Beating a Dead(wood) Horse

gede

Flowing graceful lines with a minimum amount of foliage and a copious amount of masterfully carved deadwood. And though some people may take issue with this abstract, highly stylized type bonsai, to me this is sheer beauty. A delight to behold.

One misconception about highly stylized bonsai with extensive carved deadwood is that they violate some basic principle of bonsai and nature. The famous John Naka line “The object is not to make the tree look like a bonsai, but to make the bonsai look like a tree” is sometimes used to reinforce this view.

I think Mr Naka’s quote works for most people, but for me it might work even better if we took a little liberty and changed the “look like a tree” to “suggest a tree” (in nature). With this view the tree above works to perfection, and if you’ve ever hiked at high elevations, you just might agree.

There’s more to say about this topic but there’s no point in beating a dead(wood) horse.

I found the photo above here. No attribution and nothing about the tree either.

kimjun1This sculpted Shimpaku juniper is by Masahiko Kimura may lack some of the graceful simplicity of the tree above, but there is something outrageous and daring going on. Especially if you consider that at the time (about thirty five years ago) this type bonsai was revolutionary and that Kimura was the original master of the revolution. The photo is from our Masters’ Series Juniper book. There are also numerous examples of Kimura’s bonsai in The Magician, another Stone Lantern Masters’ Series book.

Given that we just mentioned two of our bonsai books, this might be a good time to also mention our Site Wide Sale (15% to 20% off everything) and our Free Shipping on U.S. orders 49.00 or more and reduced shipping on all other orders (more below). Just saying…

 

nakaJohn Naka, the dean of American bonsai. Mr. Naka was revered as a great bonsai pioneer and philosopher, and beloved teacher to numerous aspiring bonsai artists. I found this photo the same place as the one above.

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It’s a stunningly gorgeous Vermont day and good sense dictates that it’s time to get out and work on our bonsai and pull some weeds in the garden, but first, take a look at this!

yew

Harry Harrington's latest iteration of his English yew. Here's what Harry said about this tree : "Finally, work on my Taxus baccata/Yew bonsai completed with the branches wired and laid-out. Height 25"/61cm, trunkbase (inc root jin) 12"/30cm. Pot by Victor Harris of Erin Pottery." 

It’s a stunningly gorgeous Vermont day and good sense dictates that it’s time to get out and work on our bonsai and pull some weeds in the garden. So rather than taking the time to put together a new post, I’m going to show you one of my favorites from our archives (last November). It’s titled Evolution of Remarkable Bonsai.

I’ve been watching the evolution of Harry Harrington’s bonsai for a long time now. In fact, one of our first posts is from Harry’s bonsai4me (March 2009). Now, seven years later we have the (you can supply your own adjectives) tree shown here. It’s an English (aka European) Yew (Taxus baccata).

July2013

Here's the earliest shot of whole tree I could find. From July 2013. Harry writes: " Update of my Yew bonsai, 57cm in height. Carving is finished for the time being; I'll carry out more refinement work on the deadwood along with branch placement in the autumn."

 

july2013cuIn this July 2013 before and after close up, Harry finds a solution to some extraneous roots (taken just before the shot above).

 

Sept2013

Sept 213. Most of us would stop here. New pot would be good and a little time for the foliage to fill out, but otherwise finished. At the time, Harry agreed (only to change his mind later): "Fully styled Taxus baccata/Yew bonsai. Height 25"/61cm, trunkbase (inc root jin) 12"/30cm I'm very excited to see what pot Victor Harris at Erin Bonsai can come up with for it!"

 

2014

May 2014. In Harry's own words: "I finally photographed my Yew in its new pot by Victor Harris of Erin Pottery / Bonsai on Sunday; Taxus baccata/ Yew bonsai, styled during September 2013 and repotted last month. Height 25"/61cm, trunkbase (inc root jin) 12"/30cm."

 

yewcu

November 11, 2015. Harry again: "Update on the carving of my Yew bonsai (Taxus baccata) that I started last week. I've now refined, aged and lime-sulphured my initial work.
"The tree has settled down from its styling of 2 years ago, I have been able to establish the narrow live vein that meanders up the front of the trunk and carved the large panel of deadwood at the front of the tree.
All that remains now is to finish wiring and styling the foliage mass."

 

yewcu2

Another close up from November 11th, 2015.

 

yew

November 20th, 2015 again. The broken pot effect provides an elegant solution to the lopsided nebari.

 

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Keeping the Bonsai Vibe Cool in Rising Summer Heat

BJORN1

Here's what Bjorn Bjornholm wrote about this impressive root-over-rock (root-swallowing rock) bonsai. "Trident Maple after defoliation and subsequent second flush. The leaves are all pinky nail size or smaller."

