Powerful Jaw Dropping Bonsai Six Months Later 3/19/16

The second place tree at last fall's Artisans Cup. It's a Sierra Juniper that belongs to Tim Priest. The other winners are below (if you're wondering why we're leading with the second place tree... we'll we've already lead a post with the winner and I'm not so sure I care that much about winners (and by extension losers) anyway. Which begs the question...

It has been a few days short of six months since the Artisans Cup; a ground breaking event at the Portland Art Museum that featured more powerful jaw dropping bonsai than most people will ever see in one place and crowd sizes completely unprecedented at any North American bonsai event.

There’s a lot more I could say (and have said) but we’ll leave you with these photos and encourage you to plan for the next Artisans Cup (and the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition this fall which promises its own crop of jaw dropping bonsai).

Eric Schikowski’s collected Mountain Hemlock was one of my favorites. It was also Peter Warren's first choice (Peter was one of the judges), though it wasn't awarded one of the three prizes (actually four; there were two third place winners). I borrowed this photo and the one below from Eric Shrader's PHUTU blog.

 

Here's another one my favorites, and though it didn't place in the top three, it was Colin Lewis's first choice (Colin was one of the judges). It's a Doug fir that belongs to Doug Paul (sorry, couldn't resist).

 

Ryan Neil's massive Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii). This (pick your adjective) tree was not part of the bonsai display area, but rather sat alone in an inner lobby that you passed through on the way out of the display area. There's no way that you can appreciate just how massive it is, and though I didn't think to pace it off at the time, by memory (a risky proposition at best), I'd reckon that it must be about six or seven feet (approx 2 meters) across.

 

This Japanese White Pine that belongs to Konnor Jenson was one of two third place trees.

 

The other third place tree. It's a Rocky Mountain Juniper that belongs to Amy Blanton.

 

The winner, a massive Rocky Mountain Juniper that belongs to Randy Knight.

About The Artisans Cup: The Artisans Cup is the premier exhibition of American Bonsai, located in the heart of Portland, Oregon. The Artisans Cup is led by Ryan and Chelsea Neil, founders of the groundbreaking Bonsai incubator Bonsai Mirai, located just 25 miles outside of Portland. 3,200 people attended the group’s first exhibition during the 17 hours it was open in late September 2015, making it one of the best-attended temporary exhibitions in the history of the Portland Art Museum.

Retrospective Teaser: