kusamono – grasbonsai

Pots For Upcoming Shows

2012-01-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

New Inspirations – New Pots

2011-11-20T14:19:00.001-08:00

After having done a ceramic workshop with Shozo Michikawa at the beginning of August all my batteries were reloaded, I came back with a lot of new ideas and fully motivated to do the next steps. After the last two shows in Germany I am back at work – and I have to admit that at the moment nothing can stop me!

"No rules" was often the master's answer! Forget all the "Don't do this...", just do it and see what happens. My ceramic roots are not based on a traditional ceramic education, therefore I am usually not blocked by any "don't do this" I have learnt in the past. But during one week I could really experience this kind of freedom even more than before. Everything was so easygoing and relaxed and hat so much impact on me.

See some of the results:

My Girls in Japan doing Tea Ceremony

2011-10-31T00:42:00.000-07:00

Autumn Colors

2011-10-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

EBA in Ratingen, Germany

2011-10-07T04:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some Kusamono or Shitakusa from the EBA-exhibition. More photos will follow.

This is a very nice Kusamono from Othmar Auer. Hakonechloa with a lot of Mochikomi.

Coming Shows

2011-09-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

The next show where you can find my TAKA-Pots is the EBA exhibition in Ratingen near Düsseldorf in Germany (30. September, 1. and 2. October). It is the European Bonsai Show held once a year. Last year it was in Zurich in Switzerland, next year it will be in Ljubljana in Slovenia.

My last show this year will be the 'Bayrische Bonsaitage' in Karlsfeld near Munich (15. and 16. October).

After these two shows I will be most of the time in my studio. I have a lot of new ideas but up to now not enough time to start the different projects.

These are some of the TAKA-Pots that can be seen and of course bought during the shows:

Lecture in Belgium

2011-09-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am leaving for Belgium. I have been invited for a lecture about Kusamono held at the Eda Uchi Kai Bonsai Club in Deepenbeek. As I am not only a potter for Kusamono-pots and addicted to Kusamono I am also a sort of evangelist concerning Kusamono. Few weeks ago I did a similar lecture in Hallein near Salzburg when they held the Austrian National Bonsai exhibition. Still a lot of people don't know anything about Kusamono. There are of course ways to make it more popular: the best is to exhibit Kusamono for example within a Bonsai show. In Austria they decided to do this and Othmar Auer from Brixen, Wolfgang Putz from Austria and me were invited to exhibit. They feedback was very good. Most of the visitors had never ever seen Kusamono like this before.

They other possibility is to talk about Kusamono. And this I will do in Belgium.

Bonsaiautun 7 – Last Edition

2011-08-29T11:58:00.001-07:00

Just read on facebook that Bonsaiautumn 7 was the last one. Andy Dörfliger and the Bonsaiautumn team will not continue with this bonsai show in Switzerland.

This is very sad news. Especially for the Swiss bonsai szene. But this reaction is not surprising – there was not much support in Switzerland, it was also not really estimated here. The different groups are cooking their own soup and envy each other.

We are a small country with different cultures and languages – and also here the hobby Bonsai could not overcome this different cultures.

But every Bonsai scene gets in the end what it deserves! People will remember Bonsaiautumn and some may realise that we lost the most important show in Switzerland. We say good-bye to Bonsaiautumn, I participated the first two and the last two shows, and I always enjoyed and had a lot of fun and met a lot of interesting people from all over Europe. It has really enriched the scene, and in the end Bonsaiautumn played in the highes liga of bonsai shows in Europe.

Thanks to Andy Dörfliger who organized Bonsaiautumn with his team.

New Pots August 2011

2011-08-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

Too much Sun

2011-05-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

Every year I had the same situation: I was so happy to bring my Kusamono out from the cold house, and I was so happy to see my them grow again. I especially enjoy the Hakonechloa – a beautiful Japanese grass. But then in summer I had not enough shady space so they had to remain in full sun – and they did not like it so much! Also my watering regime is very good I could not avoid that some of tips got brown. This means the beauty is gone for that year, and that is pretty hard. So this year I decided to shade a part of my shelves. Most of the plants are different varities of Hakonechloa. At the moment they all look perfect, and my big fern is also in top condition. Now the summer can come, today we had 28 degrees and we expect 30 degrees over the coming weekend.

Arco Bonsai 2011

2011-05-20T15:01:00.001-07:00

Arco Bonsai 2011 was again a perfect event! The weather was wonderful – quite important when you are outside in a tent as a trader. It is really not pleasant when it is raining hard. For me this is always a wonderful event – the best. The tents are nicely set up in a parc, the atmosphere here is just great, and the famous B & B & B on Saturday night is also very special. I am sure I will come back next year.

A Weekend at Martin Sturm in Germany

2011-05-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

New Pots

2011-05-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been working with a different kind of clay. I used one of my favourite glaze on it. The result you can see here:

2011-05-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

After four shows and a lot of other activities it is time to post some new photos of my Kusamono collection. All these photos have been taken today. For some time we had nice weather, very dry, no rain and a bit too warm for the season. But last weenkend temperature dropped again and we finally got some rain. My plants are doing very well at the moment, the ones which don't like full sunshine are in a shady place or sheltered from too much sun. My next show will be in Salzburg: there will be an extra Kusamono-exhibtion and I have to bring some of my plants, so they should be in top condition.

