California Shohin Seminar

This little gem was lifted from BUNJINJOURNAL.COM. It’s from the 2010 California Shohin Society Seminar in Santa Nella. Better late… Don’t know how this happened, but we almost missed this one. The California Shohin Society is holding its famous biennial seminar in Santa Nella this weekend. I know it’s late, but it’s a great event and if you’re in the area, here’s what you need to know. Santa Nella Speaking of famous Shohin, have you seen our book by Morten Albek: Shohin Bonsai, Majesty in Miniature?

Rocky Mountain Juniper High

Dazzling deadwood. I think I see a live vein on the left edge of the trunk. Otherwise, this spectacular old specimen is a study in deadwood (with a little rebar thrown into the mix). It’s a Rocky Mountain juniper. The artist and owner is Ryan Neil, International Bonsai Mirai. The tree was originally collected by Andy Smith of Golden Arrow Bonsai (Stone Lantern offers Andy’s excellent DVD on collecting bonsai). Intenational Bonsai Mirai has a great little back story on this intriguing old tree. More daring high quality bonsai Every time I visit Ryan Neil’s International Bonsai Mirai website something … Continue reading Rocky Mountain Juniper High

Weekly Wire: Marco’s Before & After, Our Favorite Book & A Fabulous Fake

Before and after. It helps to start with great stock. Still, it takes a skilled hand to successfully tackle such powerful tree. The artist is Marco Invernizzi.and as you may have noticed, the after is just right. It’s a Japanese black pine. It’s from the ‘before and after’ section of Marco’s website. Whatever it is, it’s wonderful. We just featured this ‘bonsai’ in our last post. Turns out it’s a fabulous fake. Or, maybe fake isn’t the right word. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that it’s a wonderful clay representation of a bonsai. The artist is Paul … Continue reading Weekly Wire: Marco’s Before & After, Our Favorite Book & A Fabulous Fake

Lime Sulfur: A Story with a Happy Ending

How many bottles of lime sulfur were used on this monster? I find this tree to be compelling in so many ways (much has to do with shear size, power & no small amount of detail). Still, is the foliage a little too manicured and the deadwood overwrought? I’m sure there are some purists out there who might say something like that, and there’s some sense to these observations, especially if you feel that bonsai should look like trees in nature. But still… why sweat the small stuff when you’re looking at one of the more imposingly powerful bonsai you’ve … Continue reading Lime Sulfur: A Story with a Happy Ending

Weekly Wire: Ancient Bones & the Wheel of Bonsai Wisdom

Ancient bones. I like the way the fresh foliage seems to hang from the tree’s ancient bones (though I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a stand so in need of refinishing). This strikingly unique bonsai is one of many excellent trees at Taiwan Bonsai World. Free Advertising! What if you could advertise your bonsai event for free on a Bonsai Blog with over 30,00 visitors a month? Turns out, you can! Right here on Bonsai Bark. Just put your event (with links please) in the comments below and I’ll take from there. Have you seen this issue? Neither have … Continue reading Weekly Wire: Ancient Bones & the Wheel of Bonsai Wisdom

Weekly Wire: The End of Lime Sulfur?

This Trident maple root-over-rock belongs to Jonas Dupuich. It’s from a Bonsai Tonight article about the 11th Bay Island Bonsai Exhibit. The Bay Island Bonsai 13th Annual Bonsai Exhibit is coming very soon (Jan 13-14 14-15). Judging by photos from previous exhibits, it looks like it’s one of the better bonsai shows in North America. It’s at the Oakland Lakeside Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave. For more information: (510) 919-5042 or visit their website. The following turned out to be much ado about almost nothing (12/24/12). Bad news about lime sulfur. It’s hard to imagine bonsai without lime sulfur. But … Continue reading Weekly Wire: The End of Lime Sulfur?

Mario’s Almost Bonsai

The third to last photo in a long sequence by Mario Komsta. Mario’s comment on this photo is ‘almost bonsai.’ Pretty good for an ‘almost.’ From a facebook album by Mario. From freshly dug to ‘almost bonsai’ The photos here present a sampling of a step-by-step series on a very creative (and skillful) bonsai transformation by Mario Komsta. We’ve featured Mario’s bonsai several times on Bonsai Bark, and for good reason. To my eye, Mario is one of the West’s elite young bonsai artists. You might even say that Mario is one of the elite bonsai artists, period. You can … Continue reading Mario’s Almost Bonsai

Happy New Year from a Bonsai Artist with a Magic Touch

This dazzling digital New Year’s card is from our friend and colleague, Robert Steven. Contributor, friend, colleague… I just did a quick count; Robert Steven’s name appears in 65 of the 500 or so Bonsai Bark posts so far. A large percentage of these are Robert’s now famous bonsai critiques. Robert is also a business partner of sorts. We (Stone Lantern) are distributors of Robert’s excellent Bonsai Aesthetics tools and bonsai wire as well as his ground breaking bonsai books, Vision of My Soul & Mission of Transformation. All this adds up to relationship that benefits Stone Lantern and Bonsai … Continue reading Happy New Year from a Bonsai Artist with a Magic Touch

Bonsai Art Stamps for 2012

Three of the five 2012 bonsai stamps. You’ll notice that each one gives the common name of the tree. Bonsai stamps For a long time, our (U.S.) stamps were a lot like our money, monochromatic, often difficult to tell apart at a glance, and frankly, a little boring at times. In the last twenty five years or so, all that has changed. Now, just like stamps in most other countries, colorful, sometimes even beautiful US stamps abound. You can even see famous (and not so famous) art celebrated on US postage stamps. Which brings us to the stamps shown here; … Continue reading Bonsai Art Stamps for 2012

Tuesday the 20th Is Our Last Shipping Day Until the 29th

Dear last minute Stone Lantern shoppers Order before noon Tuesday the 20th All Stone Lantern orders received before 12 noon (U.S. Eastern Standard Time) tomorrow (Tuesday the 20th), will be shipped that day (we’ll try to get orders out that are received after 12:oo noon if we can, but no guarantees). On time arrival? We are now shipping almost everything priority mail, so domestic orders that go out Tuesday, in theory, should arrive by the 24th. However, because we have no control once an order leaves here, we cannot guarantee on-time arrival. Our warehouse will be closed the 21st thru … Continue reading Tuesday the 20th Is Our Last Shipping Day Until the 29th