I finally got around to wiring up some of the ficus cuttings I started earlier. I'm re-using some aluminum wire that I had laying about. While I was wiring, I took the opportunity to look at their root systems. The roots are looking nice and strong, really a nice beginning.
While I was back there, I took some more ficus cuttings, some f. benjamina, but mostly f. retusa/microcarpa.
I took one of the wired ficus and set it in a new octopus pot I made. It's a small, stoneware pot, fired to cone 10. I think it looks pretty good. I haven't added this to my etsy shop; I don't know if I will! I did add a bougainvillea to my stilty raku bonsai pot and I added that to my etsy shop though.
The grapes are growing strong! When I cut back the grape to that one single crook, I didn't toss out the top growth. I just stuck it in some damp potting soil and stuck it under the bench. Well it's growing really well. I think I already mentioned that in a previous post, but it's worth repeating. The grapes are again trying to set fruit, so I again cut back on the tiny fruits.
I got some things going on with my clay, but as usual, I'm not talking until I have something. Erm.... I might have some finished this weekend.

Sometimes I look at my little blog and I say to myself:
Self, you have to post more often, don't ya think?
But my Self knows what people want to hear, and my Self knows that people just don't want to hear doom and gloom. They wanna hear about what's new! Well, okie dokie, Self!
Out in the garden, I find myself behind the curve on my cuttings. Before I know it, it will be 100 degrees outside and too late (HA!) to start cuttings. *snicker*
I'm sorry, but I just can't say this with a straight face! My ficus cuttings will start up nicely when I get around to them.
The ficus cuttings I started earlier are getting along FINE! I'll start to wire them up shortly. And yes! I'll start MORE ficus cuttings later.
The grapes are doing FANTASTIC! The hardwood cutting has already nput out some leaf and the stubby stub I left already tried to set fruit, can you believe it? I'm not trying to grow grapes, so I cut it all off, so the grape vine doesn't put all its vigor in creating grapes.
In short, the bonsai stuff is doing GREAT! I'll have to do some potting up soon!
Moving along to my clay...
I *STILL* haven't added any of my latest raku bonsai pots!
If I did it right, you should be seeing a rather leggy bonsai raku pot finished in goldburst and matte multi-color sand patina glazes.
I added a couple new products to my eclectric.etsy.com site: incense burners, and a dragon skull! I included a picture of the dragon skull because... well, because this is my blog and that's what I'm supposed to be doing! HEHE
I won't spam with more pictures of stuff that I added to my shops. I have more stuff, including a couple new luminaries that are sitting on my desk, but I'm run out of time this weekend. I'll have to post during the week.
OH! I did NOT go to April's First Friday. There was TOO much stuff going on at the studio, and it was too windy, so I stuck around the studio and helped Mishy instead. We'll be out there next month!

So I posted a few planted bonsai in my shop. Yeah, great! More stuff I can't ship too easily. I'd do more clay, but I'm taking a short, one month hiatus from clay. Too bad too, cause a couple nights ago, I was looking at my giant snail in my aquarium (his shell is like 3 inches across!) and I noticed that he actually has a face! Big long tentacles, eyes on stalks, and a mouth that sucks, but yep, a face! I'd love to do something snail/dragon-ish. Definitely not like Spongebob's Gary . Maybe like Larry.

Me and Aaron are *trying* to learn crochet/knitting. Trying being the operative word here. I can't work the crochet needle and neither can Aaron. I really *REALLY* wanted to do some amigurumi, but we're both stuck, going down in flames. And by flame, I mean take the F and stick it on my forehead (you get an F! for EFF-ort) and write LAME straight on my chest. I feel like a chimp trying to figure out a telephone. I see how it works but I JUST DON'T GET IT. Got a banana?

I made my brother the most awesome shot glass for Christmas. It's really a double shot glass with big chicken feet and a long scaly tail. Kind of like this:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=18757008

It's only sort of like that. One wing sort of drooped down on the final firing, then sort of melted onto the glaze, so that one wing looks on alert, and the other wing looks like what I was feeling after we got done quality testing that double shooter during our annual Open House/ Holiday party at the studio. It was a fun party, complete with fire spinners. Mishy threw cream cheese on the potter's wheel and created a dipping bowl, in which rhubarb and strawberry preserves were served. Lots of fun and tasty munchyness.

I'm not half as useless as I sometimes appear. I figured out how to include a picture on my blog. And oh look! It's the Dragon Frog from my http://eclectric.etsy.com site! You should really go check it out. Pardon the shameless commercial plug, but I got to do something to support my clay habit.
First Friday was last Friday (hrmmm, irony in that statement) . I sold a number of my finished bonsais. I grabbed some moss from my garden and planted that up. That seemed to sell pretty good.
My son Aaron made his first sale! Did I mention that already? He sold a very 'funky, whimsical, and interpretive' goldfish pot. The lady who bought it commissioned a second piece from Aaron; a taller, larger vase with a dog face. We did two of them and she liked them both. I'm really excited for Aaron!
So I was feeling a little inspired by Aaron and some of my recent work. I did this bonsai pot, I started with an egg shaped pot, but it ended up being this... bottom half of a dragon! Then I did another 'Dragon Frog', only I didn't include arms and I made mushrooms for eyes. Did I mention I did a bunch of mushrooms recently? I dunno, I'm on a mushroom trip... I'm 'shroomin (LOL). I finished up my weekend by doing a full on dragon, a trio of barrel shaped tea cups, and some small mame pots.
I did a few other pieces and I had Aaron do some more as well. I dropped them off at the Studio today. Mishy informed me that she's out of my favorite pugged clay. CRAPPOLA!
She's gonna have an open studio event this weekend. Info can be found here:
http://www.desertdragonpottery.com/holidaystudio08.html
I'll probably mosey over there some time.