Spring 2011

2011-04-14T13:41:00.001-07:00

A Little Change

2011-02-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

Spring has not yet come, although we have about 10 degrees celsius, much too warm for the season. Anyway, it is too early to go for yamadori or plant hunting and my trees and Kusamono are still more or less in the dormant period. So there is a little time left for something else: We did a nice 4.5 hours hike by snowshoes. The weather was perfect and the scenery really great. This place is a real "pearl" in the Swiss mountains, not yet known to everybody. We had a lot of fun and could really enjoy that day.

Winter Production

2011-02-09T13:05:00.000-08:00

At the moment I am busy making new kusamono-pots. As I am not willing to do mass production I am working in a rather slow pace: to make hand-built pots takes more time than making the same pots on the wheel, but the result is more individual. Handbuilding makes me free: I just need some clay and my hands, that's it. Starting from a ball of clay and ending with a nice little pot.
Glazing the pots – a never ending story – keeps me busy all the time. Of course it is risky not to test every glaze beforehand but on the other hand it is not fun if you know exactly what comes out of your kiln. I quite like this challenge and the surprise when I open the door of my kiln and see the result. But sometimes it can also turn into disappointment: what the hell of a glaze did I apply here?
Here you can see some of newer pots:

Merry Christmas

2010-12-21T02:00:00.001-08:00

Liebe Freunde

Ich wünsche Euch und Eurer Familie Frohe Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr.

Hello, my friends

I wish you and your family a happy Christmas and a wonderful 2011!

Ciao a tutti!
Auguro a tutti voi e alle vostre famiglie un felice natale e un bellissimo 2011!

Salue

Joyeux Noël et de bonnes fêtes de fins d'année à tous !

楽しいクリスマスと良いお年をお迎えください。

ヘバイゼン八千代

Winter 2010 –Snow, Snow, Snow

2010-12-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

December 17th 2010:

During the night and in the morning everything changed to white – snow all over the place! It was just beautiful to look out of the window and see the snow covered landscape. The bamboos were down to the ground from the heavy load of snow and it was impossible to leave the house. First of all you had to remove the snow from the bamboos. My bonsais were under a thick cover of snow as well. For some cardrivers it was a horror day – but for me and the kids it was heaven on earth!

Autum Colors

2010-11-08T14:57:00.001-08:00

Autumn Pots

2010-11-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

The time of the bonsai exhibtions is over for me, I spent some nice holidays in Italy with my family but now I am back at work again. I can now focus on my work, trying some new shapes and do some thorough testing of my glazes. Some of the results you can already see on this page. More will be found soon on my website.

CRESPI POT CUP 2010

2010-09-17T16:20:00.000-07:00

Every second year Crespi Bonsai in Parabiago (near Milan) in Italy organises the Crespi Cup:
- Crespi Bonsai Cup
- Crespi Shohin Cup
- Crespi Suiseki Cup
- Crespi Pot Cup

With this pot I entered the Crespi Pot Cup this year for the first time. It is one of my TAKAHAMA-Kusamono-Pots – maybe one of the best I made this year. I used that glaze on several pots but the result after firing can be quite different. Depending on the clay, depending on the thickness of the glaze, depending on the position in the kiln. I would like to be able to reproduce the color, the texture and the crackles of this glaze here.

I had to hand in a photo of my pot and it was accepted for he competition (40 pots were selected).
It is an open competition: pots you made yourself and pots you bought can be shown. So I had no idea what kind of pots would be shown.

Last Friday morning I got a phone call from Crespi Bonsai in Parabiago in Italy. I was ranked second out of 40 pots handed in.

XIX GIAREDA – Reggio Emila, 4. + 5. September 2010

2010-09-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

On beginning of September, Reggio Emilia hosts the Giareda Feast: historic rendevous, which every year gathers around the Blessed Virgin Basilica of the Giareda and in Garibaldi Avenue the Reggiana citizenship for a rendezvous of great symbolic value.

Thanks to the organization cared by the Helen Bonsai Club, by the President Mr Vanni and by all club's members, the Giareda arrived to the XIX edition, has become so as few events in Italy, a firm point of meeting for Italian Bonsai and suiseki lovers.

Surrounded by arcades a green square patio with trees. Very nice ambiente!

Andi with two guys from Progetto Futuro

My stand in full sun

Luca's tent provided the necessary shade on Saturday

Luca, my neighbour and friend from Parma.

Raw material from southern Italy. Wow!!

Under the arcades: the exhibition

My favourite tree did not win the competition

Cactus, as well from Southern Italy

Nice composition

For sale!

Plant from Luca, pot by TAKAHAMA

Again sales were not good at all. My small Kusamono-pots did not sell and also Bryan Albright's very nice Nanban-style pots did not sell at all. There were quite a lot of people at the 'Giareda' in the main street but they did not find the way to the exhibtion.
On the other hand I could stay with friends in Parma and could enjoy they local food which was absolutely great!! Thank you so much for your hospitality!

