Congratulations to EBPC member Martin Englert of GermanyEvery year in Japan, shohin lovers gather in Kyoto for the annual Gafu ten exhibition. An important part of this event is the prestigious shohin bonsai pot competition, which before 2019 only one 'Gaijin' or foreigner had entered. An incredible feat in itself, Martin was accepted to participate in this year's competition. He travelled to Kyoto with his entry of this display of three painted porcelain pieces as seen below. The judges was obviously very impressed with these fantastic pieces and honoured Martin's entry with a 2nd place award.  Two of the entries can be seen in greater detail below. The attention to detail, fine brush strokes and most of all originality such as can be seen on closer inspection.  These unique individual works are time consuming and hence made in low volumes. Keep an eye out in the EBPC store throughout 2019 for Englert Keramik pots and other great European bonsai pots, and check out Martin's potter profile!
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A new top level exhibition in Madrid!Spain is one of the leading European countries in the field of bonsai. This November 2018 marks the 1st ABE National show in Madrid, Spain and the EBPC are proud to be ABE member and have been invited to attend and support European Bonsai & its Pottery in Spain.  The show will host some of the best bonsai trees from Spain and around Europe. There will also be a large display of bonsai pots in the main arena courtesy of one of Europe's leading collectors, Javi Campos Juan. This display will include antique pots from China and Japan, together with more modern examples. In addition there will be demonstrations, workshops and talks by leading artists such as; Koji Hiramatsu, Marco Invernizzi, Jan Culek, Rafa Torres and EBPC member Jose Antonio Guerao.
EBPC Info StandThe EBPC will have an Information / trading space at the exhibition and will be running various games with pots as prizes! EBPC members Maria Jose Gonzales and Guerao bonsai pots are also both involved in the exhibition, and we look forward to seeing them and more superb from these great artists.  EBPC Sponsor TrophyWe are very proud to have been asked to judge for the category of 'Best Chumono Conifer'. The winner will be awarded with this beautiful trophy made by EBPC member Maria Jose Gonzales.
If you are attending this great event, please come and say hi! We look forward to seeing you there! If not, we will get as many photos as possible! Thank you, Alex More information can be found on the ABE website here. #MareaABE #CongresoABE #EuropeanBonsaiPotterCollective #EBPC 9th Heathrow Bonsai Show 2018 Heathrow Show started as a club level show, catering for local bonsai clubs. Over the past 9 years, it has grown into the U.K.'s largest and most popular show with around 35 bonsai clubs from around the U.K. taking part and displaying trees. EBPC Trading & tree display for Maidstone B.S.The EBPC has supported this show since we formed in 2016, and with over 200 pots and 28ft of trading space, we were sure to arrive early as setting up takes quite some time. Heathrow show has a large main room for the exhibition and tree sales, and another room for traders of pots and dry goods.  As always the EBPC pots proved extremely popular and some superb pieces were snapped up by customers old and new. Some great new pots were also collected from some of the potters, which will be available in the EBPC shop soon. I was also display trees with Maidstone Bonsai Society. Below are a few of my trees in our display, including my Olive which took joint 1st place in the exhibitor's vote. (The other joint 1st went to another Maidstone club member, Dean, with his beautiful Kokonoe Pine that can be seen behind.)
 Below are the final results. For more photos, please visit Swindon Bonsai Club's blog here.  Bonsai San, one of Europe's largest & most enjoyable shows has once again surpassed itself! This is certainly one of the highlights of the year for me. This picturesque and historic town of Saulieu, is in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, south-east of Paris and was built on the crossing of two Roman roads, and the surrounding countryside is a pleasure to behold. The venue is superb! Everything (except demonstrators) is in one very large room (an ex cattle market!) which makes for a wonderful atmosphere, and this show to me, is the most 'friendly' I have been to. Natural light floods in from the roof windows providing the perfect setting for the display of trees and pots! The EBSS Trophy for; Best European pot and tree combination'
The award was won by Jean-Paul Polmans with this wonderful Carpinus Coreana, in a superbly matched pot by Bryan Albright. We felt that the pot complimented the tree perfectly without overpowering it. The masculine trunk with delicate well ramified tips go superbly with the soft incised corners of an otherwise more masculine shaped pot. The harvest glaze also brings harmony to the light tones of the tree.  As he couldn't make it to the show, the trophy was awarded by Alex Rudd of the EBPC to Danny Use on Jean-Paul's behalf. Danny was also awarded a trophy himself for his enormous contribution to the show, including displaying a few trees from his incredible private collection, such as this approx. 2 meter wide Seigen Maple in the largest (Derek Aspinall) pot you have ever seen!
