Bunjin Wizard

Triple trunk bunjin. I’ve long had a soft spot for trees with long straight trunks, topped with dynamic flowing curves. Exactly like this one. Which, along with the other two trees shown here, was styled by Naoki Maeoka. After close up. A good view of how the flowing lines at the top of each trunk are carried over onto the branches. Before. Triple trunk bunjin. You don’t see that many triple trunk bunjin (literati) bonsai. Especially ones as elegant as the one above. It, and the others shown here, belong to Naoki Maeoka. Bunjin wizard. Naoki Maeoka is a resident … Continue reading Bunjin Wizard

Power, Movement & Texture

Power, movement and texture. This astounding Itoigawa shimpaku juniper (Juniperus chinensis Itoigawa) received an Honorable Mention at the 2015 Crespi Bonsai Cup which was held at the Crespi Bonsai Museum. It belongs to Gino Costa. The photos shown here are from the 2015 Crespi Bonsai Cup. I cropped them all to bring the trees closer and to eliminate background noise. You can see the uncropped photos of all 65 entries here. Here’s the First Prize tree and I can’t say I disagree. It’s a Mugo pine that belongs to Paolo Riboli. I like the natural grey of the deadwood, … Continue reading Power, Movement & Texture

Freeze Damage in Bonsai (& other woody plants)

This luscious planting resides at the North Carolina Arboretum. The photo was put up on the Internet Bonsai Club forum by Arthur Joura. The caption reads “This planting is one of a small handful in our bonsai collection that consists entirely of plant material that can tolerate the extremes of winter, and so it remains on the bench, on display in the Bonsai Exhibition Garden all through the year.” The statement ‘can tolerate the extremes of winter’ makes sense if you live someplace like North Carolina, but not if you live someplace like Vermont. Our Vermont fall foliage extravaganza is … Continue reading Freeze Damage in Bonsai (& other woody plants)

Bonsai Meets Pop Music Again

This old triple trunk Japanese white pine resides at the Omiya Bonsai Art Musem in Saitama Japan. Busy weekend, so we’ll dip back into our archives. This one is from January 2014. First a confession. The title of this post ‘Bonsai Meets Pop Music’ has little if anything to do with the bonsai shown here. However, if you scroll down, you’ll see that it wasn’t made up out of thin air, and if you read Japanese, some light may be shed. All the trees shown here are from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, which houses one of the best bonsai … Continue reading Bonsai Meets Pop Music Again

A Skinny Lone Tree, a Large Empty Space…

California Juniper (Juniperus californica) at the Cup. It belongs to Seiji Shiba. Estimated age: 1000-1600 years old, trained for 15 years. All the photos in this post are by Hoe Chuah. I just rediscovered* an exceptional bonsai blog. It’s titled Bonsai Penjing & More and it belongs to Hoe Chuah. Most of the best bonsai blogs have good photos, but blogs like Bonsai Penjing & More that combine quality photos with thoughtful, well written comments are lot less common. The following by Hoe Chuah is from yesterday’s Bark comments. The tree he references is just below. “I like Michael Pollack’s hinoki … Continue reading A Skinny Lone Tree, a Large Empty Space…

Visceral Wonder & Other Comments on Judging Bonsai

This is one that I kept coming back to (see Michael Plishka’s visceral wonder comment below). It’s a Southwestern white pine (Pinus strobiformis) that belongs to Greg Brenden (an earlier smaller iteration in a different pot was shown at the 2010 U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition). The show booklet says the pot is by Ron Lang, but Ron told me that his wife Sharon made it and that he created the rough finish (see below). There were several trees in Lang pots at the exhibition. This photo and the close up below, are borrowed from Bonsai Penjing & More. Yesterday’s post … Continue reading Visceral Wonder & Other Comments on Judging Bonsai

Judging Bonsai at the Cup: The Limits of the Point System

Eric Schikowski’s collected Mountain Hemlock was one of my favorites. It was also Peter Warren’s first choice. I borrowed this photo and the one below from Eric Shrader’s PHUTU blog. I was going to give the Cup a rest for awhile until I ran across this thorough, thoughtful and thought provoking article on Eric Shrader’s PHUTU (one of the best blogs I’ve had the good fortune to stumble upon lately). We’ll start with a disclaimer two disclaimers: First, what follows takes nothing away from the winners. All four (third place was a tie) are great bonsai and worthy of accolades. … Continue reading Judging Bonsai at the Cup: The Limits of the Point System

Bonsai Drawings, Expertly Rendered & Beautiful

This drawing is by Michele Andolfo, as are the others in this post. All the drawings shown here are from a program Michele Andolfo led in Quebec this year. You can view more of these expertly rendered and beautiful drawings and the bonsai material that inspired them here. It’s a click worth making; taking the time to tune into Michele’s vision of what each tree might become, can help you envision what your own trees might become. Michele’s Andolfo Bonsai Studio is in Italy. But judging by the news on his website, he travels and teaches far and wide. Here’s … Continue reading Bonsai Drawings, Expertly Rendered & Beautiful

Elandan, Beyond Bonsai

Just another great photo at Elandan Gardens, where water, earth and sky come together in one of the most brilliant bonsai backdrops you’ll ever see. Yesterday, it was Dan Robinson’s bonsai. Today it’s Dan and Diane Robinson’s exquisite Elandan Gardens. All the photos shown here are from Elandan’s website and Dan’s facebook feed. I don’t mean to spoil your Elandan experience with our crass commercialism, but this is how we keep our ship afloat… 15.50 per roll, Kilo Bonsai Wire Special ends tonight this price may be the best … Continue reading Elandan, Beyond Bonsai

Dan Robinson, Bonsai Pioneer

Close up of Dan Robinson’s Mountain hemlock, taken on my cell at the Artisans Cup. Last weekend I finally had the pleasure of meeting Dan and Diane Robinson. It was at the Artisans Cup so I also had the pleasure of viewing and photographing Dan’s entry, the Mountain hemlock shown here (above and below). We’ve been featuring Dan Robinson’s bonsai and we’ve been selling and enjoying Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees for a long time (the second printing of Will Hiltz’ brilliant book about Dan and his trees just came out). Now that I’ve met Dan and actually seen one of … Continue reading Dan Robinson, Bonsai Pioneer