Kusamono & New Pots

2010-08-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

The three photos above are all showing Hakonechloa. This is one of my favourite grass. From year to year it is getting more beautiful. You can enjoy this plant from spring (when the new shoots come out) to autumn (you may get a wonderful autumn color).

This photo shows Imperate 'Red Baron – a wonderfull grass. This is the actual color at the beginning of August.

Here some of my newest pots:

Natural Deadwood

2010-06-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

Whenever I go to mountain area I look for old trees (not only small ones that could be used as Yamadori). They have so much to show and to tell us about their life. We have to study in nature how these old trees look like in order to use this knowledge for our bonsai work. Deadwood seems to attract a lot of bonsai enthusiasts, but I am talking about natural deadwood.

It cannot be compared with anything manmade with the help of some powertools. The natural deadwood has of course the right color and a fine texture as well – although this part is dead it has a long and interesting story to tell.

When doing bonsai the deadwood part should not be the main focus – I am again and again surprised why people want to buy some powertools before they even can handle a pruning shear appropriately – but this is another topic!

EBA in Zurich

2010-06-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

12. - 14. June 2011 EBA (European Bonsai Association) in Zurich.
For the last few months I have been travelling all over Europe to sell my TAKAHAMA-Kusamono-Pots. Sometimes sales were excellent, sometimes they were good and sometimes I could not sell so well. Because the Zurich exhibition was more or less in front of my house (20 minutes to drive) I could not resist to go there although I have almost no customers in the German speaking part of Switzerland. The result was even worth than my worst case scenario: Friday: 4 pots sold, Saturday 4 pots sold, Sunday was the best day but not overwhelming. Maybe I should better not go to any shows in the German part of Switzerland? The bonsai exhibition was held at the Museum of Design in Zurich. I expected more traders and a lot more visitors, some people said this happened because there was not enough PR and advertising done.

The Idea
It is not our target to create a conventional exhibition. We will display Bonsai and Suiseki in an unusual exhibition architecture, especially designed to show their value. The trees will not be put on tables (all at the same hight), but particularly placed, individually arranged at the right level for the visitor. The exhibition will be illuminated so as to give every tree the best lighting. For a limited amount of trees, we will build so called Tokonamas.

The exhibition was really unusual and worth seeing.

Switzerland is an island within the European community, for Swiss people and for people from the EU this situation makes life more complicated.

This time one or more persons were stopped by Swiss customs officials when they wanted to bring bonsais to the exhibition. I cannot say what went wrong – but this is real sh..t!

During the exhibiton there was a small razzia by customs officials – some traders had to pay a fine because they did not have the appropriate papers and did not make any declaration when entering Switzerland.

Flowering

2010-06-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

Winter is over – time to check the damage

2010-05-23T05:54:00.000-07:00

The winter is over, spring has come at last, after a period of cold weather we can now enjoy some lovely warm days.

This winter we had a lot of icy days where temperature went below Zero degrees. As usual I hat put all my Kusamono-Pots in a sheltered Foil-Tunnel without any heating. The were protected from strong wind and snow. Up to now I never encountered any problems, all my plants survived and had no problem to grow again in spring. But this year it was different. Some of my grasses which I had already kept for several years did not make any move – they seem to be dead!

E.g. Briza media 'Limouzi' and Chasmanthium uniflorum, and also some of my Imperata cylindrica 'Red Baron'. All my Hakonechloas had no problem, but were slow growing at the beginning.

Exhibition in Ljublijana

2010-05-12T00:38:00.000-07:00

On the 8th and 9th of May the Solovenian Bonsai exhibition was held at the Hotel Mons in Ljublijana. The Hotel Mons is the first Designer Hotel in Ljublijana– a nice place for an exhibtion. I was invited by Tomas Kovsca, the president of the Slovenian Bonsai Club. I thought about it for some time because it is a bit off the center of Europe and a long journey from Switzerland. But I was also curious to see what they gonna exhibit so I decided to go.

The bonsai scene of Slovenia is quite young. A lot of people came to the exhibition, also a a lot of young folks. For many it was the first encounter with bonsai. They were curious to see and hear about bonsai, watching the demos.

The only thing that sold well were small bonsai trees, affordable material. Good quality pots from Bryan Albright did not sell – they don't have the trees yet for these refined pots and they were too expensive. Kusamono pots did almost not sell at all. I could sell some Chinese pots and some tools.
Among the demonstrators were Enrico Savini and helpers from Progetto Futuro.
He also exhibited a very nice Yamadori-Bonsai.
The Organisation was perfect, my hotel in a small village was very nice.

Yon Shun-Ten in Landsberg, Germany

2010-04-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

I was really lucky I could go to Landsberg and sell my Kusamono pots. Actually space was very limited because the exhibition was held in a Museum in the old part of Landsberg. But the stars seemed to be favourable to me.

It was a very nice exhibition on a high level, well organized by Harald Lehner and his team. I brought my Kusamono pots and a nice choice of Bryan Albright's pots as well, because he could not attend the exhibition.

