This painting was submitted by John Burrows of Burrows Art. The paintings on John’s site are oils, so I assume this is also an oil painting.
Feel free
I’ve decided to critique each entry before I decide on a winner. Feel free to disagree (or agree) with my comments. Just remember that it is not my intention to offend anyone.
First the good news
I find the overall feeling of John’s painting (above) to be harmonious and pleasing (the same goes for the paintings on his site), and I think the suggestion of rain ads fluidity and a sense of environment.
Continue reading ‘Contest Critique #1: Slanting in the Rain’
You can view this forest and other bonsai paintings by Kim Straus at Artist/Rising.
Take your time, but hurry up!
Paintings, drawings, digital art, bonsai tattoos; the choice is yours. But don’t wait (and miss your chance for widespread fame and even better, a fifty dollar gift certificate to Stone Lantern), there are only three days left.
Don’t be afraid
Respect and admiration await, so don’t be afraid. You can submit the link to your masterpiece (or hack job – I like a good joke) in the comments below.
I wonder what it tastes like…
I lifted this mind stopping image from Michelle Dougherty’s Bunjin Journal. For some of us, the image alone speaks volumes (a picture is worth a whole bunch of words). For others, it opens the door to a discussion that, before it plays out, may generate more words than anyone cares to count. If you are one of those others, check out Bunjin Journal and The Art of Bonsai Project for some in depth ruminations.
Thumbs up!
Every since I stumbled upon Michelle’s blog, I look forward to her posts. I find her take on bonsai and art refreshing and even daring at times (sorry for the set up Michelle), if occasionally little whimsical (I think that comes with the daring part). And even though I did refer to to her paint-by-numbers bonsai as ’silly’ (a choice of words I came to regret), I now count myself as a fan. If Michelle’s and Andy’s collaboration catches your fancy, take a peek at her blog and let me know what you think.
One year later
Part one showed how to encourage tertiary and quantiary branching. This post shows how to establish of the next layer of branching (quintary?). The illustrations are from our Juniper book.
Quantiary?
In the bonsai world, it’s not unusual to hear or see primary, secondary and tertiary when it comes to branching. I’m not sure you’ll ever hear quantiary or quintary (or beyond). When it gets to that point, what you’ll normally hear is twigs, fine branching, delicate ramification, or some variation on those themes.
This Limber pine (Pinus flexilis) is going to stay put right where it is. Photo by Andy Smith, from the home page on Andy’s Golden Arrow Bonsai.
Andy Smith
Andy Smith is a bonsai artist and professional woodsman who specializes in collecting trees from nature. Though I’ve only met Andy once, and have never been collecting with him, I can say with some degree of certainty, that Andy knows what he’s doing when it comes to collecting and caring for yamadori. If you would like to learn how to collect the right way, check out Andy’s DVD, How to Collect Wild Trees. Andy also has a DVD on styling collected trees that’s entitled Finding the Bonsai Within, Ponderosa Pine Wiring Techniques, Working with Difficult Trees. Andy lives in Deadwood South Dakota.
Continue reading ‘Deadwood South Dakota: Yamadori part 1′
As you can see, this tree by Zhuang Weijun is the Grand Winner of the World Bonsai Friendship Federation’s 2009 Bonsai Photo Contest. I was very taken with this tree as well as the runner ups, and several of these entrants. As far as ascertaining the types of trees and other pertinent information (with the exception of the artist’s names and countries), maybe you’ll have better luck than I.
Needle juniper pinching
These drawings describe a ramification (branching) process for a Needle juniper. The techniques may be applied to other junipers and in some cases, to other types of trees. The drawings are from our Juniper book.
In the top drawing there are only secondary branches. These are allowed to grow and strengthen (second from the top) and are then (third) pinched back and wired (while they are still quite flexible). The pinching back encourages new buds which become new shoots. Then these new shoots are allowed to grow and strengthen (forth) before they are pinched again and the wire is removed (fifth). In the last drawing the new shoots are once again pinched and wired. I don’t think you could do this third pinching if you live where the growing season is very short (like here in northern Vermont).
Is pinching energy balancing?
Energy balancing is usually thought of as techniques to discourage growth in strong areas of trees and encourage growth in weak areas. However, in a broader sense, you could say that any pruning or pinching involves energy balancing. To quote our original post on energy balancing (way back in February); “Whenever you prune, trim or pinch, you are redirecting energy. If you remove a branch the energy (primarily water, gases and nutrients) that would have flown into that branch goes somewhere else.”
Pinching to encourage fine branching
In this case, pinching is used to encourage fine branching. Rather than just letting the secondary shoots continue to elongate, you pinch them back. Every time you pinch, you push the energy down a little. This encourages new buds to form just below where you pinched. These new buds become new shoots and eventually new fine branches. If you look at the illustrations above you can see how two more generations of shoots have developed on the secondary branches in one growing season.
Stay posted for the second season of pinching a Needle juniper.
From left to right: unidentified grass, Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii), flowering ‘Nippon Bells’ (Shortia uniflora) companion plant, suiseki (viewing stone), another unidentified companion, and a very stately Needle juniper (Juniperus ridgida). By Masao Komatsu.
Group displays
Each group display in this post is by a single artist. Each display shows mastery in two art forms: bonsai and bonsai display. The photos come from an article by Saburo Kato in Bonsai Today issue 43.
Continue reading ‘Master’s Gallery #2: Group Displays’
This Weeping eastern white pine (Pinus Strobus ‘Pendula’) is from Shin-Boku Nursery in Wentworth NH. It’s pretty impressive as is, but if you wanted to turn it into a very large bonsai, you might want to cut off (or air-layer) everything above the large first branch on the left (the branch that’s about even with her left hand).
Shin-Boku Nursery
We mentioned Shin-Boku a few posts back when we were discussing some Cole’s prostrate hemlocks. It’s worth mentioning again if you like landscape trees that look like bonsai, as well as some great potential bonsai. Here’s a couple more trees just to give you an idea of what they are up to.
Continue reading ‘Shin-Boku’s Very Big Bonsai’
This Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata) is from Classic Bonsai of Japan (Nippon Bonsai Association: Kodansha America, Inc.). The Japanese name for yew is Ichii. It’s was said to be two hundred years old when this photo was taken. As you can see at a glance, it’s a very powerful old twin trunk tree with great balance and contrasting aged deadwood and bark that add interest and character. Also, it’s not highly refined in the way that some Japanese bonsai tend to be (go here, here and here for more discussion on this issue). Rather, its look is rugged and natural. Overall, it’s a worthy bonsai to kick off our masters’ gallery series.
Masters’ Gallery
This new series will focus on trees that I think are worthy of being called masterpieces. Though there are no absolute standards for determining the best bonsai, there are things you can look for. From both sides: things that detract from a trees power, beauty and character and things that give it those qualities. I look forward to reading your comments.
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