Norman Rockwell’s Bonsai Painting

Just got this image from Robert Steven. He sent a whole package of fascinating images as run ups to his International Bonsai Art & Culture Biennale in October. We’ll be posting them regularly. Meanwhile, here’s a little known Norman Rockwell painting to get us started…. The image above is to help clue you in to Robert Steven’s International Bonsai Art & Culture Biennale in Indonesia. I think it’s going to be a unique and wonderful benchmark bonsai event. See you there! Meanwhile, the image just below has nothing to do with Roberts’ big event, but as long as we’re on … Continue reading Norman Rockwell’s Bonsai Painting

A Good Year for Bonsai Events

I like the flowing deadwood and the strong cinnamon vein on this powerful old tree. It’s from the 2013 Noelanders Trophy poster. The 2014 Noelanders Trophy poster is just below. While the year is still fresh, it seems like a good time to talk about some major bonsai events for 2014. Note the word some, no attempt will be made to list everything. Just a few to get started, with more to come later. Chronologically works best, so here goes… January 18-19. Fifteen straight years gives the Noelanders Trophy some real cachet. Great cast of characters too. February … Continue reading A Good Year for Bonsai Events

Searching for an Adjective & Upcoming Bonsai Events

I’m searching for the perfect adjective for this monumental (towering, preternatural, massive, magnificent, imposing…) planting. It’s from the World Bonsai Friendship Federation Convention that is taking place in China right now (Sept 24-28). I found the photo on Bill Valavanis’ excellent new blog. Bill is there and has posted a series of great shots from the event. FREE ADVERTISING! Would you like to see your bonsai event featured here? If so, just send me a notice with a link to the event. That’s it. But remember, no link, no show. My email is wayne@stonelantern.com. You might also want to mention … Continue reading Searching for an Adjective & Upcoming Bonsai Events

Fall Color & More Bonsai Events

I found this brilliant Rockspray Cotoneaster by searching fall bonsai color. Turns out that, though I must admit that I didn’t recognize it (this doesn’t bode well), it appeared right here on Bonsai Bark way back in 2009. Anyway, not only is it striking with it’s hundreds of multi-hued little leaves, but it just so happens that it’s belongs to Bill Valavanis who is hosting a big event this weekend (see below). Not to rush things, but for some of us fall has already insinuated its way into our thoughts and conversations (last night it was 36F here). Often these … Continue reading Fall Color & More Bonsai Events

A Rich Cornucopia of Bonsai Events

It has been a while since we’ve featured the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum‘s world-class bonsai collection. This Korean hornbeam (Carpinus tschonoskii ) donated by Minoru Koshimura, has been in training since 1935 and it’s not even one of the oldest at the museum. Not by a long shot. But it is undeniably a venerable tree with a majestic dignity that you just don’t find every day. And of course, it’s just one of hundreds of powerful bonsai and bonsai events you can enjoy while visiting our nation’s capital. Here we go again in our quest to keep you up … Continue reading A Rich Cornucopia of Bonsai Events

Bonsai Events, Dirty Pick Ups and a Few Loose Ends

This pine (looks like a Japanese white; Pinus parviflora) is from the 2011 Taikan-ten bonsai exhibition in Japan. The photo was borrowed from Empire Bonsai. You don’t see that many great multiple-trunk bonsai (here’s another one we posted recently) and I think this one qualifies. It’s hard to tell from this angle if all the trunks are sharing a single root-system. It could be a twin-trunk tree and a triple-trunk clump combined. Upcoming events. It’s time to catch up on some upcoming bonsai events and some other loose ends. Which reminds me, if you’d like to promote an event, just … Continue reading Bonsai Events, Dirty Pick Ups and a Few Loose Ends

Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire

Boon Manakitivipart (Bonsai Boon) discovered this muscular Kuromatsu on his latest trip to Japan. You can visit Bonsai Tonight for more. Something new A while back we tried to get a bonsai calendar off the ground. After what seemed like lack of interest from our readers, we abandoned the idea. Now we have another idea, it’s related to the calendar notion, but more expansive. We’ll call it Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire for now. Rather than try to explain, we’ll just get started and see where it goes. This year’s BCI tour is timed to coincide with two of … Continue reading Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire

Bonsai Events Calendar with Updates

Photo from Crataegus Bonsai. See below Nov 2-4 for Crataegus Bonsai Seasonal with Michael Hagedorn. Our first update Since we posted our first calendar one week ago, we have received info on several additional events. To make these new ones easy to spot, the dates are in orange with a asterisk* in front. Send yours us yours If you have a bonsai event you’d like to see in our next calendar, send it to wayne@stonelantern.com, or put it in the comments below (don’t forget the links). We can’t guarantee we’ll publish them all, but we might. Aug 27-?: Stone Lantern … Continue reading Bonsai Events Calendar with Updates

Bonsai Events Calendar

Photo from Crespi Bonsai (see September 10) Just the beginning This is it. Our first calendar. If you have a bonsai event you’d like to see in our next calendar, send it to wayne@stonelantern.com, or put it in the comments below (don’t forget the links). We can’t guarantee we’ll publish them all, but we might. Sep 4-7: Bay Island Bonsai Workshop Sep 9-12: Bonsai and Suiseki Prague 2010, 13th National Exhibition Sep 10-12: International Bonsai’s North American Bonsai Symposium Sep 10-19: Crespi Bonsai 9th International Bonsai & Suiseki Meeting Sep 13: Ryan Neil Demonstration, The Bonsai Society of Upstate New … Continue reading Bonsai Events Calendar