I just noticed I didn't mention the Fairy Fest!

WELLLLL.....

The event itself was held in a national park setting; the time of setting that one might go for a day or overnight camp. There were plenty of people in attendance, but without feeling crowded. Meaning there was lots of space for people to gather for shows, but even in a crowd, it did not feel crowded. The vendor space was generous, meaning vendors were stratigically set apart, rather than be clumped up on top of each other. There was only ONE food vendor set up. For me, sales were dismal.

Did I like it? YOU BETCHA!!! Looking forward to next year!

Allow me now to expand on the points I made

The Event- Holy crap! I was expected to be there at 9am and stay until it closed sometime after 9pm. At which time I was expected to break down and pack up. That makes for a *LONG* day. I was relieved to find the campground settings. Even more pleasant surprise was that the festival was in a Ramada, surrounded and interspersed with mesquite trees. The ground was mostly a dry grass, so dust was kept to a minimum. The grounds were tooked between hills, in a bit of a glen, so that no outside traffic or buildings could be seen. The one hassle was the wind! There were some strong winds blowing early on. They knocked over a few of my bonsai. Some of my money trees actually had all their leaves plucked off by the wind! All in all, it was a very relaxing setting, wind and all.

The People

Did I mention this was a Fairy Fest? Most people came dressed for the occassion. A lot of time was spent on some costumes, some more elaborate than others. All seemed to be enjoying the festival and really getting into character. Mishy dressed as a fairy. She looked fun with her fairy wings and boots. Howard was just his normal self, but I lent him a pair of my horns to wear. Tori refused to dress up. Carey borrowed my old robe and went as Merlin. I dressed as a Pirate, but as a pirate who was trying to pass himself off as a merchant. Turns out that the event handlers had some sort of quest going on for the kids, where they had to find certain things and get ribbons to complete 'the mermaid quest'. I only know about this because one of the things they had to find was 'the pirate who likes monkeys'. Being I was dressed like a pirate, I was approached SEVERAL times. I was photographed multiple times as well.

Vendor Space

Our vendor space was two 10 by 10's and we had lots of room for spreading out. I already mentioned that all the vendors were spaced out, so no space encroached on another. This allowed customers to flow in and out of vendor stall spaces with plenty of space in between, very much like a village would be spaced out. Mishy had my two tables set up on opposite ends of our stall space. On one table, I set up my fantasy pieces and jewelry. The other had bonsai related items. Tori bought a roll of sod, and after she trimmed off what she needed for her table, she gave me a nice, long section for my bonsai trees. The sod came really in handy to keep my things from being blown away by the wind. My bonsai trees looked especially good on the sod. They were photographed multiple times by multiple people early on. There were literally 10-15 people lined up to photograph them at one point, sort of like the paparazzi. A few people in Fairy custome even lined up with the bonsai background to have their pictures taken. It was a bit surreal. I'm sure I would have had more sales, but it took me a while to list prices on everything, and by the time I got around to do it, the wind had knocked some down and the initial sensation they cause had subsided.

Food vendor

There was this huge, open area that was occupied by one single food vendor. It looked as if they planned to have multiple food vendors but had some technical difficulties. As a result, the only food vendor was selling overpriced, small, awful cheese steak sandwiches that (I'm told) tasted like a bad case of athlete's foot. Right about 2pm, we were getting awfully hungry and we got the idea to go to Walmart and buy a bunch of snacks to vend. About 3 pm or so, we set up chips, snacks and soda. The funny thing is that in the end, we only recouped the money that all those snacks and soda cost us. But the good thing was that we got to snack all day for FREE. The general consensus was that we should have set up our snack area *MUCH* earlier in the day. The funny thing is that security came by and bought a bunch of snacks from us.

Sales

DISMAL! What more can I say? I had a couple of sales and I gave away a few items. My lack of sales weren't due to my lack of trying, however. I gave it my all. I was very cordial, very friendly. I engaged people as much as possible. I posed for pictures. I promoted my bonsai trees and my sculptures. It just boiled down to the cold hard facts of the reality that we currently find ourselves in. People were very interested in my wares. They were fascinated by my sculptures and they gazed in *AWE* at the bonsai creations that I had. But they did not have the money to spend on my goods! The really funny and strange thing is that I am not dissuaded by my lack of sales. Far from it. If anything, I am encouraged, now more than ever! I am more convinced that the things that I am making are strange, beautiful, and command attention. My creations are sparking the imagination and drawing in the crowds.

So there it is. The event that has been my muse has now moved into the past, and I'm already looking forward to next year. I'm already looking at what went right, went wrong, and how I can improve what I'm so that I can get those sales. In this light, I am convinced more than ever that I was dead on, 100% on track.

If my ficus cuttings hadn't died, I would have had one STELLAR year, as far as sales go. My failures in sales, going back to October, can all be attributed to this one event- the loss of my cuttings. That meant the fall harvest and planting of bonsais never took place, which meant that the customer was left with a bunch of pots, but unable to see what their true purpose was.

