a tree at a national exhibition. This should be a goal for artists at the next show.
On the way up I stopped at my brother’s house in Virginia. Here my mother, me, my brother, Bern, and my copilot, Roy Malac, pose, by the stuffed van.
Here Mary Madison’s buttonwood waits in my living room for loading into the van.
Mike Page and I celebrating his Japanese Black Pine winning the Yoshimura classic bonsai tree award.
Here are Will Heath and Paul Stokes having fun at the show. And the Candy Shiry and Paul with the ever present Mac Powerbook.
Chris and Guy Guidry enjoy the banquet, especially the free bottle of wine we won in the word search game.
Prior to the show, Colin Lewis’ trees waiting to be staged. And some Canadian guys do last minute touch up on a great Chinese elm forest,. I counted over 30 trees in the forest.
Fall color was in effect in the area.
And how about these anti-bonsai pumpkins.
BCI/IBS Demo 2008
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Oct 07 2008 | Comment now »
I just got back from the BCI/IBS Convention in Saint Vincent Italy. What a great show.
While at the convention I did a demo on a collected Sabina Juniper owned by Massimo Bandera. These photos will show the work I did.
Here is a before photo of the tree. It has a growing angle similar to its natural growth habit.
I decided to drastically change the planting angle to make an ethereal feeling bunjin. In order to change the planting angle the guys mounted it in a plastic crate. Not quite the final angle but close.
Work begins - has to fit in three hours, yikes.
The design will place a lot of stress on the acute bend in the trunk near the top. To make the radical bend I had to split the trunk, carve a groove, insert a wire in the groove, use raffia, heavy wire and a guy wire.
To eliminate some reverse taper in the deadwood and to give the tree a more ethereal look, I carved a see through hole in the 
deadwood along the live vein.
The deadline was rapidly approaching so Roberto Raspanti helped me with wiring. Nice guy and a great artist in his own right. Afterwards we posed for photos.
This is a final shot after the initial work. Lime sulfur and pad development remains. Also the first branch off to the right has to be removed at some future date when the tree has responded to this work. I didn’t want to remove too much of the foliage at this time. Finally the tree needs to be repotted. I offered this suggestion to repot when the time is right in the Italian climate.
The planting angle needs to be more upright so I made a virtual in addtion to the skecth in the intro to this thread.
Progressive Styling Contest Update
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Aug 31 2008 | 1 Comment »
The Progressive Styling contest has concluded and I submitted my final image. Here it is.
This is the final front. The tree is not complete - while the canopy has reached its ultimate height it needs more depth and ramification. I will actually go through another major cut back of the top to reduce more of the skinny branches with little taper and induce more budding back. But since time is up for the competition, that will wait until next spring. It is actually relatively amazing how much this tree has grown in the short period of the styling competition. It was fun working on this - so thanks to the Paul and rest of the staff at KOB.
Here is a record of the work on the tree.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I have entered a tree into the Knowledge of Bonsai Forum Progressive Styling Contest.
The tree is a Pink Trumpet Tree, Tabebuia heterophylla
This bonsai comes from the tropical Caribbean. The tree before working on it was 38 inches high, with a root spread of 17 inches. The finished height will be about 26 inches.
It was purchased from a collector that harvested it from a location near the ocean. Upon removal from the sea shore location it grew freely in a wooden box for several years prior to my purchase. Upon my purchase in the summer of 2007 the branches were cut very short to fit in a shipping container. When it got to Florida, I immediately potted the tree in this fine high-fired stoneware pot by American potter, Ron Lang of Pennsylvania, but did no styling at that time. Since the wooden grow box was a bit smaller than the pot, the initial potting was simple. The color variation of the pot’s glaze will perfectly complement the green foliage and the pink flowers. The first photo shows it after my receipt and initial potting in the 21 inch ceramic pot. After potting the tree grew wild for 12 months with the goal of getting it adjusted to its home in Florida and to build some thickness in the base of the branches.
This was it as I received it from Puerto Rico.
