Monster Demo Bonsai on a Monster Hydraulic Turntable

That’s famous bonsai master, Kunio Kobayashi on the right, getting ready to tackle his monster demo tree. And yes, that’s a Green T Professional Hydraulic Lift Bonsai Turntable gamely holding the behemoth up. The after shot is below It’s Saturday, a good day to catch up mowing, weeding and trimming outside. Not bonsai (who mows bonsai?) but just our landscape gardens. Anyway, to save time, we’ll resurrect this post from a couple months ago. It’s a bit of an infomercial for our popular Green T Professional Hydraulic Lift Turntables, but the photos are still very good. Time to pay another visit to the recent … Continue reading Monster Demo Bonsai on a Monster Hydraulic Turntable

Famous Bonsai Artists, their Demo Trees & the Omnipresent Green T Professional Hydraulic Lift Bonsai Turntables

Bonsai Master Masahiko Kimura’s rock planting perched on a Green T Professional Hydraulic Lift Turntable at last month’s World Bonsai Convention Time to pay another visit to last month’s World Bonsai Convention. This time it’s about the demonstrators, their demo trees and the heavy lifting, omnipresent Green T Professional Hydraulic Lift Turntables – the quiet stars of the show. Continued below… 2 Day Fertilizer Sale Ends Tonight 40% off our large selection of Bonsai Fertilizers two thing to know… 40% off is a lot… …and don’t blink this special ends tonight (Friday) at 11:59pm EDT That’s famous bonsai master, … Continue reading Famous Bonsai Artists, their Demo Trees & the Omnipresent Green T Professional Hydraulic Lift Bonsai Turntables

Confused about Itoigawa, Kishu & Shimpaku Junipers?

This dynamic Juniper jumped off its digital page on my daily bonsai hunt yesterday. In addition to all its movement, there’s those two perfectly placed foliage clouds. Their gentle downward motion and soft weight help tame the upward thrust of the deadwood. Bjorn Bjorholm’s caption for this Juniper reads: “Itoigawa Shimpaku styled in 2013 during my apprenticeship at Kouka-en.” Today it’s a few dynamic Itoigawa junipers for you. The beautiful & energetic beast above is from Bjorn Bjorholm’s facebook feed. I pillaged the others from our archives. Continued below… SITE WIDE SALE 20% TO 25% OFF EVERYTHING* Don’t Worry! We … Continue reading Confused about Itoigawa, Kishu & Shimpaku Junipers?

A Steady Stream of Excellent and Often Unusual Bonsai

An impressively complex cascading juniper by Isao Omachi. Is it too busy, or would it diminish the tree’s magic if you tried to simplify it? We can count on Isao Omachi for a steady stream of excellent and often unusual bonsai. As a result of this steady stream, we’ve featured his trees well over a dozen times here on Bonsai Bark and I suspect we’ll continue to feature them for as long as we keep posting (going on eight years and still counting). This time it’s three trees from Isao’s recent facebook photos. Two of them are full cascade junipers … Continue reading A Steady Stream of Excellent and Often Unusual Bonsai

Remembering When Isao’s House & Bonsai Were Washed Out to Sea

Sculpted swan with swooping lines. A work of abstract art. It’s an Itoigawa juniper that belongs to Isao Omachi. A little over five years ago, Isao Omachi’s house and bonsai were washed out to sea. Here’s what he wrote on the anniversary of that terrible day: “Today is 11th March. 5 years has passed since terrible earthquake in Japan. I never forget the day I lost everything. But I could resume my 2nd life thanks to my friend’s support. I can’t express my gratitude in the words. Now I go ahead step by step. Once again, Thank you everybody. I’m … Continue reading Remembering When Isao’s House & Bonsai Were Washed Out to Sea

Freedom, Artistry & Boundless Enthusiasm

Sometimes the toughest choice I make all day is deciding which tree to show first. All seven bonsai shown here exhibit the sense of freedom and artistry that caught my attention and helped make that other tough decision; what or who to blog about. Finally, this wildly uninhibited juniper (the one I saw first) won out. It and the rest of the trees shown here belong to Isao Omachi. Whether you like Isao Omachi’s bonsai or not (though it’s hard for me to understand why anyone wouldn’t), you have to admire his boundless enthusiasm and playfulness, which even if you … Continue reading Freedom, Artistry & Boundless Enthusiasm

There Are Bonsai, and then…

There are bonsai and then there are bonsai. This fluid masterpiece belongs to Isao Omachi. There are other adjectives that come to mind, like elegant, graceful and exquisite, but the problem with writing about bonsai almost everyday is these superlatives get used until they lose their meaning. Oh well. Mr Omachi doesn’t say anything about this tree and I won’t venture any guesses. It’s from his facebook photos. All the trees shown here are from Isao Omachi’s facebook photos. If you’ve been following the international bonsai scene, you know that he’s the one who had his entire bonsai collection (and … Continue reading There Are Bonsai, and then…

Back on His Feet – Isao Omachi Four Years Later

2015. Not only is Isao Omachi back on his feet, but it seems like he hasn’t missed a beat. This magnificent Shimpaku juniper is a pretty good example of what he’s been up to since the Tsunami (I don’t know who made the scroll, but it’s not so shabby either). I cropped the photo for a closer look at the tree and scroll. You can see the whole display below. It has been four years since the devastating Japanese Tsunami. Those of you who were following Bark, Bill Valavanis, Marco Invernizzi or others in our world bonsai community, remember Isao … Continue reading Back on His Feet – Isao Omachi Four Years Later

A Quick Study in Deadwood

It’s all about the deadwood (and the crown). Deadwood is sometimes overplayed, especially on Shimpaku. But even though the deadwood is dominant on this tree, the powerful and well constructed crown offers a good sense of balance. All three photos in this post are from Marco Invernizzi’s website. I’m still on vacation, so we’ll make no pretense of in-depth analysis of deadwood this morning (not that we ever do much in-depth analysis of anything). Just three photos of Shimpaku from Marco Invernizzi’s website with a few quick comments and a little word from our sponsor. Marco Invernizzi studied extensively with … Continue reading A Quick Study in Deadwood

Weekly Wire: Bodacious Bark, Bonsai Bliss, Viva Brasil & Slovakia Too

Bodacious bark. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen bark quite like this. Its uniquely patterned texture and color adds an abundance of character and age to this wonderful old live oak. Furthermore (and at the risk of excess word proliferation), have you noticed the pot? How much character it has (and how small it is for the tree)? No mention of who made it with the photo, but whoever did deserves some love. The tree and the pot are from the ‘My Trees’ section of Mauro Stemberger’s website. Rocky Mountain bliss. The dates are June 17-20 21-24. Here’s the … Continue reading Weekly Wire: Bodacious Bark, Bonsai Bliss, Viva Brasil & Slovakia Too