People were also excited by my fantasy pieces. The horns didn't go off all that well, as they were considerably larger than they should have been, I think. However, the Tree of Gondor and my sculptures were well received. The only problem was that there was not enough pieces to catch attention. The few pieces I had were somewhat hidden behind Mishy's table. I simply did not start on my fantasy pieces early enough to have enough product for sale. Since the Fairy Fest, I've been working on more bonsai pots. However, I'm doing a bit more elaborate work on these. I'm going to allow myself to have fun and be more creative with my bonsai pots. I'm working on a bonsai pot that is somewhat based on my goldfish bonsai pots. Instead of fins it has short batwings, a tail, ridiculously long legs, and short stubby arms. I used 'bubble feet' to create the eyes, which sort of look like eyes on stalks. I also included some scales down the back, very much like what I did with the chicken dragon fairy. It's a lot of fun to make and it's looking rather outlandish. I don't know what colors I'm going to use to glaze it, but it has to be something CRAZY. The more I think about it, the more I'm realizing that it's screaming to be raku'd. Maybe I'll do that. Maybe I'll just cut loose and do a bunch of these little guys- a bunch of short, fat, ridiculous pieces. The more ridiculous, the better.

Who knows, maybe for my next piece I'll try to do something like a fat samurai.

I looked in my bonsai garden this morning. Things are going good, most everything is growing hard and heavy.

I looked at the grape I bought while I was in San Diego . Seems like such a long time ago, but it was barely a month ago. My mom still gets a kick out of recounting the purchase of that grape. The vendor was very excited about the grape's vigor and proudly showed off the grapes that this vine was producing. I agreed with him, that the grape showed lots of vigor, purchased the grape, then asked him for his tools to do some trimming. The vendor dug around the back and finally produced an oversized pruner. The vendor's eyes nearly burst from his skull as I lobbed off all that vigorous growth and the bunch of grapes that he was so proud of. I was left with this stump that had hardly any growth on it, and I marched off, my prize stump in hand, the vendor's pride tossed like so much garbage in the refuse bin.

That grape stump has *EXPLODED* with growth! I left two branches on the stump. One grows horizontally, almost at ground level. The other branches off almost straight up, but with interesting movement. Each of these branches has growth now that is 4-5 feet in length. Overall width of this stump is now about 8-10 feet. Bernie was outside while I was in the garden, so I brought over "Stumpy" so she could see. I happened to catch her as I rounded the corner, so I showed her 'Stumpy' in front of my other grapes. "Yes," she agreed, "it looks fantastic, but why aren't those growing?" she asked, pointing to my pathetic looking grapes that I planted in front of the house.

My poor, pathetic grapes. There they sit in front of the house. Defiant of the heat, desert conditions be damned! Of the original 3, only 2 ever grew. And these two are barely clinging. The leaves are lime green, small, and they look downright pathetic compared to the thick, dark green, verdant growth found on 'Stumpy'. It's a wonder that they even grow at all, considering that they are baked under the full desert sun all day. The sun is relentless; there for the grace of God (and shade cloth) goes 'Stumpy'. And that is the reason that my grapes are not growing. Full desert sun is a killer. Full desert sun, filtered by a shade cloth is fantastic for plants, as long as they can deal with the heat.

It's way too early for me... just five more minutes.

*hits the snooze bar, but turns off the alarm instead*

Ugh.... what time is it? OMG! I'm late! How can it be Monday morning already?!!! You ever have one of those days, one of those weekends, where you wake up to find that everything is later than you thought, and nothing has been accomplished? Yeah, it was one of those weekends. LOL

I packed up a few pieces of greenware to drop off at Mishy's. I don't know how many, maybe 17 or 18? They took up two boxes. I felt really dumb though because I kept asking Mishy for my pieces I had to pick up. Turns out I already picked them up and/or never dropped them off in the first place. Those 17-18 pieces, half of them were from the week prior. I never got around to dropping them off.

D'oh!

Yeah, that about sums it up. Being that I didn't have anything 'NEW' to add, I added some of the stuff that has just been lying around to my Etsy account. I added 'The Watermelon Bowl', small beaded mame bonsai pot, and some ficus

'The Watermelon Bowl' is a piece that was born from the bits and pieces of other pieces. Strictly speaking, I never set out to make this bowl, yet it is. I was throwing the slab, creating bonsai pots and feet, and I had already put away my clay. I found this bit of leftover clay. I didn't want it to go waste, so I just started smashing it, squishing it in my hands, adding a bit more water and just enjoying the feel of the clay in my hands. I started zoning out, watching 'My Neighbor Totoro', as I slowly rolled the clay in my hands. Before I knew it and not realizing it, I had created this bowl. My one conscious act was to flatten the bottom so it could sit properly. I kept it as greenware for a couple weeks before finally bisque firing it. The bowl then sat by as I glazed different pieces. The Woodland Fantasy glaze was applied because I had some leftover while glazing other pieces. It then sat for another week before I glazed the inside with dragon red glaze, leftover from doing my red dragon trays and bonsai pot. Even after I finished it, it remained by my side until I finally listed it on Etsy. I was expecting the red to be a deeper shade, more maroonish, with lighter shading in parts. I was expecting the woodland fantasy on the outside to be a more chocolate brown. I was expecting it to be brown, with shades of red brown on the inside, more expressive of autumn than the peak of summer that I find myself in. Instead, the red came out true, rich and RED. The outside finished in a lighter than expected shade, with subtle greens coming through and the browns being less dominant. The end result has a more organic feel to it. It is very expressive of the peak of summer that I find myself in, and in which it was created. I had a nice bit of early summer watermelon earlier in the season and I haven't had peak summer SANDIA this season, but the end result of this bowl just reminded me of hot summer days, enjoying the sweet, refreshing taste of watermelon. Don't get me started on watermelon! Quick flashes come to mind: eating watermelon on my Aunt's ranch, feeding the rinds to the goats, camping trips with my family to Viejas Indian Reservation (before it became a casino), AGUAS FRESCAS- Mexican drinks, made from fresh fruit, I'm just gonna stop there.