Given all the publicity lately, you might think Bjorn Bjorholm is a rising bonsai superstar. A couple weeks ago we featured a post about Bjorn Bjorholm’s Online Bonsai Course and so far we’ve featured about a dozen posts on Bjorn and his bonsai.

All the photos in this post are from Bjorn’s facebook feed. You might also like to visit his website and Bonsai Empire’s site on Bjorn’s intermediate online bonsai course. And then there’s how we pay the bills…


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BJORN2Here's Bjorn's caption with this strongly tapered maple. "Chuuhin Japanese Maple keeps the vibe cool in the rising summer heat."
BJORN3Here's Bjorn on this higly stylize Hinoki: "For eight straight years I have had the privilege of adding to the evolution of this Hinoki Cypress at Kouka-en, however slight those changes may have been. This is truly what bonsai is about - consistency, foresight and an eye towards incremental increase in quality and aesthetic."

BJORN4

Bjorn presents quality bonsai and quality photos. A big plus and a tip for aspiring bonsai artists.

 

BJORN5

Just for a second I thought that was the bright blue sky. I like these type shots a lot. They enhance our appreciation of detail and of Bonsai as art.

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Black Pine, Red Wine & Suthin’s Great Bonsai Event

SWINE

Black pine, red wine. The essence of a good bonsai life.

What if Suthin Sukosolvisit was selling most of his magnificent bonsai collection and you weren’t there?

Well, Suthin is selling most of his magnificent bonsai collection and fortunately, you can be there. Royal Bonsai, Stoughton Mass, this coming weekend, June 25th & 26th. Buy your ticket. Gas up your car. Get out your bicycle and fill up the tires. Hitch up your horse. Put on your walking shoes and stick out your thumb. Whatever it takes.

As long we’re promoting our Suthin’s business
we might as well promote our own…

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Here are some photos I lifted from Suthin’s facebook feed. Just a taste of what you can expect this weekend.

S12

 

S10
S8

 

S3

 

SFLOWERS

 

S2

 

Swalter

That's the famous Walter Pall, European bonsai maven, holding the mike for Suthin

S1
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A Melancólico & Gracioso Walk Among the Bonsai

nacho1

This powerful and complex bonsai is the handiwork of Nacho Marin. It's a bit of a long story, but Bonsai Do* provided famous quotes in Spanish with photos of bonsai. The quote with this tree follows: El otoño es un andante melancólico y gracioso que prepara admirablemente el solemne adagio del invierno - Fall is a sad and graceful walk that admirably prepares for the solemn walk of winter. (George Sand).

Yesterday it was all Nacho. So we’ll keep the ball rolling in the same direction. This post originally appeared here in January 2015. It was titled ‘Un andante gracioso entre el Bonsai.

All the bonsai shown here are by Nacho Marin, as are the photos. For some reason, we haven’t featured South American bonsai artists much here on Bark (one exception being Nacho). Maybe you have some suggestions to help us remedy the situation.

*Bonsai Do’s facebook link seems to be defunct as does the link to Nacho’s original website (you can find Nacho on facebook)

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nachotray

Nice tray. Great tree. Perfect planting. It looks a lot like a juniper variety, but I can't be 100% sure. BTW: There are no junipers native to the Southern Hemisphere. This is surprising considering just how many types of junipers there are.

 

nacho

A potless pot? Or...?

 

nacho2

A front and a back? Or just two fronts?

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nachodraw

It's very helpful to be able to draw bonsai before you start styling. And though it's nice to be able to draw as well as Nacho, even primitive drawings are better than no drawings at all.

 

nachofirst

Though powerful Ficus bonsai are not that unusual, this one really jumped out during my daily facebook scroll.

 

nachobio

Here's a brief Nacho-bio I lifted from his website:
 Designer of civil works
 Professional photographer and teacher in the Venezuelan Photographers Society, recognized by the Professional Photographers of America
 Plastic artist
 Student of master Salvatore Liporace (2009)

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The wire and tool photo above is by Morten Albek, author of
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Michelangelo & Bonsai at Its Best

nacomain

I'm loving this tree. Even though we know it has been worked by human hands, the link to its natural state hasn't been lost at all. If anything it has been enhanced. Bonsai at its best! No variety is given, though it looks like a collected juniper.

Nacho Marin is someone who was already an artist when he discovered bonsai and who brought his vision, talent and experience to the art. And though people often say that we are all artists, still, most of us will never be Michelangelo,* no matter how hard we try…

The images shown here are all from Nacho Marin’s facebook photos. For more you can take a look at these Bark posts.

nacho2

This sleek bunjin style juniper is also a Nacho tree (as are the other bonsai shown here).

nacho3

Another remarkable juniper in a drum pot. The strange piece of deadwood at the base really pulls your eye. For a moment I thought it might be a piece of coral or lava.