The exhibtion opened on Friday, and I was quite surprised that I could sell quite a lot of my pots on that first day! So everybody expected a lot more people to come on Saturday and Sunday. But this did not happen although the weather was ideal for an exhibtion – it was rather unfriendly. Germans are known as quite mobile people – usually they drive long distances when there is some nice event. Nobody could explain what happened here! It is also frustrating if you put so much time, effort and money in such an event – and it is not really estimated if you consider the numer of visitors.

Pot Shapes

2010-03-04T23:13:00.000-08:00

When I attended Eda Uchi Kai Ten in Belgium I had a good talk with Mike about pot shapes in general and about my pots.

Although the principles of SHIN GYO SO were first used in the garden design, these prinziples are also used for Ikebana, Calligraphy and can as well be used for pots and plants.

SHIN stands for FORMAL

GYO stand for SEMI-FORMAL

SO stands for INFORMAL

In real life there are of course more steps: e.g. SHIN, SHIN-GYO, GYO, GYO-SO, SO. The ultimate goal is to match pot and plant.

A straight upright growing grass is best in a very formal pot. This underlines best the beauty of an elegant upright growing grass. What we should avoid is to plant that grass in a SO-pot.

A plant which is growing at different angles in different directions belongs to the GYO or SO side.

Most of the small pots offfered on the market belong to the SO-Group. They are informal, they are often very rustique, it is very often a free form without any clear defined shape or lines.

I was quite aware of this fact (actually I was already told by my bonsaimasters Nobu and Natsuo) and tried to keep this in mind when working. So I spent more time on the single pot, making the walls thinner and avoiding the rough style.

But to be a SHIN-type pot your shape has to be more clearly defined, the lines must be clearly defined as well.

After that talk I was again thinking about the shape of my pots and how I can move with some of my pot shapes more into the direction of SHIN.

Next you will find some examples. The shape is restricted to round forms and square forms.

Eda Uchi Kai Ten – The Photos

2010-02-23T04:20:00.000-08:00

On Monday I came back from Belgium. I attended Eda Uchi Kai Ten Bonsai Exhibition and sold my Kusamono-Pots there. Eda Uchi Kai Ten is a Bonsai Club in Belgium with about 35 members existing since 6 years. This was the first show in their club history. Mike Andrews from England was in charge of the display. I was really impressed by the number of quality trees shown here, I don't know any local club who could organise such an event with their own trees on that level.

Thanks to all the club members who did a very good job, thank you for the warm welcome in Belgium.

Although it was a club exhibition it was an international event: Mario Komsta from Spain, Francois Jeker from France, two guys from Portugal, visitors came from Belgium, the Netherlands, France and from Germany.

I could meet some of the persons I had met in Geneva in autumn last year like Jean-Paul Polmans, Francois Jeker; I could also meet some of my German customers who I had never seen before – we just met in the virtual world.

After having not seen them for ages I could meet Bryan Albright and Mike Andrews again – so for me it was a great weekend!

See some impressions of the show:

Mike Andrews from England, he was in charge of the display of the whole exhibition

Bryan Albright, Bonsai-Potter from England

Hans Vleugels + Mario Komsta

Virtual demonstration by Mario Komsta

My sales stand with my TAKAHAMA-Kusamono pots

Here a link to the webalbum of Hans Vleugels: Eda Uchi Kai Bonsai Ten 2010

Preparing for Eda Uchi Kai Ten in Belgium

2010-02-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

Today I was very busy preparing for the upcoming event in Belgium: Eda Uchi Kai Ten Bonsai exhibitions. I have a sales stand there and I will bring my Takahama-Kusamono-Pots with me. It always takes a lot of time to wrap every pot so that they will not break on the way to the show. It is my first time that I show my pots abroad, because we are not belonging to Euroland I export my pots temporarily and import some of them (I hope not too many) after the show. In order not to pay customs duty on my own pots I have to stop at the customs and fill in some forms. I am a bit nervous, but afterwards I will know exactly how it works. I will be soon in Metz in France, in Arco in Italy and in Künzell in Germany and maybe I am also going to Ljublijana.

I will take pictures in Belgium, the show has a very good reputation and they gonna show highquality bonsai-trees.

Here you can find detailed information about this event:

www.edauchikai.be

Our Garden in Winter

2010-01-31T07:20:00.001-08:00

Winter has once more come back! All the bamboos and bonsais are covered with snow. This time we got some dry snow, very often it is wet and very heavy so that even bamboos do break under the heavy weight. But this time everybody can enjoy that January-snow, especially our two kids.

The last pots fire in the year 2009

2010-01-12T09:59:00.001-08:00

A new year – a new stamp

2010-01-08T09:14:00.000-08:00

People who are buying pots are often looking for a stamp or a signature on the pot. Last year I did not bother so much about that fact although I knew that sooner or later I have to decide how to mark my TAKA-pots.

I started with scratching TAKA in the clay. TAKA is an abbreviation for TAKAHAMA – my wife's name.

There are two Kanjis for TAKA meaning "high".

This is one possible way to write TAKA – I am using this form when scratching the kanji in the soft clay:

This is another way to write TAKA: I got this nice set as a Christmas present from my wife's sister. Once more: Domo arigato, Chichan!!!

