The Golden State of Bonsai 4/8/15

Whoa! I am floored. Have you ever seen a bonsai feature more dynamic and powerful than this tree’s massive deadwood swirl? If so, please send a photo. The tree is one of many large bonsai from the private collection of Frank Bardella that were delivered to the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt in Oakland, California. The image is from Golden Statement Magazine’s facebook photos.

If you love bonsai but don’t know Golden Statements Magazine, it’s time to get acquainted. I won’t say much more, except that Golden Statements has been around for a long time (it must have been one of the first bonsai magazines outside of Asia), as has bonsai in the Golden State (there’s a whole story here, but we’ll save it for another time) and that you might want to take a close look at the photos in this post; they’re just the tip, but they should give you a pretty good idea of the quality of the magazine (sorry about the brutal run-on, parenthetical sentence – any pro-bono editors out there?). You might even want to subscribe and that would be a good thing.

Golden Statements magazine is published by the Golden State Bonsai Federation.

 

Another great cover. This time it’s a Sierra Juniper from the Redwood Empire Bonsai Society‘s 31st Annual Bonsai Show (2014). No artist’s or owner’s name given. 

 

This Coastal Redwood bonsai (Sequoia sempervirens) was shown at the 31st Redwood Empire Bonsai Society (REBS) annual show on 23 and 24 August 2014. You can see more photos of redwoods in the Nov/Dec 2014 issue of Golden Statements Magazine. No artist’s name was given on facebook.

 

This delicious pine is one of dozens of great trees you’ll find at Golden Statements (facebook again). There’s no caption to tell us who the artist is or the type tree, but based on the strong trunk, heavily plated bark and long luminous candles, I’m guessing it’s a Japanese black pine.

 

Mark you calendar. Here’s a link to the email address above.

 

Looking forward. The cover of the Spring issue. The quarterly magazine is full of bonsai stories, regular columns, and upcoming activities. And it’s not too late to subscribe for 2015.