Toronto Bonsai Exhibition at Canadian Art Gallery
This weekend marked an important event for bonsai in Canada. The Toronto Bonsai Society was asked to present a display of bonsai at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection as part of The McMichael Tree Project Exhibition. The seed for this exhibition was planted several years ago, and the Tree Project provided the perfect venue.
The McMichael Gallery houses a number of important Canadian artworks, including several pieces by members of The Group of Seven. It was therefore an honour for TBS to have been asked to share their bonsai alongside these great works. For their contribution to furthering the art of bonsai through this event, members of the TBS Executive were granted the BCI Award of Excellence.
I spent most of the day there and tried to get some decent pictures. Unfortunately the lighting and backdrops were not ideal for bonsai photography, but hopefully you can get an idea of some of the trees that were exhibited.
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- McMichael Gallery
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- Tom Thomson’s Shack
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- ‘Shibagau Shard’ by Bill Vazan
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- ‘Penelope’. American Larch on garden statue by Nick Lenz. Now she lives in Toronto.
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- Blaauw Juniper Forest
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- Thuja occidentalis on stone
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- Larix laricina. This is a simple tree, but has been a bonsai for a long time. The old bark extends right to the ends of the branches.
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- Larix bark detail
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- Jack pine. This is one of my favourite trees… the photo does not do it justice.
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- Jack pine deadwood detail.
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- Korean Hornbeam. Still needs lots of development, but the basic structure of this tree is excellent.
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- American Larch, White Spruce, and Potentilla. This group planting was collected just like this, and slapped on a stone.
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- Thuja occidentalis. The owner of this tree probably has the best Thuja bonsai around.
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- Juniperus horizontalis. The individual trees were grown by Nick Lenz over a long, long period of time. The new owner planted them together last year. At the next repotting, they will be moved closer together.
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