NachoYFelipe

There's some great bonsai south of the border. That's Nacho on the right and Felipe Gonzalez on the left.

*I’m not saying that Nacho is like Michelangelo, but if we can call Dan Robinson the Picasso of Bonsai

 

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The wire and tool photo above is by Morten Albek
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published by Stone Lantern

Old Masters Bonsai Displays

mgalgrp8-1

Hornbeam (Carpinus laxiflora) forest on a slab and Shimpaku juniper on a spectacular rock. This image captures only half of a display by Grand Master Saburo Kato.

This post first appeared here in our earliest days (August, 2009). The displays themselves are from earlier (Bonsai Today issue 43, 1996). Our photo format is considerably larger now and I even cropped and enlarged a couple individual trees for closer views ( a little fuzzy, but might be helpful- see below). Otherwise, though bonsai keeps evolving, masterful bonsai is still masterful bonsai.

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.

 

mgalgrp2From 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.

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mgalgrp7The forest on a slab is a spruce (probably Ezo). That's a pine on the construction on the right. This display is by 'The Magician' Masahiko Kimura.
b1kato-mixed-forest1Here's a little bonus for you. It's from Saburo Kato's timeless classic and still one of the very best bonsai books anywhere: Forest, Rock Planting & Ezo Spruce Bonsai. And in case you're wondering why, that's Grand Master Kato's display at the top of the post.

 

closeupHere's the Shimpaku from the top. A little fuzzy but I've seen a lot worse.

closeup2

Another experiment in cropping and enlarging. The original image was smaller so it's even fuzzier than the one just above.

 

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Bonsai Magic at Night

kim-copyBlack pine in the black of night. From the collection of Masahiko Kimura (The Magician). 

There’s a lot going on here and it’s just me today so we’ll plug back into our archives. This post is from September 2012. The photos were borrowed from El Tim Bonsai.

It’s not often you see bonsai photographed in the dark. In this case the effects are rather magical (no pun intended). If you look at the El Tim KIMURA album, you’ll see a bunch of photos of phenomenal bonsai that were shot during the day, followed by a few photos of phenomenal bonsai that were shot at night. The difference is striking, and though I like the day photos a lot, it’s the night photos that really got me.

kim31

 

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kim6A younger version of this famous tree is on the back cover of The Magician.

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The Magician, the Bonsai Art of Kimura 2
Still THE Book when it comes to radically innovative bonsai

 

kim7

 

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A Common Mistake?

robert3

This image showing three tropical bonsai, each with two different crowns, was originally borrowed from Robert Steven.

This post is worth another airing (here’s the original from last year). The topic is something many of us don’t think about that much when designing bonsai, though maybe we should. We’ll let you be the judge.

The three trees on the left (above) are tropicals that are shaped like conifers. To Robert Steven and to many others, this a mistake. A common mistake to be sure, but still a mistake.

The three trees on the right have more rounded and therefore natural looking tropical tree crowns. This more or less rounded look is also generally found on deciduous (see below) and broadleaf evergreens.

Many very serious and highly accomplished bonsai artists (even bonsai masters) take these basic principles very seriously when it comes to designing bonsai. Other people don’t seem to care all that much.

rob2Two deciduous bonsai. The one on the left has a conifer shaped crown. The one on the right has a broad crown, more like what you find with most deciduous trees.

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American Tropical Bonsai, Hurricane Andrew & One Penjing

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Would you say that this prize winning Ficus neriifolia by Ed Trout looks relaxed and sensuous? Maybe, but it's hard to deny its powerful trunk and nebari which lend stability to the tree's natural uncontrived look.

Monday morning and too much going on around here, so it’s time to dig into our archives once again. This one is from all the way back in April 2010. It was titled Tropical Bonsai with Mary Miller & Friends.  I’ve enlarged and brightened the photos a bit, and done a little rewriting. All the photos were originally from Bonsai Mary

Mary Miller is one of genuine Florida bonsai mavens. Her years of experience as a bonsai teacher, author and grower come together very nicely in her website. One of the things that sets Mary’s site apart is the personal touch that she lends to her discussions of bonsai, of life and even to her experience (good and not so good, including seeing her entire nursery blown away in hurricane Andrew) with putting together her own website.

MaryBoug

Mary's Pixie bougainvillea.

 

maryzhao

You can find this beautiful Serissa penjing (not really a tropical, but close) by Qingquan Zhao at the the Montreal Botanical Garden (and on Mary Miller's website). You can also find out how Zhao made it (and make your own) and much more in his excellent book: Penjing: Worlds of Wonderment.

B1PENJING

One of the very best, if not the very best Penjing books in the English language.

 

NeeaBonsaiWeb

An award winning Neea buxifolia by Christian Casellas.

 

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