Shape Shifting by Robert Steven

r1ba

Before and after by Robert Steven. The tree is a Casuarina that originally belonged to Ismail Saleh and now belongs to Robert. Here's part of what Robert wrote about this transformation... "I changed the viewing angle, squeezed the dead part close to the living part then reset the foliage pads. Sooner or later the dead part will rot, then I should redesign the composition again"

Here’s a little history from Robert about this famous tree… “The Legend ! This is one of the oldest Casuarina bonsai in Indonesia which has been going through a long path of transformation and survival, yet still keeps changing due to physical conditions, especially the bark which is rotting out”

It belonged to the late Ismail Saleh, the Father of Indonesia Bonsai, the Founder of ASPAC and ABFF, who gave to me to be taken care before he passed away. Bonsai is truly a never ending art !”  Scroll all the way down for a much earlier shot of this amazing tree

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R1AFTER

After, a closer look

 

R2AFTER

An older photo of the same tree. I don't know if this shot was taken before or after it came to Robert. Nor do I know how many years passed between this shot and the photos above. You can visit Robert's on fb for more

.

 

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Monster Mash

halloween

Bud Fulton sent us this scary photo. He took it at the North Carolina Bonsai Expo in Asheville. We don't know who the tree belongs to, but we do know it's a yew (Taxus) and that it suits our annual Halloween post to a tee. Just got this note from Bill Valavanis... "The Japanese yew belongs to Jim Doyle who also displayed it at the 2018 6th US National Bonsai Exhibition"
Just in case you live in a cave (or in a place where October 31st has no particular significance), today is Halloween. Time to break out some scary trees…
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DDDD1At first glance you might just see the tree and the cobwebs and miss the hands. The photo is from Robert Steven’s 2014 International Bonsai Art & Culture Biennale

 

poisonivy-1You can look, but you better not touch. Poison Ivy bonsai by Nick Lenz, who, in addition to be one of our most talented bonsai artists, is also a master of the unusual. This photo appears in Nick’s book, Bonsai from the Wild (out of print)

 

DDD1Another one from Robert Steven’s 2014 International Bonsai Art & Culture Biennale. There’s something about those ‘severed’ arms that’s just a little ominous.  Is this where the  ‘Black Scissors’ idea got started?
tree4Do you see the little arms sticking up out of the soil?  The photo is from Nail Sari’s facebook photo album titled Chinese Bonsai Ever… No variety or owner is given
 B17Too disturbing? Or okay for Halloween? Another one from  Robert Steven’s 2014 International Bonsai Art & Culture Biennale
hallowee
An almost complete view of the haunted tree at the top of the post

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Two New Bonsai Books & One for the Ages

B1MINCOVER

Miniature Bonsai. Not only is this NEW Bonsai Book beautiful, but it fills a hole (a miniature hole). Unlike so many books in its price range, this one does not rehash the same tired beginner's book cliches. Every page is fresh, and even if you're an experienced old hand you'll learn something useful and be surprise at the delightful little trees. If you're not an experienced old hand, you'll enter a world of enjoyment and inspiration and you'll also be surprised at the delightful little trees. List price 16.95. Introductory Special Only 13.95

It’s not that often that we get two new Bonsai books the same day, though you might make the argument that Miniature Japanese Gardens is not a bonsai book (you’d only be half wrong). If I had to pick one for someone who knows a little bit about bonsai, I’d choose Miniature Bonsai. If on the other hand, I had to pick one for someone who knows very little about bonsai but likes to grow plants, I’d pick Miniature Japanese Gardens (or you could pick both…)

And if I wanted to treat someone who really knows bonsai (yourself for example), I’d scroll down and take a close look at Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees

 

B2MINCOVER

Miniature Japanese Gardens. This is the only book you'll find in both our bonsai and Japanese garden sections. In many ways, it's a lot like Miniature Bonsai. Same publisher (Tuttle) and same fresh new approach with vivid photos and clear text. A treat for yourself or anyone who likes to grow bonsai and other plants indoors. List price 19.99. Introductory Special Only 16.95

