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.

Wiring for Refinement

From above, after thinning and wiring. Notice how fine wire is used all the way out to the tips of each twig. The photos in this post are from Bonsai Today issue 92. The artist is Mr. Kiyoshi Yamagami. The tree is a Japanese white pine. Attention to detail and patience One of the things that separates world class bonsai from mediocre bonsai is refinement (some bonsai appear over-refined, but that’s another story). Refinement, requires attention to detail and patience and has a lot to do with how you relate to small branches and twigs.