Page 10 - Demo

Left column; Frank Mihalic’s jewelry making work shop where participants created a wax original that Frank cast in silver at his studio in the US, using the lost wax process.
The finished silver bonsai pins that were sent to the workshop participants.
Right column; Tom Elias Suiseki Critique of the Stone exhibition where 80 stones were on display..
“For this great Bonsai Family Gathering, which we all got to relish, congratulations
to Lindsay, Glenis, BCI and the team of Australian members for the success it deserved.”
—Nikunj Parekh, BCI Director, India
were joined by Ms Chen Wenjuan from China who is the Curator of Mr. Xin Changbao’s Bonsai Park in Changzhou. Ms Chen styled a Juniper squamata which she attached to a large Australian sandstone rock. Some radical bending, and chipping at the stone by Tony Bebb, helped to make it fit. She may be small in stature but is one very strong lady! At the same time we had Mr Gong Linmin take us step by step through the creation of making a semi cascade pot. The de- tail and explanation was thoroughly enjoyed by all. His theatrical finish capped off what was a fantastic demonstration. The pot will soon be fired at 1117°C as instructed.”
Next up was the Australian Demonstration Team of Tony Bebb, Chris De Nola and Joe Morgan-Payler. Tony took on the task of creating a semi cascade Black Pine, Pinus thumbergii, which required the help of a large bending bar; Chris styled a Japanese juniper, Juniperus procumbens, in a pseudo-Literati Style; Joe transformed what looked like a very difficult Juniper into a stunning bonsai.
Also on Friday, participants had the opportunity to attend an optional jewelry making work shop with
Frank Mihalic, a second generation bonsai artist from USA, also a BCI Director.
Saturday morning, over forty BCI members and club representatives rose early to attend the 7:30 AM, BCI Annual General Meeting. BCI President, Tom Elias gave an update on the progress of our organi- zation, planed improvements to the website and our much improved financial position.
He introduced the BCI newly elected Officers for 2014-2016. Minutes of this meeting will be made available soon in the member’s area of the BCI website.
Demonstrations continued with Zhao Qingquan (also known as Brook) from China showed us the talent of his 40 years of experience and created a large land-water Penjing using 2 large Melaleuca ry- phalyophylla on a marble tray 1.2 meter long. Tom Elias held court with his very well received Suiseki Critique of the Stone exhibition where 80 stones were on display. “The fascinating array of Australia stones on displayed were indicative of the growing interest in native stone appreciation,” said Tom.
After lunch it was time for the International Relay Team Challenge. The original three teams selected were: Australia, consisting of Tony Bebb, Chris Di Nola and Joe Morgan-Payler; Asian Team, with Ni- kunj Parekh, Joyti Parekh and Budi Sulistyo; the third team comprised Lindsay Muirhead NZ, Poppy Eng- lebrecht NZ and Les Dowdell, Canada.
Glenis explains, “After consultation with some par- ticipants it was apparent that the Aussie boys were up to mischief. So at the last minute the teams were all mixed up to make it a truly international event. Team one was Chris, Poppy and Nikunj; team two was Joe,
8 | BCI | October/November/December 2014