Cuttings

Rice for Five Years: The Life of a Bonsai Apprentice

Nice maple, even though the color in the photo is way too white. From Peter Tea’s post ‘Apprenticeship and a Japanese Maple.’ Loyalty, humility and inequality for 15,000 yen a month… Others have written about their bonsai apprenticeship in Japan (most notable is Michael Hagedorn’s most excellent and seriously funny: Post-Dated: The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk) and now we have Peter Tea‘s genuine (and genuinely funny at times) new voice enriching the mix. I won’t say much more (Peter can speak quite well for himself), except to encourage you to pay a visit to Peter’s blog and especially … Continue reading Rice for Five Years: The Life of a Bonsai Apprentice

Michael’s Miraculous Escape

A famous Foemina juniper after Michael Hagedorn ruined it (just kidding…). Photos are from Michael’s Crataegus Bonsai. Tar and feathers If I was inclined to envy, I think I’d chose Michael Hagedorn’s writing skills to be envious of (taking nothing away from his considerable bonsai skills). Fortunately, my experience is more one of appreciation than envy (still, if I could only….). Anyway, I’ll let Michael speak for himself: “No matter how assured you are, changing the design of a famous tree is done with a deep intake of breath. One takes precautions. Like boarding up windows and doors, in premonition … Continue reading Michael’s Miraculous Escape

Weekly Wire: Nifty Nebari, Bonsai Cloud & What Happened to Fresno?

Pemphis acidula by Gedemerta Bonsaibali. For a while now, facebook has been inundated with bonsai by Gedemerta. Turns out, that’s a good thing if you like exciting tropical bonsai. If you’re not friends on facebook, you can see more of Gede Merta’s trees on Beial blog (on facebook it’s Gedemerta; on Beial it’s Gede Merta). Bonsai from Scratch prizes Are there any winners out there who haven’t collected their prizes yet? If so, please contact me at  wayne@stonelantern.com. Do you have an upcoming bonsai event that you want to promote? Let us know and we’ll publish it for you. wayne@stonelantern.com. … Continue reading Weekly Wire: Nifty Nebari, Bonsai Cloud & What Happened to Fresno?

Wire By The Ton & A Simple Lesson

A very simple wiring lesson. It’s pretty self explanatory, but if you need more explanation, check out ‘Wiring a Young Tree’ in Bonsai Today issue 107 (Bonsai Today back issues are currently 70% off at Stone Lantern). That’s a lot of bonsai wire It’s now official. We have sold almost exactly one ton of Bonsai Aesthetics wire since we started offering it on June 26th of this year. Two very good reasons There are two very good reasons why Bonsai Aesthetics wire is so popular: first, quality: it’s easy to use and it holds very well. Second, low prices. 1 … Continue reading Wire By The Ton & A Simple Lesson

A Penjing Symphony in Three Movements

This super-sized three part penjing is by Robert Steven; renowned bonsai artist, teacher and author, and frequent contributor to this blog. In Robert Steven’s own words “This is a super large penjing I did two weeks ago. The total length is three meters (about 10 feet). I combined three large special-order white marble trays in the arrangement in order to give a unique presentation in perspective and composition. The mountains were made of real rocks by a friend who hollowed some areas for planting the trees (Triphasia trifolia, aka Limeberry). The problem was to find a background for the photo, … Continue reading A Penjing Symphony in Three Movements

World’s Youngest Bonsai Master?

Too cute for a serious bonsai blog? Maybe, but I’m impressed that he appears to be picking off unhealthy needles. Then there’s his strikingly high forehead and overall large cranium. Maybe he does know exactly what he’s doing. The photos in this post are all is lifted from Sandy Fathurachman’s facebook page. Begging two questions Too cute? Much of the internet in general and facebook in particular, is devoted to cute, so it’s not surprising that we would eventually come across something like the photos shown here. The question is; do we have to give in to what appears to … Continue reading World’s Youngest Bonsai Master?

Still Scratching (the Judges backs)

New England’s best. Teddi Scobi’s easy-going personal style is a big reason for New England Bonsai’s success for the past 27 years (photo is from New England Bonsai’s Kaikou School of Bonsai). If you don’t believe me, visit New England Bonsai and meet her for yourself. Be sure to tell her I said hello. Still scratching Judges Though we already featured our judges once, for some reason I feel compelled to do it again. I think it’s because I’m already getting excited about our next Bonsai from Scratch Contest (here’s an early post on the just completed 2011 contest) and … Continue reading Still Scratching (the Judges backs)

A Bonsai Story

This famous old Japanese white pine appears on the cover of Bonsai Today 43 (below) and in the gallery section of our Pine book (Bonsai Today Masters’ Series Pines: Growing and Styling Japanese Black and White Pines). It originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 31 where it is restyled by Japan’s most famous bonsai master, Masahiko Kimura and subsequently won the President’s Award  at the 9th Taiken-ten Bonsai Exhibition. A revised version of this article later appears in The Magician, The Bonsai Art of Kimura 2. Back in good hands I stumbled upon the photo below in a 2009 post … Continue reading A Bonsai Story

Million Dollar (Plus!) Bonsai in Perspective

I just received this photo from Bill Valavanis. It’s that Million Dollar Japanese white pine we featured a few days ago. Now you can get a little perspective (size-wise at least). Bill’s remarks Here are Bill Valavanis‘ remarks that he sent along with the photo. Hi Wayne, I’ve just returned home from Japan and saw your post on my friend’s bonsai, the Million Dollar specimen. The million dollar bonsai WAS actually sold and at the current exchange rate on the sale day was $1,282,000. The tree is a grafted Miyajima Japanese five-needle pine which has not been on display since … Continue reading Million Dollar (Plus!) Bonsai in Perspective

Capital Bonsai

Changing color for over 100 years. Japanese Elm (Zelkova serratta), in training since 1896, donated by Yoshibumi Itoigawa. From Capital Bonsai, the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum‘s new blog. Beautiful trees, beautiful blog Our friends at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum have a great new blog (Capital Bonsai) that we’re excited about. So far (two posts in) it features some of their world-class bonsai in their fall finest (Autumn Bonsai), and a story about Yugi Yoshimura and the Museum’s first bonsai that features some wonderful old photos. We’ve got a small taste here to whet your appetite; there’s plenty … Continue reading Capital Bonsai