The Pink Trumpet Tree has fairly large leaves and makes very attractive trumpet shaped flowers, hence the name. I selected this tree for the competition as it has a fantastic tapering trunk, and extremely old bark. A Pink Trumpet Tree with this size trunk is fairly rare in the US. Other reasons for selection are that the tree will require a bit of carving and some wiring and it can tolerate mid-summer work with no problem, as this contest requires.
After it grew wild for a year.
Styling a tropical tree is a bit different than styling a temperature conifer. The fast growth rate allows one to reduce the tree to very basic branches and then to grow the tree into the design. This tree will develop a very wide tropical canopy with several distinct pads that interact. The large canopy will work well with the large trunk and show off the flowers when it does flower in the spring. The tree will need some carving to reduce the thick branch stubs and to introduce the feeling of antiquity into the design. Wiring the base of the branches will set the proper angle for the design. As the branches bud back all the straight sections will be cut back to build ramification. This probably will not happen during the course of the competition but that’s ok as there is no such thing as an instant bonsai
Starting the design at the end of July is a bit of a handicap even for a tree with such a fast growth rate, but it should make good growth as the summer progresses. In two years the canopy will have filled in and will look great.
After the initial work.
I will post more photos as the work progresses. The KOB web site will also contain the photos as well as the other entries.
This was it about halfway through the competition.
This virtual design is the ultimate goal for this bonsai. No Flowers shown.
Shohin Juniper on the Rocks
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Aug 31 2008 | Comment now »
Bonsai requires patience. Take this shohin Juniper parsonni over a rock. The juniper was a cutting in 2000. After a year as a cutting I wrapped the straggly roots around this rock (possibly a knotted schist - with a high percentage of quartz) from my wife’s property near the Slate River, Virginia. I let the cutting grow pretty much unattended for 3 years with the roots tightly wrapped by aluminum foil and stretch floral tape. Around year 4 I started grafting Kishi shimpaku tips to the branches. It took about 4 years for the grafts to get to the shape you see here (so 8 years from starting the root over rock). As each graft grew in vigor I pruned the J. parsoni foliage from the tree. All that remains now is Shimpaku kishi foliage. The roots are well formed around the rock, although I recognize that juniper is not the best species for root over rock, as the roots tend to grow away from the rock and not over it.
Here it is ready for some work. The pot is one I made in 2001 by carving a block of clay.
And this is it after an hour and half of work.
It has a bit of a pom pom look to it, but the pads will continue to fill in over time and perhaps look like this. The tree is just about 8 inches tall. I will change the front just a bit by rotating the tree as shown in the photos.
A Real Change You Can Believe In *
Posted by Rob Kempinski on Aug 30 2008 | Comment now »
Bill Crabtree, of the Bonsai Society of Brevard, won a private session with me at the recent Bonsai Society of Florida convention raffle. We finally managed to schedule it and worked on a large Ilex Schillings vomitoria nana. We did some drastic pruning that will turn a Bush into a beautiful bonsai.
Here is the tree before.
The tall nursery pot hid the nebari so Bill and I reduced the height of the nursery pot by cutting off the top and then refastening it to the bottom using copper wire. This way a standard nursery pot has the aspect ratio of a bonsai pot yet still has carrying handles and at much less cost.
Ilex schillings don’t respond well to wiring unless you start with very young flexible shoots. So we pruned this tree and Bill will use the clip and grow technique to grow into the design. The tree had a tall shinny apex branch that needed to be reduced. The branches we picked reflect the basic bonsai rules of side - back - side. The trunk girth (8 inches at the soil line) and nebari are very good so we figure this tree should top out at 27 inches.
Here it is after the work.
Doesn’t look like much now but these tree bud back like crazy, as evidenced by the prolific use in landscape plantings as hedges, and they grow fairly quickly.
This is what the tree can look like in 3 years. Now that is a change you can believe in!
Here is Bill standing next to a Ficus that we worked on a bit. This is a Ficus Too Little. Not one of my favorite bonsai species but Bill has done a good job keeping it healthy. Something I had trouble doing. I convinced Bill this tree needed to be made a bit shorter and repotted into a large pot. It also need to have the root mass reduced.
* Not the BS put out by the talking heads.
Powered by FireStats