Twisted – a Happy Accident

Here’s what Scott Lee wrote about this tree… “A sad day for me. I had my bonsai selected for the 1st Artisans Cup in Portland, Oregon. This year the weather has been unpredictable and challenging for my area. The tree’s health is not up to my standards nor Ryan’s…” Continued below the next photo… I just stumbled upon this unusual beauty in a post Scott Lee put up back in 2015. Purely a happy accident. The tree is a great example of an unconventional bonsai where little effort is made to make it naturalistic. Though there are plenty of twisted bonsai, especially yamadori from high elevations, I don’t … Continue reading Twisted – a Happy Accident

28 Questions for an American Bonsai Apprentice

Kishu shimpaku grafted onto a Seirra juniper, recently reworked by Peter Tea. Speaking of, Peter seems to have dropped off the map. His last post was April, 2014. I haven’t heard or seen a thing from him since. Tis the season for old posts. This one is from June, 2014. The other day (this was written in 2014) I happened upon a unique and worthy bonsai blog called Yenling Bonsai that belongs to Jeremiah Lee. In the course of familiarizing myself with Jeremiah’s handiwork I came across this October 2012 interview with Peter Tea. Continued below… A great opportunity to … Continue reading 28 Questions for an American Bonsai Apprentice

Ordinary Bonsai for Ordinary People

Kishu shimpaku juniper by John Brocklehurst. I like the fragile deadwood twigs and ordinary qualities of this tree, though it could use more refinement and the pot seems a little large, still most of us aspiring bonsai artists would love to see it on our bench. This may be our busiest weekend of the year. That’s my excuse for resurrecting another post from our archives. This one is from January 2013. It was titled, Small Is Still Beautiful. I chose the current title because the trees shown here, though very good, are not quite the jaw dropping world class bonsai … Continue reading Ordinary Bonsai for Ordinary People

Be Careful! Pinching Might Be Deadly

Was this foliage pinched in order to achieve that dense, perfectly refined shape and texture? The answer, according to Michael Hagedorn is an emphatic NO! Except when it isn’t. The image is borrowed from our Masters’ Series Juniper Bonsai book. I’ve been ripping off valuable tidbits from Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai for a long time (always attributed and linked of course). Micheal is a noted American bonsai artist, teacher and author and a voice for a common sense approach to bonsai. Continued below… Michael Hagedorn’s famous Post-Dated Still the best bonsai read in the English language Back in 2012 Michael … Continue reading Be Careful! Pinching Might Be Deadly

Just for Fun

This Shimpaku juniper with its host of other plants (on an almost completely covered rock) is by Suthin. As are the other two Shimpaku shown here (as well as dozens of other brilliant bonsai by Suthin that we’ve featured here on Bark over the last seven years). If you follow Suthin Sukosolvisit, there are three things it would be hard not to notice. He is remarkably talented. He is also remarkably prolific. And best of all, he likes to have fun. For now, we’ll focus on the fun. In particular, Suthin’s occasional Just for fun posts on facebook. All three … Continue reading Just for Fun

Two Handed Bonsai

It’s not unusual to see a photo of someone holding a small bonsai in one hand. However, you almost never see a photo with someone holding a bonsai with two hands. Until now that is. This two handed approach gives the feeling that the tree (a rather spectacular Shimpaku juniper) is being offered. This photo and the others in this post are from Japan Shohin Bonsai. One of the problems with photographing bonsai is conveying size. The easiest and perhaps best way is to provide something familiar for contrast. It used to be fairly common to see bonsai with cigarette … Continue reading Two Handed Bonsai

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 Remarkable Transformaton by a Bonsai Artist Not Named Kimura

We don’t usually feature such grainy shots for our lead photo, but this is the best we could find of this remarkable tree (plus we blew it up to fit our format). It’s an ‘after’ photo of a Kishu shimpaku juniper by Steve Tolley. When I first saw the before and after shots of this remarkable Kishu shimpaku, Master Kimura’s revolutionary transformations immediately came to mind (some examples of Kimura’s transformations are here, here and here). I won’t say much more; we’ll let the photos and Steve Tolley’s text (below) do the talking. Before. Here’s some of what Steve Tolley … Continue reading A Remarkable Transformaton by a Bonsai Artist Not Named Kimura

Grafting Master Masaru Ishii

I just spent over an hour digging around the internet looking for at least one really good photo of a masterpiece bonsai by Mr Masaru Ishii. The results are this photo of a grafted Shimpaku in training (from New England Bonsai Gardens) and the photo immediately below. This one is a quality photo, but far from one of the masterpieces that I remember seeing at Mr Ishii’s nursery. The one below is a little closer to a masterpiece, but the photo isn’t so good. Oh well… Sadly, Masaru Ishii, grafting master, bonsai artist, teacher, nurseryman, husband, father and much more … Continue reading Grafting Master Masaru Ishii

Small Is Still Beautiful

Kishu shimpaku juniper by John Brocklehurst. Mark Cooper took the photo at the 2012 Noelanders Trophy. I like the natural, fragile looking deadwood twigs and a whole lot more about this tree. Shohin again. We’ve been featuring shohin bonsai (small bonsai) a lot lately. Maybe it has to do with fact that we’re all aging and, as we age, smaller bonsai have larger appeal (easier to handle, take less space on our condo’s balconies and are a little less taxing on our social security budgets). Or maybe it’s just that we like them so much. All the photos in this … Continue reading Small Is Still Beautiful