Tropical Feathers Beaded Mame Bonsai pot-

What did I use to form this pot, I forget. I think I used this egg shaped candle that I bought because I liked the shape. I do know that I used these Mardi Gras beads from my kids to impress the outside. I used bubble feet on this piece, and finished with a tropical feathers crystal glaze. The finished result is a very cute little mame bonsai pot. In this instance, the crystal glaze did not come out as rich as other pieces. It's very green with subtle color variations. The bead impressions allowed the glaze to pool, forming dark spots. The overall shape is conical, the feet sticking out in a non-symetrical fashion. It's not forced into a perfect shape, it's just standing in its own fashion. Perhaps it's waiting, or maybe it is contemplating its next move before pouncing.

Ficus bonsai cuttings-

The cuttings are from my own ficus bonsai trees. I've applied wired to some of the cuttings, and I'm allowing others to just sort of develop without interference on my part. Some of the cuttings are hardwood cuttings, so these have a more developed look. What can I say about the cuttings that I haven't already said in a previous post? I really like the cuttings and how they're developing. They are fattening up rather quickly. It is my opinion that they will develop into very nice bonsai in a very short time. The question then becomes 'how long until this tree becomes a decent bonsai?'

Lots of caveats involved, and this question is not as easy to answer as it is to ask. You have to define what is meant by bonsai and what end results are you shooting for?

Allow me to expand this further by describing my cuttings. Some are hardwood cuttings, taken from wood that is several seasons old. Most of the cuttings are softwood cuttings, taken from wood that is this season's growth. There are lots of things to differentiate between the two, but what I want to look at is the fact that softwood cuttings are almost starting as matchstick thin. The hardwood cuttings have some girth to them. How much depends on how old the wood is. And therein lies the answer.

I took a hardwood cutting earlier this season. I got really lucky and this cutting took. This cutting had plenty of branching already, so once it started to leaf out, I took as as and planted in a small mame bonsai pot. The results are nice: I have a small mame ficus bonsai, which was created by me. The tree was grown by me, and the pot was created by me. I wouldn't call it a 'spectacular' bonsai, however. Heck, some bonsai purists wouldn't even call it a bonsai, as it's the result of a single season of growth.

I'm going to allow some of the cuttings to grow tall. I will prune back severely, and in a few short years, I should have some very nice looking bigger bonsai. when it comes time to prune back, I can use the cuttings to create multiple potential bonsai cuttings.

Adeniums-

Blah blah blah, blurb blurb, yada yada yada. Pfft.

Yeah, more of the same, they're growing like gangbuster, still waiting for my nursery pots to arrive so I can pot the seedlings. Phone call to Bernie:

Hello?

It's me!

Waddaya want? I'm busy doing [insert laundry list of busy house work]

I just called to see if there's any packa-

No Victor! They're not here.

What?

Your pots haven't arrived.

But... how.... oh... okay then. Thanks!

Of course this is a phone call, so I cannot say for sure, but I'm positive that Bernie rolls her eyes at this point, then hangs up in disgust.

Hey look a Soap box on which to stand.

*takes axe to soap box, creating a kindling pile*

Now it's useful!

Honest, I don't have anything useful to say. I'm afraid if I open my mouth at times like this, I'll start going off on a tangent. I don't want to go off on my soap box. Maybe if I do a time frame of my day yesterday, it will help:

5:15 Wake up, shower and get ready for work

5:45 Leave for Work

6:00 Arrive at work

2:30 Leave work

2:50 Arrive at home, turn on sprinkler for garden, water the grapes and the 'welcome' bonsai

3:00 Power up system, read and respond to e-mail

3:30 Afternoon work-out (treadmill)

4:30 Shower and dress

5:00 Eat dinner while reading more e-mail

5:30 Take a nap

6:30 Wake up, work on garden

7:30 Work on pottery

9:30 clean up pottery working area, take a shower (third shower of the day)

10:00 It's now past my bed time; Bernie is watching LIFETIME movie, so I read/respond to more e-mail

10:45 Go to bed.

I don't always work on my garden and work on my pottery all in one day. However, this is summertime. This means busy busy work in the garden. The bougainvillea cuttings I took earlier are starting to look scorched. I imagine the leaves will mostly drop off and I might have some die back or I might lose some cuttings altogether. And that's okay. My ficus bonsai are looking leggy. It's time for their August haircut, but I don't have room for any more cuttings at the moment. That's not true. If I rearrange (again) I can make room for them. I really don't feel like rearranging, at least not until I get my nursery pots in. I ordered some 3.5 inch square nursery pots, which I need to pot up my Adeniums that are in their seed trays at moment. The pots are in the mail.

I was also looking at my previous ficus cuttings. They're getting leggy. I like that word, LEGGY. It's hard to gauge the height, as I wired the fastest growing ones. Lets just say that they're coming along quite nicely. My seedlings are also doing okay; I have trident maples, sargent crabapples, japanese black pine (arakawa), and pomegranate. What can I say about the seedlings? It's their first year and they've had a very good year, but they don't grow as quickly as the cuttings do.

I thought I was getting a bit lazy, so I did some pottery last night. I only meant to work for an hour or so, but two hours came and went before I knew it. I did a bit of this and a bit of that. I did a dragon impression on thin, round slab, then I formed it over a mound mold. I let the edges sort of flare in and out. Once it dried a bit, I applied pinch pot legs. We'll see how this turns out. I did a few other pieces, with one being a 'turk' style. I simply let the clay shape itself, except for the turk.

My adenium seedlings are almost a month old now. They're getting nice and fat. I've noticed a few are getting yellow and are dampening off. My research says nothing regarding treatment. Seems that adding fungicide could do just as much harm as good, so the best treatment is to provide a free-draining soil mix. I still have another 70 or so seedlings that need to be potted up. I've ordered some 3.5 pots, which should be here 'sometime'.