The stamp is made in Japan and made of wood. It is specially made for clay.

Now I can always sleep happily because I know that they can identify my pots should they ever find some broken pieces in 500 years time.

Season's Greetings

2009-12-27T08:12:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year

Bonne Annee

Prosit Neujahr

Felice anno nuovo

Akimashite Omedetto Gozaimas

Feliz Ano Novo

Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun

Autumn Photos

2009-10-29T16:39:00.001-07:00

Autumn – the colors of autumn – the light in autumn – what a wonderful season! Every year I am so fascinated by the change of color. This year the colors were even more impressive than before. The sunlight has changed as well – it is no more that bright sunshine we had in summer – in the autumn light the plant colors reach another level.

Last Show for this Year: Clubs' Trophy 2009 in Veyrier near Geneva

2009-10-18T23:24:00.001-07:00

14 Clubs invited were showing their best bonsai trees. The club with the best display could collect a check over €1000. Besides that Ikebana International was showing some Ikebana-displays.

The show was perfectly organized by the bonsai club léman.

On Sunday evening at the end of the show everybody seemed to be happy: the team from the bonsai club léman, the traders and the people who came to see the show.

Although I am coming from the Suisse-German part of Switzerland which is separatet from the French part by the "Röschtigraben" (Language-border) and the people from the German part of Switzerland are also called "Suisse-Toto" I have to admit that I got a completely different picture. I felt really at home from the very first moment and was well looked after by Nicolas and other members of the bonsai club léman. Although my spoken French is not that good and has to be reactivated I had a very good time. Thank you to all of you! Whenever the next Clubs' Trophy will take place – I will be there!

Some photos of the show:

Milan Klika & Vladislava Kuratkova

John Pitt (right) and customer

Some of my Kusamono in Autumn

2009-10-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

A wonderful September has come to an end. We had a lot of sunshine, it was (too) warm for the season but we could enjoy.

I have taken some more photos of the plants which look fine at the moment:

Ash Glaze - Asche Glasuren

2009-09-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

All the pots shown here have been coated with some kind of ash glaze:

At the moment I am testing different types of ash glaze for my TAKAHAMA pots. Wood or vegetable ashes have been used as glaze materials since antiquity.

You may get a beautiful glaze which is difficult to obtain with other materials.

A simple combination of three different materials can be the starting point. The question is how to combine them.

Ash glazes need high firing to cone 8 to cone 11. Fired in reduction (which I can't do) you may get broken surface texture which may be very attractive.

Ashes vary in composition and even the ash of one type of tree will vary, depending on the soil in which it grew.

That means: Testing, testing, testing and experimentation with the material available!

Exhibition Bonsai-Club Ticino in Lugano

2009-09-14T06:16:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I stayed in Lugano and attended the Exhibition of the Bonsai-club Tinicino. It was the first time that I showed my TAKAHAMA-pots in an exhibition. Before sales activities were restricted to the internet. Of course, this kind of selling the pots involves a lot more activities beforehand: wrapping and packing all the pots, loading the car, driving for 2 1/2 hours, unpacking everything there, staying in a hotel for two nights, paying a sales fee, and at the end of the show you do the whole thing once more. Quite a lot of effort!

But I have to admit that I really enjoyed these 2 1/2 days in Lugano, it was a well organized event, all the people involved in the organization were very friendly and there was a relaxed atmosphere.

And besides that I could also sell some of my pots I got quite a lot of very positive feedback.

I was a very wise decision to go to the Italian part of Switzerland!

Thank you Mario, thank you Nicola and thank you to all the others involved in organizing this event.

Pots – Shapes – Glazes – Texture

2009-08-01T01:45:00.000-07:00

At the moment I am very busy in my ceramic-studio. Every day I have been working there – focusing on new shapes, testing glazes on different clay bodies. My Kusamono don't get so much attention, they have to be happy to get water whenever they need it.

There is also an ongoing dispute between the potter and the nursery man: what is the appropriate shape of a pot? I know from my own experience that the pots with a wider opening are the easiest when it comes to repotting. Some of the fast growing species can fill a pot in one season. But the potter also likes the pots which are narrower at the top. This dispute is not yet over!

Most of the time I mix my glazes myself, I am reading everything about glazes in order to find what I am looking for. I have some reliable glazes that I really like.

For me the ceramics from the SUNG-period in China represent some of the most beautiful masterpieces. The shapes were simple, the glaze excellent and the glaze harmonizes so well with the shape of the pots. The ancient Chinese were master potters, and their glazes were miraculous. I always envy the people who have a gas kiln and can reproduce (or at least try to reproduce them) some of these extraordinary glazes. For most of these old Chines Glazes (Celadons; Temmokus: Oil Spot, Hare's Fur, Tea Dust; Copper Reds) you do Reduction Firing – you have to have a gas kiln) and in my electric kiln I do Oxidation firing.

In the past I also applied new glazes on my pots – without testing beforehand – and sometimes the result made me very happy and sometimes I got very frustrated because I ruined the pots with that glaze.

