Art Disguised as Bonsai Pots

These nine pots are but a small sampling of Horst Heinzlreiter’s remarkably diverse (in shapes and glazes) collection of bonsai pots. I hope you enjoy these exquisite examples of art disguised as bonsai pots as much as I do. The artist is Horst Heinzlreiter, a long time favorite here on bark. And even though we’ve shown dozens of his brilliant pots, most of these are new to us. I spent a year of my youth in Europe, with much of that time wandering around art museums. Two of the artists who stood out are Joan Miró and Paul Klee. if you’re … Continue reading Art Disguised as Bonsai Pots

Is This Pot Legal?

Would you plant a Crabapple in this pot? Or a Cherry tree? Winterberry? Persimmon? Pyracantha? Anything? Or maybe Horst was picturing Christmas tree ornaments. We’ve been going archival a lot lately. But then it’s that time of year. This one (from December 24th, 2013) was originally titled ‘Off the Deep End with Horst (Is This Pot Legal?).’ Horst is ceramic artist Horst Heinzlreiter. If you’ve been following Bark for a while you know that this is not the first time we’ve featured Horst Heinzlreiter‘s magical pots, and it won’t be the last. Roman ruins? This is the photo that inspired … Continue reading Is This Pot Legal?

Great Close Ups, the Tallest Tree in the World, the Artisans Cup and other Bonsai Wonders

It’s not that often that you’ll find a tall tree like this with great lower branching. When you do, and in the right hands, the result can be striking and quite unique. It’s a Subalpine Fir (Abies lasiocarpa) that belongs to Ryan Neil (Bonsai Mirai). All the photos in this post are from Ryan’s facebook photos. One of the things I like about Ryan Neil’s photos are his close-ups. It doesn’t hurt that his trees are phenomenal and so well photographed in the first place. But then to show such vivid close-ups invites you in closer. Like you are there … Continue reading Great Close Ups, the Tallest Tree in the World, the Artisans Cup and other Bonsai Wonders

Horst’s Pots & A Rare Event

This is the Horst Heinzlreiter pot that caught my eye and inspired this post. We’ve been featuring Horst Heinzlreiter’s bonsai pots here on Bark for several years now and since he is so productive and it has been a while, here are some of his newer offerings (there may be one or two older ones mixed in, but I suspect that’s okay). The links above are from facebook which is where I found the pots shown here. Here’s a link to Horst’s website. We don’t usually post on consecutive days, but I wanted to make sure you know about our … Continue reading Horst’s Pots & A Rare Event

A Good Start…

Horst Heinzlreiter’s caption for this seductively shot photo says ‘Acer buergerianum sitting in a pot from my studio.’ I took the liberty to crop a bit to emphasize the tree and pot (the original is at the bottom of this post). All the photos in this post are from Horst’s facebook photos. If you’re one of our ten million Bark followers, you know by now that I’m a fan of Horst Heinzlreiter’s pots. The evidence is overwhelming (here, here, here and so forth…). But most of this evidence is just about his pots. Even though Horst’s pots do stand by … Continue reading A Good Start…

Joan Miró, Paul Klee & Horst Heinzlreiter

This unique example of ceramic art is by Horst Heinzlreiter as are all the pots in this post. Just when I thought Horst Heinzlreiter’s pots couldn’t get any better, I discovered these wild and wonderful examples of art disguised as bonsai pots (that’s what I wanted to call this post until I discovered Ceramic Art Disguised as Bonsai Pots on some obscure bonsai blog). I spent a year of my youth in Europe, with a sizable hunk of that time wandering around art museums (one of the best things I’ve ever done BTW). Two of the handful of artist who left … Continue reading Joan Miró, Paul Klee & Horst Heinzlreiter

Bonsai Flowers & A Certain Kind of Provincialism

Wisteria bonsai doing its profuse thing. It belongs to Gerard Schoofs of the Bonsai Society of Victoria. Being a North American I just figured Victoria BC, Canada without a second thought, until I read this caption: “I managed to get this photo about Oct 2011…” Turns out, there are several Victorias in this wide world and this one is a state somewhere in that over-sized island south of Indonesia (just kidding sort of, with only a hint of irritation about a certain kind of provincialism that assumes*…. or maybe I’m just cranky). I think it’s a good time to start … Continue reading Bonsai Flowers & A Certain Kind of Provincialism

Horst Just Might Be the One

This just turned up on facebook. Horst Heinzlreiter posted it. The tree’s a Hawthorn. It belongs to Hans Van Meer and the pot is by Horst. If I had to name my favorite bonsai potter Horst just might be the one. Especially if the number times his pots have been featured on Bark is any indication. No, I didn’t decide to post this because I wanted to mention our bonsai pots. But now that it’s done…

Off the Deep End with Horst (Is This Pot Legal?)

Would you plant a Crabapple in this pot? Or a Cherry tree? Winterberry? Persimmon? Pyracantha? Anything? Or maybe Horst was picturing Christmas tree ornaments. All the pots shown here are by Horst Heinzlreiter. As is often the case lately, they are lifted from facebook. The ‘Deep End’ in the title is just silliness on my part, as is the bit about being legal. I don’t know Horst, but I suspect he’s not all that crazy. Except maybe in the positive sense which might translate as daring, imaginative, unconventional, even outrageous (again in the positive sense). If you’ve been following Bark … Continue reading Off the Deep End with Horst (Is This Pot Legal?)

Ceramic Art Disguised as Bonsai Pots

Deciding which one of Horst Heinzlreiter’s pots to show as the lead photo seems almost random, considering Horst is so prolific and all of his pots are worthy. The same goes for the six pots below. Numerous others as just as good, but you have to stop somewhere (for a whole slew of Horst’s pots, check out this facebook post). Sometimes it seems my function here is art curator (and sometimes art critic). I show you pictures of beautiful or unusual things (usually bonsai), make a few questionable comments and leave the rest to you. So here we go again, … Continue reading Ceramic Art Disguised as Bonsai Pots