The 7th British Shohin Association Show was held at Willowbog Bonsai near Hexham in Northern England on 8th & 9th March 2014. The Show attracted exhibitors from all over the United Kingdom, many travelling several hours to stage their exhibits and enjoy a weekend with like minded people. All our shows have been held at Willowbog Bonsai thanks to the hard work over the years by Peter and Jean Snart, who turned their bonsai nursery into an exhibition area where we staged up to 50 displays of Mame, Shohin and Chuhin.
The standard of exhibits this year was the highest we have yet achieved, proving that competitive displays over a number of years do raise the standard in the hobby. We are only a small association of some 45 members from around the United Kingdom and overseas.
Our objective is to raise awareness of small size bonsai trees within the UK over a number of years.
Displays started to be assembled on the Friday afternoon and judging commenced on Saturday morning. During the weekend, our guest for the event, Valentin Brose from Germany, carried out demonstrations on Juniper itoigowa and a show critique. He was ably assisted by the BSA Chairman John Armitage and Vice Chair Peter Warren throughout the event with workshops and critiques
On the Saturday evening we held our general meeting of the Association, followed by our customary meal and light hearted auction of donated bonsai related items which raises the money to cover our costs of staging the event.
The awards in each category featured a certificate of merit for the runner-up and a certificate and trophy for the winner. The results were as follows:
Work in Progress
Winner Simon Haddon – Buxus Certificate of Merit Ray Coloumbe – Larch
Tree/pot Combination
Winner Les Storey – Flowering Cherry Certificate of Merit John Brocklehurst – Oriental Bittersweet
Artistic Display
Winner Bill Gordon – Hinoki Cypress Certificate of Merit Graham Walker – Pinus sylvestris
Mame Display
Winner Simon Haddon Certificate of Merit Fiona Wallace
Chuhin Display
Winner Ian Stewardson Certificate of Merit Mark & Ritta Cooper
Certificate of Merit Tony Franklin
Small Shohin Display
Winner John Brocklehurst & Peter Tombs Certificate of Merit Andy Hardman
Large Shohin Display
Winner John Armitage Certificate of Merit Mark & Ritta Cooper
Individual Tree display
Winner Mark & Ritta Cooper Certificate of Merit John Pitt
The weekend was a great success, involving many people without whom the event would not take place, including catering, stewarding and those staging trees and displays.
Walsall Studio Ceramics and Ian Baillie were present selling bonsai and accent pots, adding another dimension to the event.
Finally we would like to say a special thank you to Peter and Jean Snart for all the preparation work they put in prior to the event and for being our hosts for the excellent weekend show
Photos from the event can be found on our Flickr site.