Therefore I invest more time in testing now.

At the moment I produce (for the first time) a bigger quantity of similar pots: they vary not much in size but some have rivets, some haven't. But the texture and the glaze are different. I really like this shape although you have to keep in mind that repotting can become a tricky operation. Better use some slow-growing species! For my glaze testing this approach seemed better to me than use different shapes with different glazes – you can never really compare because another shape my need another texture and glaze. Some of the pots you can see here.

I want my pots to be more than a piece of fired clay – they should carry a bit of my soul and my customer should also feel the spirit of TAKAHAMA.

Exhibitions and Sales Activities in Autumn 2009

2009-07-26T01:03:00.000-07:00

This year I have not attended any exhibitions or bonsai shows yet but I decided to show my pots in the French part of Switzerland and in the Italian part of Switzerland.

Although the German speaking part of Switzerland is my 'homeland' I don't get any feedback from here and my customer base is very small. I am posting parcels with my pots all over the world – but almost none within Switzerland! Therefore I skipped the Swiss National Bonsai exhibition held in the German part of Switzerland.

But I will be present here:

12. + 13. September 2009: Exhibition Bonsai-Club Ticino in Lugano

Centro exposizioni "CONZA"

Via Castagnola

6900 LUGANO

Here you can find the details:

http://web.me.com/kitora/Congresso_AIAS/CONGRESSO_AIAS-BCT.html

24. + 25. October 2009: Clubs' Trophy 2009 in Geneva

Gymnase du Bois Gourmand,

1255 Veyrier (Veyrier near the French Border)

If you have time and if you are nearby come to these shows. I am looking forward to meeting you there!

New Takahama Pots

2009-07-05T11:40:00.001-07:00

These are some of the results of yesterday's firing:

These are some of my newest pots. The first four pots are quite different from the ones I made before. I am experimenting with some new glase/surface texture. Soon I can show you more and different type of surfaces. They will also appear on my webpage.

Some new Hostas, some new Rhodohypoxis

2009-07-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post I was ordering some new plants. In Spring I decided not to buy any more plants – the shelves are quite full and I thought it might be better to concentrate on the plants I already have, they still haven't reached their full potential and they also need attention and care. Anotheer reason was that I was quite busy doing my Kusamono-pots and this seemed to be more important at that time to keep things going.

But now I had the opportunity and the luck to get in one big bang some really nice Hostas and some really beautiful Rhodohypoxis. It took me quite some time to do the potting of all these plants. And because I did not want to plant them in any plastic containers I also had to provide for each an appropriate pot! Some of the plants are already quite vigorous, others are still quite small but until next spring thing will look different.

These are some new photos

Some of my mini Hostas

2009-06-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

Hosta seem to be something for collectors – some of my friends and colleagues have huge collections with more than 100 different Hostas. I Have one Hosta in our garden – 'Sun and Substance' – it is one of the "stars" of the past years. The yellow leaves can grow up to 40 cm in diameter but it takes about 4 years until the plant is fully established. I am not addicted to Hostas but to Kusamono therefore I focus on the small forms. I started a few years ago with the following plants:

Hosta minor
Hosta venusta
Hosta Allan P.McConell
Hosta Ginko Craig
Hosta Japangirl
Hosta Kifukurin Ko Mame
Hosta Laterna Magica
Hosta Little Wonder
Hosta Masquerade
Hosta Thumb Nail
Hosta Wogan Gold

They are all doing quite well, up to now I did not repot or divide them but some of the pots grow quite full. Because I was ordering some more Hostas it was a good opportunity to check my small collection and take photos while they are flowering.

This time all my Hostas gathered together on the table in front of the house

Some new photos of my Kusamono

2009-06-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

Some new TAKAHAMA-Pots

2009-06-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

Warum Kusamono?

2009-04-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

Warum

Die Frage 'Warum?' kann man sich immer stellen. Warum interessiert er sich für das, warum wendet sie soviel Zeit dafür auf?

Wenn Sie in Ihrem Leben noch nie Schnee gesehen haben, nie ein Skirennen verfolgen konnten und den Winter in unserem Sinne überhaupt nicht kennen, werden Sie wohl kaum auf die Idee kommen, sich ein Paar Ski anzuschaffen.

Mit Kusamono ist es auch so. Es braucht sicher eine gewisse Affinität, eine gewisse Liebe zu Pflanzen irgendwelcher Art. Das ist sicher die Voraussetzung für ein Gelingen. Aber dann braucht es noch einen speziellen Kick, ein spezielles Ereignis, das als Auslöser dient.

Vergänglichkeit

Wie bei Ikebana spielt auch bei Kusamono die Vergänglichkeit mit: einige Pflanzen erreichen nur für einen kurzen Moment ihren Höhepunkt. Alles vorher ist Aufbau, Weg zum Höhepunkt; alles nachher ist Zerfall. Aber dieser kurze Moment auf dem Höhepunkt, den wir natürlich intensiv geniessen wollen und diesen Kusamono dann an einem geeigneten schönen Ort im Innenbereich aufstellen, dieser kurze Moment ist es wert, ein Jahr lang diese Pflanze zu hegen und zu pflegen. Die Belohnung für die Mühe mag Ihnen klein erscheinen, aber für alle, die sich an einem solchen Mikrokosmos erfreuen können, hat sich der Aufwand gelohnt.