I did some pruning of the bougainvilleas I recently purchased. I placed the cuttings in water while pruning. I prepared a GP nursery tray with a good, free draining soil mix and planted about 70 cuttings. The cuttings were prepared by removing the very top of the growth, and removing any flowers. The lower leaves of each cutting were then removed, leaving a few leaves at the top. No rooting hormones were used. The cuttings were placed in my garden where they will receive daily watering/misting of about 15-30 minutes, more during hot, dry days.

Looking around some of my links, I found a very good pictorial for starting a mame bonsai from a cutting. I couldn't find the instructions, as the site was Japanese, but the pictures are fairly self-explanatory:

1. Start with a small cutting that is well established.

2. reduce the root mass

3. Assess flexibility and possible new shape of tree

4. Apply wire to cutting

5. Bend to new shape

6. Re-assess new shape of tree, make adjustments as needed

7. Apply wire to bonsai pot

8. Wire tree to bonsai pot

9. Apply final dressing to bonsai, enjoy your new mame bonsai

I don't know if I fully agree to this 'shotgun' approach to creating a mame bonsai. Seems to me that it's very nice for demonstration purposes, but it might stress the cutting too much to perform so much work on it at once. I usually wire my trees at a different date than I repot, but at any rate it's a great little pictorial for the steps involved in creating a mame bonsai from a new cutting.

Here's a bit of 'do as I say, not as I do': NEVER EVER EVER re-use bonsai wire! When the time comes to remove wire from your bonsai, wire cutters should be utilized. NEVER attempt to unwind the bonsai wire, as you can easily cause damage to your bonsai. The little bit of money you might save by re-using wire is outweighed by the potential damage you might cause to your favorite bonsai. Understood? NEVER DO IT! Anyone who re-uses bonsai wire has a screw loose!

So I was going through my pile of dead pine seedlings that I had ordered earlier in the year. Yep, all died. I applied wired to most of them, but that's not what killed them. The asshole that sent them to me didn't do a very good job packing, so they all dried up and died en route. I never toss anything until it's not only merely dead, but undeniably, certifiable fully dead. These were just that. I tossed them to a corner, wire intact. What I've been doing with my ficus cuttings is I've been visiting that corner and I've been collecting the bits of wire to re-use on my ficus cuttings.

Understand that my ficus cuttings are cannon fodder. I have plenty of them, and lots more where they came from. They are my chalkboard on which I draw my thoughts and ideas. They are my test tubes, my bunsen burners. I'm not pulling any punches with my ficus cuttings and I'm taking LOTS of risks, which includes re-using bonsai wire on them. The wire is too thick for them, so I usually pre-bend the wire into spirals, I then work the ficus around and into the wire before bending to shape.

This is a very liberating attitude. If I break my little cutting, I simply bandage it if possible. If it's too far gone, I cut it off at the break, then hope to get two new cuttings (top and bottom). If it becomes hopelessly damaged, then I'm out a cutting, which is no big deal. I bend branches and I see small fractures. These fractures mend and the tree twists and turns. I remember how liberating it was when I created my first bonsai, but this is different. With larger bonsai, there is an investment of the starter stock that I need to be aware of. If I break a bigger tree, I'm out that cost, and I'm out of the potential profit of selling that bigger tree. The costs of failure are therefore much higher. The cuttings on the other hand, cost nothing to create and I'm not selling at the moment, so I'm not out anything if I fail.

So I continue to plant cuttings. It's supposed to be about 109 today, but I don't mind the heat really. Well okay, the heat is horrid, but it's fantastic for my trees. The trees that can stand the heat, that is. I just work on my trees inside, where the AC keeps me nice and cool.

More pots have been added to my Etsy shop!
Check it out:
http://gomezvi.etsy.com
I decided to include a small wired cutting with the mame and bonsai pot pictures. I figured it might help people visualize the size. In case I didn't mention it before, I'm really happy with how this batch came out.
I'm now waiting for stuff to come out of the kiln. We'll see how that batch turns out.
I wish I could add more, but I'm thoroughly beat, but in a good way. I had a full day at work, Bernie took me out for dinner (just the two of us!), and I added a bunch of pots to my etsy shop. By now measure am I complaining, oh no! Honestly, I'm loving all the activity- especially now that my girls are back home and my house is once again at a full tilt boogie. I'm just tired.

Holy crap I'm feeling lazy!

I didn't do *anything* with my clay. I did a bunch of glazing on my dragon pieces, but I didn't create new pieces.

Okay, me being lazy is not entirely true true. I posted four new pots to my Etsy account, so that counts as having done something with my pottery, right? I still have a bunch of pots that I need to post, but I'm rolling out a few at a time now. I figure it's better that way, as listings will show better that way. Hey, if you really want to see my newest pots, even before I put them on my Etsy shop, you could always drop an e-mail on me.

I counted all my Adenium seedlings; I have about 105 potted up, altogether. There's another thirty or fourty seedlings in the tray, waiting to be potted up. I thought about taking some pictures of them as they sprout, but decided that they look too much like bean sprouts to be photographed. No, not really impressive, unless you like bean sprouts.

It got to over 112 today. To the uninitiated, that sounds hot. 'But it's a dry heat' is what I keep hearing. Don't get me wrong, that is still hot no matter how you slice it, it's just that it's easier to take this heat with low humidity, versus being stifled with high humidity AND excessive heat.

Anyhoots, looked in on my ficus cuttings. They're growing like weeds. I wired up a few more while I was out there. The F. Microcarpa cuttings are growing faster than the F. retusa, but the retusas have smaller leaves and IMHO look more interesting.

