Bonsai San, Saulieu 2018

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! 

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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!

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EBPC Trade Stand

The 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. 

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New pots!!! 

Some fantastic new pots were also selected for the EBPC shop and there are many that will be added very soon!
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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! 

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Some of the trees in European pots we liked

Thank you to all those that made it possible

A 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!