Finished. Most of Masahiko Kimura’s juniper masterpieces start and finish as one tree. Not so this one. The deadwood and each major branch all come from different places. How Kimura put all the pieces together is brilliant and novel.
A few hints
Rather than explain the whole process here, we’ll offer a few hints and leave the rest to your imagination (or, lacking that, you could get your hands on a copy of Bonsai Today issue 63 and see the whole process).
Before. The pieces of the puzzle are gathered together.
The deadwood after Kimura prepares it for the task ahead.
An air layered branch right after separation. The shape of the new roots and the photo above should give you a pretty good idea of the next step.
More Magic
If you’d like to see a whole book of bonsai magic, The Magician, The Bonsai Art of Kimura 2 is on special at Stone Lantern.
I think the magician can`t detect the fake bonsai like me,but still marvelous.
Kimura is a marvel, both artistically and technically However the deadwood is so dominant in this example that the tree is almost lost.
Hi Maggie,
Yeah. It’s about the wild and wonderful deadwood and the living pieces enhance it. Viewed from this perspective you could say that it’s a genuine object of art.
Hi Shahiddin,
I don’t think it’s fake. Just different. And, as you say, it’s marvelous.
I hate to be the butt-head in all this, but I hate tanukies (excuse my spelling along with my rant). For me there is no majic in it. its like knowing your wallet is a fake Gucci or something.
I honestly realy cant put my finger on exactly why, but I feel cheated or tricked when I see one. I know some of our top artist’s sometimes do them and thats great. nothing wrong with doing what makes you happy and inspired. I think I would rather have a tree with some faults over a perfect tenuki. OK, thats my 2 binary bits worth. Thanks and please keep up this excellent site.
BonsaiEli
Ah, such strong feelings Elliott. You’re not alone, when it comes to tanuki, passionss run strong. Still, like, hate, love, indifferent, it looks pretty good.
And thanks for your kind words.