A Shimpaku Juniper in May. Wiring the Back Branches and Styling the Branch Pads, with the autumn display stand already held in mind. Removing Dead Foliage (Toya), working through a Restyling in which the front face is reversed, all the way to the Crown — within that very first wrap, passing between the leaves, autumn has already begun.
May 10th. Styling work on the Shimpaku Juniper moves to the Back Branches. In this season — when Dead Foliage (Toya), those yellowed leaves, just begin to show — we want to keep as much foliage as possible. Because the autumn display is already taking shape in the mind, right now.
Where to place the Back Branches is actually simple: they should settle into the spaces between the front branches — that one principle is enough to begin. The more complex judgments come after.
Weaving past the foliage, feeding wire into each slender branch one by one. That very first wrap determines the direction of the branch, and settles the line of the Branch Pad. Whether the wire enters from below or above changes the wrapping direction — and that decision is already made before the first wrap begins.
Rushing changes nothing. The care you put into the first wrap is exactly what the rest gives back to you. At the tip where the wire ends, finish with a gentle, enveloping touch. Never overtighten.
When four small branches line up together, we do not keep them all. Thin them a little so the Branch Pad line sits cleanly. Keep the buds close to the base, cut the tips — the judgment of what to let go is what determines the silhouette of the Branch Pad.
The same applies to Jin. Strip the bark from the branch cut last time, and taper the tip just slightly. While refining the tree's present form, the fate of its deadwood is being shaped at the same time.
This Shimpaku Juniper still carries the marks where old wire cut in. It is a tree in the middle of a Restyling — one where the front face is being reversed. Working around those marks, wire is introduced into new areas.
This is not a rejection of past work. Those marks are evidence of the time given to this tree. The fact that the Back Branch sits at a sufficient height — that is the very reason this Restyling can rebuild the Crown.
Once the front lines are brought together into a dome shape, the space behind is filled in. Only when the Crown is cleanly resolved does one reach the part of the craft that is said to mark a true professional — and that is where this Restyling is headed. The figure that will stand on the autumn display stand has already begun, in this very moment today.
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