After styling. This wild looking tree is a Phoenician juniper. The artist is Salvatore Liporace. All three images in this post are from Salvatore’s facebook photos.
Several things caught my attention when I first saw this tree. First, it’s a Phoenician juniper, a tree you don’t see very often, especially here in North America (we’ve only featured one in all our years of posting). Second, it’s a compelling bonsai styled by an accomplished bonsai artist (Salvatore Liporace). Third, there’s the almost scary deadwood. Like a tree you might see at a haunted house in a spooky movie.
One thing that makes the after version of this bonsai so compelling is the very small and sparse living crown, as compared to the scale of the deadwood. This reinforces the barely-staying-alive weather beaten story that the deadwood tells. Something to bear in mind when styling natural looking bonsai.
Before. A lush, healthy, overgrown bonsai. Soon to be radically reduced.
Before close-up. It always helps to have high quality material to work with.