Whatever it is, it’s wonderful. We just featured this ‘bonsai’ in our last post. Turns out it’s a fabulous fake. Or, maybe fake isn’t the right word. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that it’s a wonderful clay representation of a bonsai. The artist is Paul Finch, according to Nik Rozman.
Running behind today so we’ve dipped into our archives and come up with this hodgepodge post from January 2012. Some dated events were removed for obvious reasons. Some unnecessarily wordy copy was also removed.
Before and after. It helps to start with great stock. Still, it takes a skilled hand to successfully tackle such powerful tree. The skilled hand belongs to Marco Invernizzi. It’s a Japanese black pine. It’s from the ‘before and after’ section of Marco’s website.
Bonsai Tonight. This sweet Kifu shimpaku is from Bonsai Tonight. Rather than say more, I’ll just encourage you to visit this exceptional blog for yourself.
There’s something afoot in Nebraska. The Nebraska Bonsai Society website looks pretty good. Maybe there’s something afoot in the great state of Nebraska.
This book is the best tree book I’ve ever seen and almost the only tree book I ever use (I even read it for entertainment). It features over 700 varieties with over 2,000 color photos. It’s chock full of great info, including identification tips, range maps, abundant general info on trees and tree identification. And it has a waterproof cover! It’s a remarkable deal at 19.95 and an even more remarkable deal at Stone Lantern’s low price of 17.95.
For those of us who make mistakes. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth at least one more mention: Andy Rutledge’s thoughtful and thought provoking Artistic Foundations of Bonsai Design is work a look. In fact, it’s worth repeated looks. The photos above are from a section titled ‘Compositional Mistakes.’
San Antonio. I don’t know why San Antonio popped into my mind, but it did. Here’s what I found after a five second search. I couldn’t tell how current the site is, but it’s a start if you’re interested.
Just a little taste. The two spreads below are from the tree book (above).
I love before and after photos – they inspire me and help to try and envision the future for my trees. They also show that a tree is real (unlike the one at the top of this post).
Wayne,
Thank you for your mention of the San Antonio Bonsai Society.
For anyone looking for more information on us, please view our newest website at http://www.sanantonio.bonsai.org.
Hi Ryan
You are welcome. It was actually several years ago that San Antonio popped into my mind (that part of the post was a reprint) but I’m glad to hear the link is still active and that your society is going strong.