Geduld

In unserer schnell-lebigen Zeit kommt die Geduld immer mehr abhanden. Jetzt, subito wollen wir es, wir wollen und können nicht warten. Wer sich mit Bonsai oder Kusamono beschäftigt, tut gut daran, sich in Geduld zu üben. Es gibt ihn nicht, den Instant-Bonsai oder den Instant-Kusamono. Die Frage ist nur wielange muss ich warten, bis ich mich an meiner Kreation erfreuen kann. Natürlich ist der Weg das Ziel, aber wenn man zum Beispiel mit Yamadori-Material arbeitet, kann der Weg ganz schön lang und das Ziel sehr, sehr weit entfernt sein. Das soll nicht heissen, dass sich dieser lange Weg deswegen nicht lohnt, aber man wird einen solchen Bonsai über Jahre hinweg nur draussen auf dem Gestell stehen lassen und er wird währen dieser Zeit keinen besonderen Platz im Innenbereich einnehmen können. Bei Kusamono sieht das ein bisschen anders aus: natürlich gibt es auch hier Pflanzen, die erst nach 10 Jahren ihr ganzes Potential ausspielen können, aber es gibt auch sehr viele Pflanzen, die bereits nach kürzerer Zeit attraktiv sind und sich im Innern präsentieren lassen. Das ist ja schlussendlich das finale Ziel: sie holen sich ihre Lieblinge in ihre Nähe, in ihr Wohnzimmer. Diese Pflanzen spielen dann für zwei Tage im Center-Court und stehen nicht mit vielen andern dichtgedrängt auf einem Gestell draussen.

Natürlich werden mit der Zeit die Ansprüche steigen, man wird Beispiele sehen von ausgereiften Exemplaren und feststellen, dass die halt noch mehr Schönheit versprühen als die 'jungen'.

Schönheit

Wer sich gerne mit schönen Dingen umgibt, der ist mit Kusamono gut beraten. Jede Pflanze hat ihre speziellen Eigenschaften, aber nicht jede Pflanze taugt als Primaballlerina dazustehen. Aber es gibt sie, Pflanzen, die sehr grazil und anmutig daherkommen, Pflanzen, die im Austrieb unübertroffen sind, Pflanzen, die eine tolle Herbstfärbung bekommen, Pflanzen, die durch ihre Schönheit bestechen – sei es als Solitär oder im Verbund mit andern Pflanzen.

Spielen

Kusamono fordert zum Spielen heraus: spielen mit den unterschiedlichsten Pflanzen, spielen mit dem Zusammenspiel von Schale und Pflanze. Wenn man das Spiel in Bildern festhält, kann man nach jeder Saison über die Bücher gehen und die "Aufzeichnung" der Spiele nochmals ansehen. Dann kann man sich fragen: Hab ich eine gute Wahl getroffen? Habe ich geeignete Pflanzen ausgesucht? Was hat sich bewährt, was nicht? Ist das Zusammenspiel von Pflanze und Schale geglückt?

Platzbedarf

Der Platzbedarf ist gering – ausser Sie haben sich schon eine Sammlung von einigen hundert Kusamono zugelegt. Sie benötigen einen Platz draussen, sei es Balkon oder Garten, und Sie benötigen einen Platz für den Winter, damit Ihr Kusamono den Winter bestimmt heil überlebt und geschützt ist vor zu arger Kälte, Schnee und Sturm.

Pflege und Unterhaltsarbeiten

Da viele Kusamono in relativ kleinen Schalen kultiviert werden, kommt dem Wässern eine grosse Bedeutung zu. Der Standort ist im Sommer ausschlaggebend, wie oft Sie wässern müssen.

Wenn die gewählte Pflanze nicht allzu aggressives Wurzelwachstum zeigt, kann sie mehr als eine Saison in der Schale bleiben, sonst muss die Pflanze entweder geteilt oder die Wurzeln eingekürzt werden.

Winter is over – Spring has come

2009-04-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

A close-up photo of Hakonechloa.

Larix, Larch, Lärche

Larix, Larch, Lärche

Finally winter is over and Spring has come at last. Two weeks ago it was still cold but now daytime temperature has already reached 20 degrees C. In April weather here in Switzerland is quite unpredictable – it may be cold and even snowing or we may have sunshine and 20 degrees. So last weekend I started to move all my Kusamono from the coldhouse back to the shelves outdoor. It's not only moving the plants but it also means cutting off all the dry leaves and stems, watering all the plants thouroughly and cleaning the pots. It was also a good chance to take some photos of some of my Kusamono and some of my smaller bonsais as well. I really like Hakonechloa coming out in spring and every year some more shoots are coming out. It is a gorgeous plant but it has to mature – then some 200 to 300 shoots are coming out – it is just wonderful.

