“I’m in Love with This Tree” Another Taxus by Andres & Setting the Record Straight

This shot is from a must see video with Andres Alvarez Iglesias and another of his European yews (Taxus baccata). Setting the record straight… Yesterday we featured a famous European yew that belongs to Andres Alvarez Iglesias. Today we’ve got another one by Andres (watch the video!, you can thank me later) and a mea culpa by yours truly This tree was NOT carved by human hands! Yesterday’s yew with apologies to Andres and Mother Nature. What I should have said yesterday is that this tree was NOT carved by human hands*. Given that you see so many yews (and junipers and etc…) that are carved by human hands – usually with … Continue reading “I’m in Love with This Tree” Another Taxus by Andres & Setting the Record Straight

Dragon 3

Highly distinctive, exceptionally powerful and almost grotesque. When I first glanced at this tree, there was just a massive trunk with great taper and one of the largest sabamiki (the hollow in the trunk) ever. Then the face appeared (purely a mental projection by the way). I think the solution to this dilemma is to relax the gaze and take in a the whole tree and the space around it. Or simply don’t bother projecting. The photos of the trees that Robert Steven sent from the recent BCI convention in China are so good that they’re worth a third post … Continue reading Dragon 3

Saving a Yew from the Wood Pile

Friday. This and the other images in this post were are lifted from Graham Potter’s video, ‘A Yew saved from the woodpile.’ Graham Potter’s bonsai videos are remarkably popular (the one featured here has been viewed over 138,000 times on youtube and who knows how many times on Graham’s Kaizen Bonsai website) and it’s no wonder. Not only are they very well-made and highly instructive, but they are also, at times, simply astounding (too much coffee this morning?). This one features a five day transformation of an old English yew (Taxus baccata), some great highbrow music and a wealth of … Continue reading Saving a Yew from the Wood Pile

Sculpting Deadwood

Francios Jeker‘s finger and dremel power carving tool. From Bonsai Today 105 (still available). It didn’t used to be this way Have you noticed how almost everybody carves deadwood these day? It wasn’t always the case. I just thumbed through Kyuzo Murata‘s classic Four Seasons of Bonsai (first edition 1991 and long out of print) and could find only 3 or 4 bonsai that had some carving (out of over 100 trees). The same goes if you look back through other older bonsai publications. New horizons Even though it’s overused, carving opens up whole new horizons for us bonsai hackers, … Continue reading Sculpting Deadwood

New Products, New Low Prices

Bonsai Soil Sieve Set (3 screens). Not exactly new, but back after two years. Was $39.25, now $29.70. New, nearly new, or back after a long break This post is to let you know about new products at Stone Lantern. It’s also a way to let you know about products that were gone (for whatever reason) and are now back. Also new; low prices As you may know, we’ve been lowering prices on almost all of our products to near wholesale levels. We’ve learned that in this age of digital shopping, you want our quality products, service, information and the … Continue reading New Products, New Low Prices

Introducing the Ichiban by Marco & Masakuni

The Ichiban. Designed by Marco Invernizzi and built by Masakuni. As you may know, Marco is a gifted Western bonsai artist, and Masakuni is the benchmark bonsai tool company. Together they have created a revolutionary new tool for the serious bonsai artist (and the rest of us who practice the art of bonsai). The Ichiban comes in a handsome wood gift box (see below). If you want one (no discounts though) In agreement with Marco, Stone Lantern is acting as the Ichiban’s U.S. (and beyond) distributor. The one caveat is that this tool cannot be discounted. Your price is $350.00 … Continue reading Introducing the Ichiban by Marco & Masakuni

Some Serious New Bonsai Tools

Here’s some of our new tools (there are more) by Bonsai Aesthetics. From left to right: Rook hook, Extra large branch jack, Extra large branch bender, branch lever, and Large branch jack. Good tools and the price is right A few months ago we introduced some of Robert Steven‘s new line of bonsai tools. Robert is the author of Mission of Transformation and Vision of My Soul, and is one of the world’s most innovative bonsai artists. Like many of us, Robert realized that Japanese tools are gradually being priced out for many people, while Chinese tools are coming up … Continue reading Some Serious New Bonsai Tools

Jin & Shari #5: Carving Jin with a Draw Knife

In this series of photos (from our Juniper book), Hideki Nakayatsu turns a needle juniper on its side to work on the apical jin (jin can be either a dead branch or a dead top of the trunk). He is using is a draw knife to carve natural looking grooves in the wood. Though there are other ways to get grooves in deadwood (dremels come to mind), a draw knife is a tried and true old standard. This close up, though far from perfect, shows the grooves a little better. Deadwood naturally cracks and grooves along its length as it … Continue reading Jin & Shari #5: Carving Jin with a Draw Knife