 

GNARLY BRANCHES, ANCIENT TREES
not new, but still among the very best

B1GNARLY21

Moving up a few notches to the Picasso of Bonsai…
We know some of you are planning ahead, and if you are and you’re looking for something for the bonsai lover who has everything, check out their bookshelf and if you don’t see Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees, there must be a big hole where it should be (this can also apply to your own bookshelf). Now, as always a great deal at 49.95
By agreement with the publisher, we cannot discount Gnarly Branches. That’s okay though, it’s worth every penny

 

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Harvey’s Brilliant Backyard Bonsai Garden

harveymain

Here's what Bill Valavanis has to say about Harvey Carapella's backyard bonsai garden... "Enjoy the colorful bonsai garden of Harvey Carapella. His outstanding private bonsai collection is a joy to appreciate, especially at this time of year. I'm quite proud of my friend's bonsai talent and accomplishments. WOW!" From Bill's timeline

It’s a small world…. It turns out that our Bonsai Star for the Day, Harvey Carapella is an old friend of a good friend of mine here in Vermont. It’s not a bonsai connection, just one of those serendipity type things.  When we discover these kinds of connections, my question always is… how often do we miss them?

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harvey1

Bill's other shot of our Bonsai Star for the day's backyard

 

harvey

Harvey demoing what looks a lot like a Northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) at Bill's place. I lifted the photo from Bill's blog

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Before & After Bonsai – Three in One

all3BA

Three before and after bonsai styled by Juan Andrade. The trees are from top to bottom: Shimpaku juniper, Japanese black pine and a Needle juniper trunk with Shimpaku juniper foliage grafted on

Continuing with our current before and after series…
Juan Andrade served as a long term apprentice at Bonsai Aichien nursery in Japan. We’ve been following Juan’s progress for years (here’s a Bark post from 2012 that features a tree of his). Juan posts regularly on facebook, which is where we found these photos.

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see below

afterpine

This pine has a bunjin feel, but I think the foliage is too lush to qualify as bunjin. No matter what you call it, it's a good bonsai wit a lot of character. 
In case you are wondering what Bunjin is, there's a good discussion here.

aftershim

It's not in a pot yet, but if you look at the before photo above, you can see that it has come a long ways in the right direction

PINE & JUN BOOKS

All pines and junipers today,, so thought you might like to see these
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afterbunjin

This unusual beauty definitely qualifies as bunjin

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Before & After by Bonsai Boon with a Guest Appearance by Michael Hagedorn

b&a

Here's Boon's caption for this before and after... "Itoigawa shimpaku removed old needles, downward growth, rewired and reposition"

No bonsai is ever finished (unless it’s dead and then it’s no longer a bonsai anyway).  I don’t know how many trees Boon Manakitivipart (aka Bonsai Boon) has, but I know it’s a whole lot more than most of us

So what do you do when you have so many trees? Beyond basic care, like watering, feeding, treating for disease, insects etc? Well, one thing you do is spend some time bringing established bonsai back into shape, and if you have the talent, improving them in the process. But there’s more to the whens and hows of bringing them back into shape than you might think…
Continued below…

Two Great specials end tomorrow

specials ends this Sunday, Oct 28th at 11:59pm
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before

Before. This masterpiece Juniper has been allowed to grow for a while in order to regain its strength. Time to bring it back into shape

Continued from above…
If you keep pruning new growth back and never let it  just grow, you can damage your bonsai. Some years you might let it go a bit in the spring and trim it back into shape after it slows down. But once in a while it’s important to let it ‘run off leash’ Most beginners don’t know about this practice and run the risk of damaging (or worse) their bonsai (thanks to Michael Hagedorn, a student of Boon’s and someone who apprenticed in Japan, for the expression and the instruction on ‘running off leash‘

between

After trimming off excess growth

 

after

After wiring. Now it needs to be repotted at its new angle and fill out a bit and it'll be ready for big time. I don't know if Boon is going to wait a year to repot (some people don't do heavy trimming and repotting in the same year). If you stay posted to his timeline you might find out

