At the recent Australian Association of bonsai Clubs (AABC) convention in Canberra I was lucky enough to see Ryan Neil both demonstrate and conduct work shops over the course of three days.
Ryan works on a juniper.
For those that didn’t make the convention, you really missed out. We are very lucky in Australia in that we have a large number of foreign demonstrators and teachers visit. In fact, during a conversation at the convention we counted 5 foreign bonsai demonstrators alone this year who were coming over the pond to share their bonsai skills and passion.
What set Ryan apart from most other demonstrators I had seen was the clear way in which he explained concepts. All the demonstrators on the world circuit are capable of creating good trees, but very few of them are as excellent at communicating their ideas and methods. Ryan was excellent at this as well as his obvious skill in bonsai itself. In fact he talked non-stop throughout his presentations and demonstrations while moving between the tree he was styling and a white board, where he would draw diagrams to further make clear concepts.
Ryan and a red pine from the National Bonsai and Penjing collection.
Ryan’s skills obviously did not stop at presenting, he had a confident and logical approach to styling, wiring and bonsai health that he was also able to convey both through his work and interacting with the audience.
He worked on 3 trees over the course of two days which my camera only really captured the final image of one well. He styled a Juniper, a scotts pine and an old red pine from the national bonsai and Penjing collection.
The red pine after some structural wiring.
I think it would be safe to say that every one in the crowd learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. Ryan has certainly left Australia wanting more and hopefully we will see him return at some stage in the future. Perhaps he can revisit this red pine once it has seen some further refinement in his absence.
The finished Red pine demo tree.
The results obviously speak for themselves. Ryan put on a great show and openly shared his knowledge over the course of the 3 days. For any one that has the chance to see him or learn under him I would suggest you take up that chance, I certainly will again should I get the opportunity.
Nichigo Bonsai 
4 comments
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May 24, 2013 at 11:36 PM
john
Thanks for sharing your experience.Your posts are always very appreciated.
June 17, 2013 at 9:59 AM
Good bud, bad bud. | Nichigo Bonsai
[…] there is still hope. At the convention a month ago Ryan Neil talked about these buds and passed on a technique I had not heard of before. […]
June 18, 2013 at 1:51 AM
Brian McGrath
In Aussie with your reasonably mild winter,how do you give your pines and other northern natives there cold period. I always thought they needed 60 days of cold weather every winter to maintain healthy trees , otherwise they will burn themselves out in time. Would love a response.
Qualicum Brian
June 18, 2013 at 9:18 AM
bonsaijapan
Hi Brian,
Australia has a range of climatic conditions ranging from the tropics up North down to light snow over winter on our southern tips. Our southern parts are starting to get close-ish to Antarctica.
Where I live our climate is close to that of California and we can grow most species. Our pines do very well and have been grown here as bonsai by various growers for 40+ years. I tend to grow Japanese black pines which are coastal trees so are more hardy although there are white pines doing fairly well here as well. Some people grow JBP up in the semi-tropical regions and they find that they don’t really have a dormant time and grow pretty much all year. I know people have troubles growing white pines up in the more humid sub-tropical regions though.
I hope that has answered some of your questions.
Joe.