Cuttings

Show Time

This Japanese holly won a prize at the Taikan-ten. Photo is from Peter Tea’s blog. What happens when two American bonsai apprentices help prepare for a major Japanese bonsai show? A lot of work and energy go into a major bonsai show. What you see are the results; magnificent bonsai beautifully displayed. What you normally don’t see is everything else; the behind scenes efforts that make for a good show. Both Peter Tea (Journey of a Bonsai Apprentice at Aichi-en) and Jonas Dupuich (Bonsai Tonight) present a behind the scenes view of the Taikan-ten Bonsai Exhibition* in their latest posts. They … Continue reading Show Time

Million Dollar Bonsai

This magnificent White pine was sold at the 11th Asia-Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki Convention & Exhibition in at Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan, earlier this month. As you can see, the asking price was 100,000,000 yen (that’s close to 1.3 million dollars). I don’t know what the actual sales price was. Photo borrowed from Bonsai Tonight. $1,000,000 for a bonsai? I’ve heard of million dollar bonsai before, but don’t know if I’ve ever seen one (in person or in a photo). We don’t really know what this one sold for, but still, an asking price of 1.3 million dollars is a little … Continue reading Million Dollar Bonsai

Weekly Wire 8 & Scratch Honorable Mention Winners

Bunjin pine from Bonsai Today magazine. We’ve been talking about Bunjin style bonsai quite a bit lately, so why not stay on topic? This one’s trunk is a little heavier than most bunjin, but no problem. The same goes for the crown; it too is a little heavier than crowns on most bunjins, but goes well with the heavy trunk. One of this tree’s distinguishing features, the vertical downward direction of the right branch, is characteristic of many bunjin style trees.   Marco Invernizzi, Bill Valavanis and Isao Omachi Your generosity comes to fruition: I received this note and photo … Continue reading Weekly Wire 8 & Scratch Honorable Mention Winners

More Bonsai from Scratch Winners

Mark Arpag’s Dwarf Hinoki cypress is the third place winner in our Bonsai from Scratch Contest. Mark’s prize is a $150 gift certificate to Stone Lantern. See below for before photo. Judges comments “Nice crown, I like the way wire is used at the top. Wire could be used on lower branches on the right to the same effect.” Excellent; some confusing foliage/branching between the trunks; also, subdivide low branch pad on the small trunk, it’s too large for the trunk size.”   “Couldn’t tell what we have from looking at the stock. Nice outcome.”  “Great overall flow. Could reduce … Continue reading More Bonsai from Scratch Winners

A Very Close Second

Tom Duong’s juniper (prostrata?) was a very close second in our Bonsai from Scratch contest. Second place prize Congratulations to Tom Duong, our Bonsai from Scratch contest second place winner. Tom’s juniper gave Aaron Klalid’s juniper a real run. Tom’s second place prize is a $250 gift certificate from Stone Lantern. Judges comments “Strong entrant. Using a branch to cover the abrupt bend on the main trunk is a good choice. Nicely wired crown.” “Great performance; some of the larger foliage masses lack clarity and definition, such as the large low branch to the left, and the smaller trunk is … Continue reading A Very Close Second

The Winner!

Aaron Khalid’s Squamata juniper finished first in our Bonsai from Scratch contest. The prize Congratulations to Aaron Khalid, our Bonsai from Scratch contest first place winner. Aaron’s prize for finishing first is a $400 gift certificate from Stone Lantern (we’ll devote our next post to the rest of the prize winners). Judges comments Here are a few comments on Aaron’s tree by our judges: “Suberb; well-balanced and clean design.”  “Great tree, though I like the back better than the front.” “Excellent Bunjin style bonsai, a dramatic improvement.” “Nice touch. The wiring on the branches is excellent.” My comment So many … Continue reading The Winner!

Old News on the Pacific Rim

  This stately Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) is from Weyerhaeuser’s  Pacific Rim Bonsai collection. The photo is from a gallery of Pacific Rim bonsai from Kahlua Bonsai on facebook. I was going to use this photo to start a post on Formal upright bonsai when, in the course of a little research, I stumbled upon an important piece of old news about the Pacific Rim Collection. Better late…. Way back in April 2009 we featured a post titled Pacific Rim; a Glimpse of What You Can’t See. The Pacific Rim refers to Weyerhaeuser’s rather famous bonsai collection in Washington (near … Continue reading Old News on the Pacific Rim

A Bunjin Story

I borrowed this unusual Bunjin style Sierra juniper from Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai. The article is titled Developing an Unpromising Sierra Juniper Bunjin – student work from Seasonal. There’s something about threes It often works to divide things into thirds to better understand them and for discussion sake. In this tree’s case, you might be struck by the fact that it has three distinct sections: 1. The base. The lowest part starts with a radical slant then takes an abrupt twist. This sudden change of direction is both fluid and abrupt and tells much of the tree’s story. It’s a … Continue reading A Bunjin Story

Weekly Wire 7: The Old School Way

Displaying bonsai the old school way. It’s always great to see a world-class bonsai displayed in a well-put-together Tokonoma. It’s from Kunio Kobayashi’s website. Just in case you haven’t heart of Mr. Koybayahsi, he’s considered by many to one of the world’s most prominent bonsai masters. Speaking of Bonsai Masters: We almost never use the term here on Bonsai Bark or at Stone Lantern. In fact, I think we’ve used it only for Masahiko Kimura and Kunio Kobayashi. This is not to say there aren’t others in their league, it just that it’s such a tricky term that’s so often … Continue reading Weekly Wire 7: The Old School Way

A One Tree Post

This powerful and compact little gem belongs to Andy Doerfliger. It’s a Carpinus coreana (Korean hornbeam). BTW: Andy is a prime mover in Bonsaiautumn, one of Europe’s premier bonsai events. Unfortunately, this year’s show, Bonsaiautumn 7 was the last one (for more on this, see our Weekly Wire 7, coming in the next day or two). Only one tree? I think this is our first ever one-tree post. There are not one, but two good reasons for this. 1. It’s a great tree and is worthy of a post all to itself, and 2. The world is whispering in my … Continue reading A One Tree Post