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Beauty Doesn’t Always Conform to Our Expectations

b&a

Before and after European olive by Javi Campos Juan. Though it looks as though Javi has somehow managed to bend the trunk, perhaps all he has done is changed the planting and viewing angles. In any case, the improvement is striking

Continuing with our Before & After theme from the last few days…
You don’t often see Olives styled like this one; more like a conifer than an Olive. Regarding this, there is a good argument for styling in the way the type tree naturally grows. Trees that don’t conform to this standard often look unnatural

Still, I like this tree. True, at first glance I thought it was a conifer and was surprised when I read Javi’s Campos Juan’s caption which refers to it as Ullastre (Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris). But beauty doesn’t always conform to our expectations
Continued below…

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javiBefore

Before...

I’ve been following Javi Campos Juan and his impressive bonsai  for a while now (here’s a link to our first from August 2016). This post is a repeat (with some changes) of a post we did in February, 2017 from photos we found on Javi’s facebook timeline

 

javiCU

After. An impressive transformation

 

javi

The original uncropped after shot with companion

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Wild Plum Bonsai, Before & After

walter

Walter Pall's Wild plum (Prunus cerasifera) before and six years later

Continuing with our latest before and after series…
Walter Pall has long been a favorite of ours. Aside from his massive bonsai collection and his considerable skills in developing and maintaining that collection, Walter takes the time to walk us though step by step transformations with a series of sharpe uncluttered photos. And not just three or four photos. In this case there are upwards of fifty (that’s on the high side even for Walter, but he’s always generous in this regard). We’ll show you five photos here and encourage you to visit Walter’s timeline for the whole series

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cat

What's that cat doing?

 

after

After. Walter seems to be taking a fancy to red pots lately and I think it's becoming a bonsai trend after years of avoidance

 

specs

 

walter2

Walter and our subject tree, somewhere in the progression

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Before & After Bonsai – the Desire to Improve What Most of Us Might Settle For

KOJIB&A

Before and after Shohin pine by Koji Hiramatsu. No size or species is mentioned, but you can tell it is quite small and you might guess it's a Japanese black pine simply because it's a favorite in Japan and the after shot looks like it might be one

Continuing with another before and after, though moving way down in scale from yesterday’s monster. The photos are from Koji Hiramatsu’s fb timeline

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KPINE

I like this before version. Maybe that's what distinguishes the best bonsai artists; the desire to improve what many of us might settle for

 

KOJIBEFORECU

A close up of the trunk and the piece of deadwood that Koji decided to move up (see below). I can't tell if he removed it and glued it back on, or if he managed to lift it while it was still attached

 

KOJIAFTER

After. New pot and redesigned trunk and crown

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Godzilla Refines a Monster Bonsai – Before & After

B&A2

Before and after Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) by Todd Schlafer. The tree belongs to Mike Andrews. For the Godzilla reference, scroll down to the bottom of the post

Continuing with another before and after transformation by Todd Schlafer (see Oct 19th).
Here’s a quote by Mike Andrews (facebook)… “Progression of collected Rocky Mountain Juniper. Collected by Randy Knight, delivered to my house September 2016. Initial design and structure setting with Mauro in April 2017. Fertilized heavily and full sun 2017 and 2018 growing seasons resulted in very nice dense foliage. Finally detail wired and pad formation by Todd yesterday. Now to watch the tree develop next season…”

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TODDBEFORE

Before...

TODDAFTER

After...

TODDAFTER2cu

Close up of the deadwood circle. You can barely see a piece of the base of the trunk peeking through (lower left)

 

GODZILLA

Todd Schafler with his impressive accomplishment and his Godzilla T-shirt

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