Small wonder: club member Antonio Tali at work on a specimen..
By John Van Klaveren
THE WORLD has gradually become a smaller place.
Technology has bridged gaps in travel, communications, even the size of our gadgets through miniaturisation.
However, to members of Geelong Bonsai Club, smaller has always been beautiful.
The 2000-year-old gardening art form has a dedicated band of followers in Geelong, hooked as much for the meditative aspect as for its result.
To bonsai enthusiasts, the journey is as important as the destination, Geelong Bonsai Club president Paul Buttigieg said.
“One thing it teaches you is patience,” Paul explained.
“Many of the people who do it are very busy and see it as a form of meditation.
“The bonsai is so slow in developing with such intricate work involved that you do lose yourself in the tree.”
Explaining the mystery of bonsai, Paul said the best exponents closely observed what happened to trees in the wild.
“You can develop an artistic skill to miniaturise a tree so it resembles what it’s like in a natural setting.
“You use wires connected between branches and the trunk to slowly shape the tree.
“It’s similar to plants being naturally shaped by their environment, perhaps by being attracted to the sun or formed by the wind.”
Paul said leading experts drew the desired shape of the tree before starting to sculpt the plant.
“Drawing bonsai is almost an art form in itself.”
The club’s 65 members venture on regular expeditions to dig for new specimens to use in their art.
“During the year we’ll go on a nursery crawl, hire a bus and go visit various bonsai nurseries,” Paul said.
The club recently hosted leading Australian bonsai expert Lee Wilson who gave a weekend’s worth of workshops.
The club meets monthly at Grovedale United Services Memorial Hall and has its annual spring show on November 10 and 11 at Geelong Masonic Centre in Belmont.
Embracing social media is one of the reasons for the club’s success, with every meeting videoed and uploaded to You Tube along with Face Book and Twitter updates.
“It helps keep the members informed between meetings but also reaches bonsai enthusiasts all over the world,” said Paul who also runs a gardening program on community radio station The Pulse on Saturday mornings.
Prospective members can phone Paul on 0412 604 211 or email gbci46@gmail.com.
