Nice! You're quite the 'butcher'!

By the way, is that the meaning of your moniker? ;)
Plant chopper? Or lead/chief pruner? Or does it refer to some secret cannibal troop that we don't know about in the world outside of the jungle....? ;)

Josh

Awwwww thanks Josh LOL!!! I came up with that when I couldn't get back in under my old name/password. I've been working with bonsai for over 25 years now, I've grown, taught, given lots of classes and workshops, etc..

I'm trained as a commercial artist/graphic designer and I've got the curse/gift of being able to 'see' things, being able to 'visualize'. There were times when a few of us in the local society or in other places would give a demo and the others wanted to talk and fuss around, not begin on the tree. I had already 'seen' what it should look like on most occasions and would step in after a while and have the b**** to make the first big cut...hence.

Of course over the years I have also made some big and sometimes very funny mistakes, usually in front of a number of spectators...goes with the territory. You just take a quick look and go to design #2.

Both Jasmine were picked by 'feel' because very little of the actual tree could be seen. The cascade Ficus was growing vertical. We fought it out of the pot, bagged it then everyone laughed when I had the woman help me turn it upside down, I'd already run it through the graphic analizer in my mind and knew it was the right thing to do with it.