I've been using Miracle Grow on all my trees. I've simply been following the package instructions, feeding once a week. I've been very lucky in that I'm not getting hit too badly by bugs. Maybe it's because when I see aphids, I knock them off individually with jets of water whenever possible. I keep my eyes open for weeds and manually pull them if I see any. I do my best to keep my garden area free of freeloaders while trying hard not to poison the good guys.

The good guys in my garden are the fence swift, the assassin bug, the lacewing, the spider. I love all of them! Aaron enjoys catching the occassional bug, but I ask him to treat them all with respect and regard. He likes to keep bugs for a day or two, then he'll release it. A few weeks ago he caught this HUGE grasshopper. Now I'm sure it was only about 3-4 inches long, but I swear it looked a lot bigger. When Aaron released it, it hopped into the air and flew off. It's wingspan was about the size of a small bird, and it flew around for a while before flying off over the canal. He caught a juvenile preying mantis and asked to keep it until it grew to adult size. It looks like a regular Chinese preying mantis, so I let him keep it. He hunts beetles and other bugs to feed his mantis. He understands that his mantis needs to eat, but at the same time he treats the little bugs with about as much respect as you can expect to treat a soon to be meal.

Some new pots were added to my Etsy account you should check it out: http://gomezvi.etsy.com

Tuesday was Allyson's Birthday. I came home to find an aquarium full of angelfish eggs on both sides of the aquarium. The angelfish had formed two seperate breeding pairs. I bagged each pair separately, and made plans with George to drop them off. Unfortunately, Bernie made plans to go to Bookman's on the way to George's house. I insisted that the fish really really needed to get to George's house ASAP. Bernie insisted that we really really REALLY needed to get to Bookman's ASAP, as it was Allyson's Birthday, Bookman's was closing in 30 minutes, and that the fish would be okay. We went to Bookman's, and despite my constant prodding, we were in Bookman's for over 30 minutes. By the time we got to George's, one of the males was on the floor, very stressed. I thought we were gonna lose him. Fortunately George was able to revive him fully later on.

After going over to George's, I went over to Mishy's and picked up a bunch of finished pieces. We were in the neighborhood and we just sort of popped in. I was totally unprepared. I didn't drop off anything and I didn't have my lined box with me.

When we got home, we brought out the birthday cake and celebrated Ally's birthday. We got her a bunch of small items at Bookman's: some stamps, a sand castle making thingy, some other stuff that I don't remember. For those that don't know, Bookman's is a used book store. They also carry music, videos, video games, board games, comics, and small collectibles.

In case I forgot to mention, the Adenium obesum seeds I ordered last week came in the day before I left for San Diego . I hastily soaked the seeds for a few hours, then planted them in moist perlite in a covered Jiffy seed starter. I came home from San Diego to find about 40 had started to sprout, so I started to pot up the seedlings. Turns out there was close to 80 that had already sprouted. I was able to pot up about 66. I'll probably pot up the rest this weekend. Compared to my first batch of 100 seeds from the other source, I had a very miserable sprouting of about 25 in the first week. I looked at these first adenium seedlings while I was out there. On average, they only have about four leaves per seedling, but the stems are getting fat for their size.

The really nice thing about having two separate batch of seeds is I'm able to see the difference that a few weeks make. I really should take some pictures; the Adenium seedling start life with these chunky little trunks, definitely sturdy looking, yet they quickly grow into these even fatter trunks, ready for whatever harshness the desert environment might throw at them. The one thing that I have to watch out for is winter's frost.

LOL! Here I am, mid JULY. It's 110 today. On my mind is fall/winter. I start to think about what I want to do this for fall/winter. Phoenix bonsai club starts meeting again in mid Sept. There are seedlings that I want to order for next year. Seeds need to be ordered early enough so that I can plant them indoors by mid-winter and get a head start on next spring's growth. Pomegranates come into season in the fall and there will be fruits to purchase and more seeds to sow. My adeniums should be nice and fat by then; they'll require winter protection.

Of course I have lots to think about in the here and now. Some of the pieces that I picked up from Mishy were study pieces. The shells look mostly brownish, but you can sometimes make out a little yellow in some places. The technique I used of wiping off most of the brown that was applied gave the results I was looking for: the nooks and crannies in the shells were dark, but the raised portions remained light, thus bringing out the texture in the shells. I'm not seeing a lot of red, though. Perhaps it was overpowered by the brown, perhaps it melded with it and formed a darker, richer brown.

That's it for now

Wow what a weekend!

My sole remaining molly had a bunch of babies. The male died last week, so I suppose he did his life work before finally expiring. Looks like the angelfish have reconsidered their pairing; the breeding trio is no longer a trio. And it looks like one of the smaller angelfish who was previously left out of the spawning dance is now paired up with the large female. I have to watch them, but that's a bit difficult with my schedule. Too many projects going on for me to just sit in front of a fish tank.

Pfft. Anyone buying this line of bullshit- that I'm just *so* busy? HA!

Life is going at a full-tilt boogie, and I'm revelling in it. This is my house! I'm in my natural environment. Fishies are breeding cause they're just being natural. And I'm stopping right there before I go off on a tangent. Too early in the morning to dive into six inches of water, aka the deep end.

I didn't get a chance to do much with my clay over the long weekend. Let's be frank here; I did what I could with the glazes I have, but I'm running low on some glazes, ran out of a couple. I'm just waiting on my paycheck so I can buy more glazes. I did some study work on some bisque seashell impressions and my 'primitive' rolled impression. I used semi-transparent cocoa bean as a first layer. I then took a semi-moist sponge and removed most of the glaze, leaving the brown glaze in the nooks and crannies. I then used the semi-moist sponge to apply semi-transparent dragon red. Mostly on the raised portions. Finally, I highlighted with Sassy Yellow. Okay, maybe I did more than just highlight. I might have gotten a bit heavy handed with the yellow, but hey, this is why I'm calling it 'study work'. I can't wait to get this fired. I want to see how they turn out and if I can use this technique on other pieces. I did get a chance to glaze a few pots. Not many, but better than nothing.

Speaking of nothing, there was nothing holding me back from doing bisque work. I just didn't have it in me to do any clay work. Maybe I was a little down because I didn't have glazes. Perhaps I really was busy with other projects. Or perhaps I didn't have the energy. I have been really tired these last few days. My back is really hurting and I'm stiff everywhere. Yep, I haven't been working out. Need to get back into my workouts.

I did some work on my seedlings and cuttings. There were a few more Adeniums that sprouted so I potted them up. Also did some work on my pomegranate seedlings. Did I already mention that my ficus microcarpa have been doing very well? While doing some work on the pomegranates I had the water going. I noticed the Adenium seedlings are getting flooded. I also noticed that they don't seem to mind the flooding! Perhaps this is why they're getting so fat. Perhaps they're getting fat despite my overwatering. Perhaps they really shouldn't be watered so much, but the fact that they're thriving is testimony to their tenacity.

Bernie is never long on the compliments. If she likes something, she'll tell you it was 'okay', and then only if you prod her. If she really likes something, she'll suggest it as in 'maybe you could make that dinner tonight' or 'if you want, we could go there...'. I've never heard her say 'Victor, that dinner was fantastic' or 'I really enjoyed that show'. That's just her way. She considers it unnecessary to voice a compliment. Rather, if she likes something, she will show it through her actions. At least, that's how she explains it to me. Me, I can live for a week on a single compliment. I'm a sucker for flattery, and I live to serve. So when my pal, Lisa, invited us over for dinner on Sunday, I decided to bring her a bonsai. I grabbed one of my Fukien tea trees out of my garden and repotted it in my largest handmade pot. It was an egg shaped pot with bubble feet. The body was Blue Caprice crystal glaze and the feet were mosaic blue and dragon red, semi-transparent. I finished repotting, soaked it in, then showed my finished bonsai to Bernie. Her reaction: OH WOW!

Bernie's reaction took me by surprise. She wanted to keep it! I suppose she hadn't visualized my quirky little pots with bonsais. She thought they were a bit small, too lumpy and not very 'professional looking'. When she finally saw that brightly colored, quirky pot with the bonsai potted in it, she saw it. The lumps were personality, the quirkyness was expressiveness. The diminuative size of the pots exagerated the size of the bonsai itself. The funky, brightly colored bubble feet complimented the bright green colors of the tree. This was not a 'professionally' made pot, created in some factory. This was a single, expressive pot, created by an individual to be an individual. I took some pictures of the finished bonsai. I might post them later.

Fourth of July! We went to Glendale Community College to watch the fireworks display. It was over 110+, even after 8pm, and my back was hurting, so I was grumpy as all hell. There was a storm to the north and high winds, so there was talk about cancelling the fireworks display. Bernie finally had enough of my crap and told me she was just going home. I don't like seeing Bernie upset like that, so I had to talk her down. Hunter was getting hungry, so I suggested she park the car and feed Hunter. Then we could go home. She parked it and started feeding him. Me and the boys got out of the car and sat on the pavement. It was just too hot in the car, I explained. I got out the cooler, sat on the cooler, and drank some water that Bernie had packed for us. The wind blew hard enough to cool it down to about 90. 'At least it's cooling down a bit', I explained to Bernie. I sat there, watching the light show that nature was putting on. The storm to the north was producing some spectacular thunderheads with lots of lightning. I could see that it was raining about 12 miles away. I could faintly smell the rain, but I could also sense that rain was not heading our way. The sound of the outdoor concert being put on by GCC could be heard from our position in the parking lot. There was a grassy area to the north of us where TONS of people had assembled to watch the fireworks and enjoy this summer night. The smell of grilled meats mixed with the distant smell of rain. The parking lot was not crowded, but there was a number of people tailgating and hanging out as well. It was a hot, sultry, Arizona night. 'This beats sitting at home, doing nothing', Bernie called out from inside the car. She had finished feeding Hunter, and was bouncing him, trying to burp him. Suddenly, the lights in the grassy area went out. A cheer erupted from the gathered crowd. Our collective patience was about to be rewarded. I called out to Bernie, to come out and join us. I had not realized it, but the fireworks were going off in the field adjacent to the parking lot we were in. We were really really close to the fireworks, so they were bigger than life when they went off. The very first firework of the night was a great big one. We could feel the concussion of the explosives as each one went off. The display seemed to go on and on... and on. Bernie complained that her neck was hurting from looking up, so I got up and propped myself up behind her, cradling her neck in my arm so she could look up. It was definitely one of the better fireworks displays I have witnessed. Granted, it was nowhere near what I imagine goes on in New York , or the east coast, but I'll bet they don't have the lightning in the background that we had. And I'm positive that NOBODY in the USA has to brave such hostile heat as what you find in Arizona for the 4th of July.

Honestly, I would have preferred to be at home, doing nothing. My kids get older with each passing day, week, month, year. Sooner than I would prefer, they'll be done growing and they'll be leaving my house. I'll have lots of fourth of July's, where I'll be sitting at home, doing nothing. No, I'm not being melodramatic, nor is this thought necessarily depressing. Simply, I'm just stating the obvious: things are dynamic. Everything changes. What I'm trying to say is that you should enjoy the moment.

It's July 5th. The girls are still at Grandma's for one more week. I'll be leaving next Friday to pick them up. I'm looking forward to it. It's quite without the girls and I'm missing them.
More adenium sprouted; I now have about 36. I went out this morning to pot up the new sprouts. It was 88 at 7am. The older adeniums are definitely taking on a redish tone to the trunk.
I poked around my little garden, moved a few items that were just taking up space, and pulled a few weeds. It's a teeny, tiny grow area, but it's being very productive. I need to get more soil.
The ficus microcarpa cuttings are growing nicely. They're suddenly putting on lots of height! Maybe I'll do some initial training on some. The ficus retusa cuttings aren't showing the vigor of the microparpa, but they're not as old, either. I'd say they're doing pretty well, all things considered. As soon as I get some more soil, I need to pot up my retusas.
I did some more training on my pomegranates yesterday. It was later in the day and very hot, so I just grabbed them, brought them inside, and did some wiring and training at my leisure.
I finished up glazing a few more pots. I don't know when I'm taking them to Mishy's, sometime next week maybe? I ran out of my favorite glazes, so I'm heading out to the ceramic shop to pick some more up.
That's all I have for now. BTW- at 9am, it's already 95f. Supposed to get to 105. Woot!

I just got back from Mishy's. I was dropping off and picking up. I dropped off all the dragon pieces I worked on last week. Out of the seven glazed pieces, six survived. I lost a giant 'Mog', done in agate. It looked good. And by 'looked good' I mean good and broken!
There was about a dozen bisque-fired pots and another dozen or so 'misc' pieces. There's some shells here, some rollers there.
My girls are at Grandma's house in San Diego . I sent them off last week for a couple weeks. I thought it was important that they spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa. There's never enough time to do things that Grandma wants to do when we visit San Diego . So much to do, so little time to do it. Now Grandma has the time to do things with the girls. It's the little things that are important. Sure, they're spending a lot of time in the swimming pool. And yeah, they're spending lots of time visiting their Great-Aunt and Great-Uncle and the rest of their extended family in San Diego . But more importantly, they're doing all sorts of little things with their Grandma. My cousin, Estela, and my uncle, Cacho, both think that Chelsea is the spitting image of me. At twelve years old, Chelsea is already taller than most of her extended family. At least the family on my side.
We're planning on going out to San Diego for the July 11 weekend. We're going out to pick up the girls and spend some time with Grandma. I want to take the boys to Lego Land , or some place special. The way I figure, the girls got to spend 2 weeks with Grandma, it's only fair that the boys get to do something fun as well.
I made some more pieces featuring the dragon impression that Mishy let me borrow. I made some pots using my emu egg as a mold and impressing the outside with the dragon. Those look interesting, I can't wait to see them once they're finished.
What else do I have? Oh, it's HOT! Hotter than hot, hot! I'm off for the next three day. I'd take off to Mexico, or Hawaii, or some other land of ice cold beers and tasty seafood, but I'm broke! Oh well, I'll just lay low and work on my pottery, mess with my bonsai and what-not.

Growing Bonsai in Phoenix , Arizona

The growing of bonsai in Phoenix Arizona poses some very unique challenges. The extreme desert conditions means that a lot of the 'classic' bonsai subjects have absolutely zero chance of growing here. Summer temperatures of +115f in the summer are common. Winter temperatures can drop to below freezing. What this means is that tropicals need to have winter protection from frosts. Below is my short analysis of tree material that I have used, or have contemplated using Juniper- very popular bonsai subject. Grows very well in the Phoenix heat, and is not at all bothered by the low winter temperatures. Strongly recommended as a bonsai subject. Japanese Maple- Very popular bonsai subject, very beautiful classic bonsai subject. Does poorly in the desert heat. Not recommend for use in Phoenix Trident maple- Popular classic bonsai subject. Does a bit better than Japanese maple in high desert heat. Needs protection from the summer sun, keep as shady and cool as possible. Japanese black pine. Popular classic bonsai subject. Can tolerate high temperatures found in Phoenix , but should be kept well shaded. Crabapple- Popular classic bonsai subject. Will tolerate high summer temperatures, but provide lots of shade and try to keep as cool as possible. All literature on this subject indicates that this subject should be given a period of freezing temperatures. Keep well watered, do not allow to dry out. Very beautiful flowers and fruits. Deserves more research on it's use is recommended. Pomegranate- Popular classic American bonsai subject. This is a Mediterranean tree, so I do not know if it is used in Japanese bonsai. This subject does extremely well in Phoenix . Tolerates high summer temperatures, and does not mind the ocassional winter frost. Fast grower. Highly recommended for use in Phoenix . Olive- Popular classic American bonsai subject. Another Mediterranean tree that also will do extremely well in Phoenix . This tree seems to thrive in the high desert heat and is not bothered by the occassional frost. Not enough good things can be said about this tree, it is fantastic! Highly recommended for use in Phoenix . Ficus- Very popular bonsai subject. Ficus benjamina, retusa, microcarpa, nerifolia all do extremely well in the Phoenix heat. Keep well watered. Protect from winter frost. Can be kept indoors, but will require lots of light. Cuttings take well. Highly recommended for use in Phoenix . Chinese elm- Very popular bonsai subject. This is a semi-tropical that can go evergreen, depending on conditions. Requires plenty of light. Keep well watered. Tolerates lots of abuse. Protect from winter frost. Recommended for use in Phoenix . Bougainvillea- Not a well known bonsai subject. Fairly well known for it's papery 'flowers'. I remember this shrub from my days in Hawaii as a tenacious, fast growing shrub. It will grow back from a stump with very little if any roots. As a tropical, it tolerates the high Phoenix summer temperatures, even thriving in it. Give lots of water, light, and fertilizer and you will have a monster grower.