EBPC Trade StandThe EBPC was also trading at our usual great spot - and had over 200 pots for sale by 30 of Europe's most accomplished bonsai potters.  We were accompanied at the stand by EBPC potters; Tom Benda, Sami Amdouni and Pierre Rousseau, all of whom brought many incredible new pieces for EBPC customers! As well as these guys, I must extend a big thank you to everyone else that helped out as well, including amongst others; Mark & Ming, and Richard & Marilyn, and to our many customers for their ongoing support of the EBPC and European Bonsai Pottery.  New pots!!!Some fantastic new pots were also selected for the EBPC shop and there are many that will be added very soon! Below for example are a few of the pots Sami Amdouni brought with him. Sami's work is constantly improving and his attention to detail and mastery of glazes is very impressive. ... Whilst we improve the shop, and add all the fantastic new pots, the EBPC online shop is now closed but will be open again very soon! Some of the trees in European pots we likedThank you to all those that made it possibleA huge thank you goes out to the organisers Fred and Stephanie, and their fantastic team for all the hard work and passion involved in creating such a wonderful event for European bonsai enthusiasts. It is shows like this, that show off European bonsai at its best, which keep the art alive and booming. If you haven't yet been, then a visit next year is strongly advised, and we look forward to seeing you then!
Trophy for best 'European Bonsai Pot / Tree combo'We are thrilled and honoured to be supporting the Bonsai San 2018 exhibition in France this October. In addition to trading some of Europe's best pots, we are also contributing to the Tombola raffle, and presenting the trophy for 'Best European Pot / Tree Combo'. The trophy is now finished and these great pictures from designer Nino in Croatia show the trophy off in all its glory. Nino does a lot of design work for Harry at Bonsai4Me.com and for the EBPC and as always, has risen to the challenge and smashed all expectations!
EBSS (Bonsai San) has grown to become a leading European bonsai show, and one not to be missed. The friendly, open atmosphere, combined with a high level of trees and traders makes this a truly wonderful show! We wish the best of luck to, and thank everyone entering trees into the exhibition, and allowing the public the opportunity to see such great trees.
A huge thank you to Nino and Harry, and also to Fred & Stephanie for organising and hosting European Bonsai San Show! You do a phenomenal job! We look forward to seeing you all there! Me & Raimondi of Slovenia - First rate bonsai ceramists!
The EBPC is proud to announce new members to the Collective; Me and Raimondi. You can find out all about them in their EBPC POTTER PROFILE, which also shows examples of some of their fantastic work.
A video showing Me & Raimondi branch pots under construction...
 Own a piece of bonsai History ...A unique opportunity has arisen, whereby the first ever Western entry allowed into a top Japanese competition is now available to purchase. Andrew Pearson of Stone Monkey Ceramics, U.K., was invited to enter a display into the Modern Pot Competition Gold Award at the 40th Gafu Ten in 2015, and this display took Gold! This Gafu-ten winning entry is now available for sale as a set. More information can be seen here on the Stone Monkey Ceramics website page ,or please message me (Alex) or Andrew of Stone Monkey Ceramics.     The EBPC are delighted to support EBSS in Saulieu, France
If you have not yet been to Bonsai San, you may well have heard about the superb level of the quality of the trees on display. You have probably been told about the incredible friendly atmosphere, and the great open plan layout. If you haven't yet been to Bonsai San, then perhaps this year you should?!
The EBSS trophy for 'Best European pot / tree' - sponsored by the EBPC
The trophy is a 3D design standing 30cm tall, and is a composite of dark wood and light wood with acrylic between.
Bonsai San Raffle
Bonsai San also offer a 'Tombola Raffle' each year, with some wonderful prizes.
One of these prizes, donated by the EBPC, is this set of two Bonsai Pots made by celebrated French potter, Sami Amdouni & an EBPC Polo Shirt.
Visit the EBPC at our trade stand!
A 30ft EBPC trade stand again awaits you with delights from 30 of Europe's best potters. Please come along, meet some of the potters & help support European bonsai pottery with us.
Below are a few pictures from the EBPC stand 2017. 
We look forward to seeing you there!!
Auction Raku pot for Macmillan Cancer SupportThis weekend another successful bonsai weekend workshop was hosted by a friend & club member, Les & family - where over £1000 has been raised so far for Macmillan Cancer Support. The EBPC is proud to donate the proceeds of this auction to the current total raised, so if you would like to bid, the auction can be found here. The auction ends Thursday 6th September, 2018. The pot is a Raku fired piece, made by one of Europe's leading bonsai potters, Andrew Pearson of Stone Monkey Ceramics. It has a wonderful crackle glaze in teal, and bears the EBPC stamp in addition to the Stone Monkey Ceramics stamp, and makes a wonderful addition to any pot collection. Please note Raku fired pots are not frost proof, yet with a little care are very useable bonsai pots. A care sheet will also be provided to the winner.
The bonsai workshop was busy again, and some great trees were worked on over the two days. A variety of games and raffles were also arranged, with many local businesses around Ashford kindly donating raffle prizes. In addition to raising money for a great cause, a fun weekend was had by all.
We are very proud & excited to welcome a wonderful new member to the EBPC - Guerao.
An superb European bonsai potter, passionate about classical Japanese design and form, and experienced & knowledgeable with trees too. Read the EBPC 'Potter Profile' for this wonderful artist here. .. A selection of his works are available to buy in the EBPC online store here. |
AuthorArticles are written by Alex Rudd unless otherwise stated. Archives
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