Page 6 - BSAM 2016 Q3

About the Author: David Benavente is an award-winning bonsai artist who has studied bonsai in Europe and in Japan. In 2012, he was a resident artist for the honorable Kato family at Mansei- en nursery in Ômiya. David has worked as a bonsai potter, curator of important bonsai collections in Spain, teacher at the Luis Vallejos Bonsai School, and author of many articles for bonsai magazines in USA, Europe and Japan. Since 2009, his trees have won many awards at major competitions. He owns David Benavente- Bonsai Studio, where everything for bonsai is available from his online store at www.davidbenavente.com. The website features nished collected trees from nature as well as many species of cultivated and imported bonsai. Tools, fertilizers, containers, exhibit items and books are available from the website too. If you can attend his school in Spain, founded in 2006, consider one of David’s workshops or courses.
By David Benavente, Spain www.davidbenavente.com Translation by José Luis Rodriguez Macias, Puerto Rico
SPECIAL AESTHETIC VALUE LIVING SCULPTURE
e shapes acquired by wild olives, with their sinuous trunks full
of character, have nothing to do and take us away from the typical image of the old cultivated olive trees. We deal with a di erent spirit. Notwithstanding, the wild olive and the cultivated olives share common ground, in terms of plant genera and species. In many cases, the shapes of wild olive are an abstract interpretation of the natural forms, in which many specimens may be considered as a true sculpture in the modern art world, rather than a traditional representation of a tree in nature.
is special character deserves special treatment and a special point of view in order to be able to extract the maximum amount of potential from the material.
4 | BCI | July/August/September 2016
WILD OLIVES
Olea europaea var.”sylvestris”
3 Case Studies Showing
the 3 Phases in Shaping
Wild Olive Bonsai