About Takahama's Pots

2009-03-06T08:03:00.000-08:00

As I explained in one of the earlier posts I started to sell my TAKAHAMA Pots at the end of last year. I was very surprised about the echo and the feedback I have received in the meantime. I would like to thank all my new customers out there (almost all of them are not from Switzerland). To rely on the home market would be very difficult, but with the internet we live in a global world, it doesn't matter anymore whether you live somewhere in Europe, in America or Canada or in Australia. Everybody interested in Bonsai or Kusamono or whatever they can meet and exchange their views, every day at any time, there are no border, no limits anymore. And that is great. (I am not always so convinced that gloabalization will make us happy in every respect.)

I was really surprised what kind of statement I could find after posting some of my photos:

Really nice accent plant pot
complimenti
Molto belli e anche con buoni prezzi
vasetti molto belli
Your pots are wonderful
ouaw ils sont vraiment superbe, pleins de coup de coeur je dirais même
I just bought some very nice kusamono pots from carlos. Highly recommended
Es werden ja immer mal wieder eigene Produktionen hier veröffentlicht, aber Deine sind das beste, was ich bisher gesehen habe
Bezüglich der wunderschönen Schalen, ich find sie ehrlich einfach umwerfend
Beautiful pots. Very nice art...
Wonderful work, very nice, almost pity to put earth in it...
He is a master of color, shape and form!

Thank you, Grazie, Merci, Dankeschön!! I will thank once more my wife Yachiyo – she gave me the final kick to go online with my pots. I will follow my way, experimenting with forms, patterns and glazes. I have to make efforts to work on my "elegant" thin line. I have to keep in mind what the plants need, especially the beautiful elegant grasses.

I am happy to say that you can see some of my accents and pottery at ARTOFBONSAI – a site to remember!

http://www.artofbonsai.org/galleries/hebeisen.php

Carlos

Indoor Plants

2009-02-28T05:56:00.000-08:00

If we do Kusamono we are using wild plants, plants from a nursery. At the moment I am doing a small project with indoor plants. I already found out in the past that the number of suitable plants are limited but nevertheless I give them a try...

First of all it is still a bit too early to go into the real Kusamono business on the other hand I was also very curious how these indoor plants would look like in my 'Takahama' pots.

There is only a small group doing some kind of Kusamono and only few of them will buy my pots so I want to open up the market. I would not call it Kusamono but a lovely small plant in a suitable pot on your desk is for sure something that can cheer you up. And this not only for one or two days but as long as the plant is healthy and attractive.

So if I am successful with my project I may also sell my pots to flower shops.

Late Winter Work. About my Pots

2009-02-13T15:05:00.000-08:00

This week I checked my Kusamono, especially the grasses. Usually I cut them back in autumn but not too short ( you can also leave the dry parts). But before the new shoots come out you have to cut back more, if you check too late it is very difficult to cut the old dry parts without touching the new ones. At the moment it is still quite cold here but when the temperature is raising outside it gets really warm in the greenhouse and then it is too late.

Besides that I did a lot of pot-making. Since my TAKAHAMA-Pots are on my webpage there are inquiries and orders coming in. I am still sticking to small to medium sized pots meant for Kusamono. At the moment I am checking again different clay bodies and some new glazes. Although I am using the same glaze on serveral pots the result is always a bit different. When pouring the glaze over the pot you can have one layer or two layers and the thickness of the glaze varies. But it is always a very special moment to open the kiln, take the pots out, be happy because the result is great, or be frustrated a bit because you ruined the the nice shape of the pot with a not appropriate glaze. Fortunately I am getting better.

I am still lthinking a lot about the shapes of my pots. Although Kusamono is different from Bonsai, there are no strict rules but nevertheless the pot should not be the main attraction. Some of the pots I have seen in the past look very interesting as an object or piece of art but together with a plant they are much too strong, to dominant and they attract all our attention.

For the near future I am planning to make some more refined pots with thin walls and fine line. I would be nice to use this kind of pots together with some elegant grasses. Different kind of grasses I have, but they are still in not appropriate pots. We should really apply the concept of Shyn, Gyô, Sô = Formal, semi-Formal, informal. A strictly formal grass needs to have a formal pot. An informal plant can go with an informal pot. Of course there are more steps in between but it would be wrong according this concept to use a formal plant in an informal pot.

From the Takahama Kiln

2009-01-24T03:53:00.000-08:00

Now my pots – Takahama – are on the internet on my website www.kusamono.ch. Although I am selling Japanese pots and pots from Bryan Albright my own brand is selling quite well. Of course I knew that there might be a chance to sell because every now and then I sold some of my pots to customers but I was a bit reluctant to do the next step. I got some positive comments from my bonsai masters Nobuyuki Kajiwara and Natsuo Kobayashi and finally my wife Yachiyo gave the ultimate kick.

As long as you produce the pots for your own usage you can't produce hundreds of pots – sooner or later there is no space left to store them and I cannot plant hundreds of Kusamono every season – my greenhouse is too small to shelter all of them in winter time. (I have already 300 or more small pots to store!).

Now I decided to start a regular production, that gives me also the opportunity to do more experiments, do more glaze testing, testing differerent clay bodies and experiment with all kind of shapes.

Here are some examples of my January firing: