Winter Image Shows
What exactly is a winter image show and why do people want to exhibit their trees without their foliage?
Within the Bonsai fraternity, many people place a lot of emphasis on creating an aesthetically pleasing structure on their trees; with progressive taper from the trunk, to the branches and into the twigs. This is sometimes referred to as the primary, secondary and tertiary branch structure. Having lots of fine twigs along, and at the ends of the branches - what we refer to as “ramification”, is considered to be a sign of a well-developed and mature specimen. Being able to create such an image without any wire marks, is a further sign of the “Bonsai Artist’s” horticultural skill and takes many years to achieve.
Exhibiting a deciduous tree when it is covered in foliage, inevitably hides the structure, and many enthusiasts like to exhibit their trees during the winter, when the structure, and all of the work that has gone into it, can be clearly seen. Of course coniferous trees look much the same all year round, but they too can be exhibited as a part of a winter image show.
Ayrshire Group – Winter Image Show 2019
On the 13th January 2019 the Ayr Group held their 5th Annual winter image show. The event seems to go from strength to strength, and this year we introduced the idea of a team competition, in which each area group within the SBA was invited to enter a team, comprising a Pine, a Juniper, a Maple, a British deciduous, and one Shoin tree. The Lanarkshire group won the inaugural trophy, beating Ayr by just one point.
Well over a sixty trees were exhibited, and around 50 people came along to participate or have a look at what was on display. The following pictures how some of the people and trees at the event.
