Getting Out of the Way

This Ponderosa pine was no doubt collected somewhere in western North America. Europeans are lucky in that regard; it’s relatively easy for them to import plants from around the world. Here in the U.S. restrictions are much more onerous. The tree belongs to (or belonged to?) Walter Pall. The photo is from The Art of Bonsai Project, as are all the photos in this post. All of the bonsai in this post are by Walter Pall in collaboration with Mother Nature. Walter is a proponent of the ‘getting out of the way’ school of bonsai. Not that we want to … Continue reading Getting Out of the Way

A Wonderfully Eccentric Bunjin by Budi

We’ve featured bonsai by Budi Sulistyo before, and for good reason; his bonsai are innovative and daring. Budi isn’t afraid to try new ideas and break with convention. I’d say on balance, that this has served him very well. Budi’s tropical gallery book In addition to being an innovative bonsai artist, Budi is a photographer and the author of an excellent gallery book on tropical bonsai (now on special at Stone Lantern).

Master Potter Nakano Plus One Monterey Cypress

On the road again This is our second post from the road. This time it’s The Central California Coast with it’s gnarly wind-shaped Monterey cypresses. We’ll have more on those later after Amy and I have time to sort through hundred of photos. Meanwhile, here’s a few of Gyozan Nakano’s pots that I prepared before we left, plus one old natural bunjin cypress to whet your appetite. This little taste is pretty representative of what you might expect on California’s Central Coast. It’s from neartica.com by Charles Webber, California Academy of Sciences.

Eccentric Bonsai: Kimura Rises to the Challenge

After. Finished for the moment. The challenge was for Masahiko Kimura to style a bunjin (literati) bonsai with only one branch (see below for where he started). It’s eccentricity lies in its striking simplicity, if that makes any sense. It a Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora). From our Masters’ Series The Magician, the Bonsai Art of Kimura 2. From an article that originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 69.

Another Fearless Bonsai Warrior

This Juniperus chinensis parsonii, that started as an urban yamadori in 2007 (height 26″), was submitted by Patrick Giacobbe. In addition to this submission, Patrick has contributed to Bonsai Bark with his comments on a bonsai that was submitted by John Romano. Bunjin or not bunjin? The pot and the almost branchless trunk with its twisted unconventional lines suggest a bunjin (literati) style tree. However the heavy top is unbunjin-like, and the tree is planted on one side of its round pot, rather than near the center as you normally find. None of this is necessarily a problem, you are … Continue reading Another Fearless Bonsai Warrior

A Cascading Bunjin Pine in Three Simple Steps

These illustrations by Kyosuke Gun show three stages in the development of simple shohin cascading bunjin style pine. Though we don’t know for sure, we might assume that these illustrations are of an actual tree, as many, if not most of Mr. Gun’s illustrations are based upon actual bonsai. The illustration originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 39. Small adjustments with big results One of the purposes in this post is to show how a couple simple changes can turn an untrained stock plant in to presentable bonsai.

North American Bonsai

An old Sierra Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) by John Romano. Height 42″. In the next few months, Bill Valavanis’ 1st US National Bonsai Exhibition Commemorative Album will be back from the printer and ready for your enjoyment. Meanwhile, there is another very noteworthy book that features some great home grown American (and Canadian) bonsai. It’s the American Bonsai Society‘s North American Bonsai (compiled and edited by Martin Schmalenberg). When I first saw it, I was impressed with some of the trees but not completely taken by the collection as a whole. I think my bias towards Japanese bonsai clouded my vision. … Continue reading North American Bonsai