Page 55 - BSAM 2018 Q2

New Creative Ideas in Saikei
ABy Jyoti and Nikunj Parekh, India
s our bonsai related activities expanded, many visitors started viewing Bonsai collection on our terrace. One of the walls of our terrace was huge and blank. For quite some time, we waited for our artist friend to create a mural using colorful ceramic tiles. The artist took a very long time to respond and could not create
a design on time, forcing us to think inwards. This then, was when we got the idea of a wall mural with living plants.
The first Bonsai Wall Mural was created in the year 1985 in the presence of
many of our Bonsai Study Group Members at a meeting. This creation is still
alive with all living trees, shrubs and fillers, intact, achieving maturity and
turning into a piece of living art. Initially, for this we used a wooden frame, a typically-carved Indian frame. Later on, we changed this into a cement and plaster of Paris frame with an Indian design, which is durable and will last for a long time. (See photo above)
Everyone liked this creation and we gave demonstrations across India. In 1987 we got invitations to give demonstrations at Heidelberg, Germany; at London in the UK; Staten Island Botanical Garden in NY, BCI Bonsai Convention at Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Honolulu, Hawaii in U.S.A. In 1990 we created a Bonsai Wall Mural at International Garden & Greenery Exposition at Osaka, Japan, which won a silver medal from the organizers. We used rocks and a Wooden Frame that were brought from India with live trees and fillers provided by Nippon Bonsai Association. Our friend Pedro Morales from Puerto Rico, on a visit to India, liked the wall mural and created similar ones with brightly painted sunrise and sunset scenery, in his own country.
Top; Wall Mural of living plants created in 1985 by authors and Saikei specialists Jyoti and Nikunj Parekh.
Inset; Jyoti and Nikunj with their completed Wall Mural Planting. See details on next page.
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