The Cutting Edge of Bonsai Innovation 1/10/19

yew

The play of light and shadow... This photo is from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. Here's part of the machine translation... "Japanese yew, Autumn Special Exhibition: Contemporary Bonsai Masters: Masahiko Kimura; Playing with Bonsai, the Origin of His Works" You can read more and see other masterpiece bonsai photos here
Even though I think he’s fallen a little out of favor in some circles, I’m still a fan of Masahiko Kimura’s bonsai. For years his wildly innovative techniques and his visionary’s eye, combined with a healthy does of daring, produced results at the cutting edge (so to speak) of bonsai innovation. Now, forty some years later, Mr Kimura is still relevant in the ever evolving world of bonsai. Take a look at the these photos and some others at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, and see if you agree
yewcu
Cropped for a closer look at the play of light and shadow on the masterfully carved trunk
 mysteryThis unusual rock planting by Kimura is also featured at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. There is no caption, so we'll let it speak for itself
KimbunjinHere's one for a little contrast. We featured it here on Bark in December, 2009 (you can see the before photo there). The challenge was for Kimura to style a bunjin (literati) bonsai with only one branch. It's a Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora). You can see it in our Masters’ Series The Magician, the Bonsai Art of Kimura 2. It was originally from an article that appeared in Bonsai Today issue 69