Scratch Contast Last Day & An Unusual Bonsai Treat

Mini bonsai wire sculpture by Ken To. Last chance Today is the last day to send us your final photos for our $1,000 Bonsai from Scratch Contest. There’s really not that much more to say about it right now, except that as soon as we can sort through all the entrants and get the judges on board, we’ll announce the winners (some patience might be in order here). If you’re curious, here are some details. Ken To’s bonsai art I’ve been intrigued by Ken To’s wire bonsai sculptures for some time. Now, thank to a post by Ken on facebook, … Continue reading Scratch Contast Last Day & An Unusual Bonsai Treat

Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire

I’m in San Francisco for a few days, so why not lead with the Bonsai Society of San Francisco? I’ve perused plenty of bonsai society websites and the BSSF’s is, without a doubt, one of the most informative and complete. In conjunction with the site, they also have a monthly newsletter; Fog City Bonsai. This amazing tree is one of many world-class bonsai at the Shinpukuji Temple bonsai museum. It’s from Boon Manakitivipart’s excellent Japan adventure. You can enjoy more photos from Boon’s trip and much more at Bonsai Tonight. Bonsai Apprenticeship minus the suffering From Peter Tea’s blog: … Continue reading Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire

Robert’s Bonsai Safari

Acacia by Robert Steven. Robert’s bonsai safari Here’s a note I just received from our good friend Robert Steven: “Here is my first African style bonsai, an acacia I did in Namibia, inspired by the trees we saw during our bonsai safari in Namibia, maybe you want to share…” Just in case you don’t know who Robert is… … well, he’s one of the most accomplished bonsai artists, teachers, and authors anywhere. We feature Robert’s critiques regularly here on Bonsai Bark and we offer his excellent books and his line of bonsai tools and wire (Bonsai Aesthetics) at Stone Lantern. … Continue reading Robert’s Bonsai Safari

Vacation Gallery & Scratch Prizes

This kind of monster tropical bonsai is not all that uncommon in Taiwan. It’s a Ficus microcarpa by Chen, Wen-Zhong. It won the Superior Prize at the 2010 Taiwan Bonsai Creator Association. Height: 100cm, Style: Raft. Vacation quickie I’m supposed to be on vacation (if only…) so I’ll make it quick. Here’s a gallery of monster bonsai from Taiwan that turned up on facebook. I hope you enjoy it. $1,000 Bonsai from Scratch deadline Don’t wait much longer. You’ve got one week to send us your final submissions (no later than Oct 15th). Here are the details. Two more gift … Continue reading Vacation Gallery & Scratch Prizes

Tea Time in Japan

An old Black pine at Aichi-en bonsai nursery, after Peter Tea worked on it for three days. Bonsai apprentice Peter Tea is an American bonsai artist who recently became an apprentice at Aichi-en in Japan. Aichi-en, which is known for primarily for Black pine bonsai, is owned and operated by Mr. Junichiro Tanaka. One thing that makes Peter’s apprenticeship particularly interesting, is his on-going chronicle (blog) of his experience at Aichi-en. Peter is not the first to write about his apprenticeship (see Michael Hagedorn’s excellent book: Post-Dated – The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk), but so far, what he … Continue reading Tea Time in Japan

Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire

Boon Manakitivipart (Bonsai Boon) discovered this muscular Kuromatsu on his latest trip to Japan. You can visit Bonsai Tonight for more. Something new A while back we tried to get a bonsai calendar off the ground. After what seemed like lack of interest from our readers, we abandoned the idea. Now we have another idea, it’s related to the calendar notion, but more expansive. We’ll call it Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire for now. Rather than try to explain, we’ll just get started and see where it goes. This year’s BCI tour is timed to coincide with two of … Continue reading Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire

A Happy Bonsai Artist

Reverse taper? No problem that a little carving can’t solve. I know it’s a Yew (Taxus), but I’m not sure which species (can’t find the original to confirm). It belongs to David Benavente. If you’re ever in Spain… … think about paying a visit to David Benavente’s bonsai studio. A while back we posted some photos of David’s studio/nursery. I was taken with the artistry of the display and of course, the trees. Here’s a few more trees and another display shot to whet your appetite. Have you ever seen a display area this perfect? Full cascade Scot’s … Continue reading A Happy Bonsai Artist

Revisiting Redwood Bonsai

Off to a very good start. Though the branching is young and has a ways to go, the trunk, with its power and character, bodes well for the future of this tree. You can find it along with other quality bonsai at Bonsai Smiths. Redwood Empire A few posts ago, we showed four excellent Coastal Redwood bonsai from the 2011 Redwood Empire Bonsai Show (courtesy of Jonas at Bonsai Tonight). They were unattributed, so we didn’t know who they belonged to. Now, thanks to Cory Jones, we know that the first two in the post belong to Bob Shimon (Mendocino … Continue reading Revisiting Redwood Bonsai

$50 Bonsai Detective Art Contest

Illustration number 1 Win a $50 gift certificate to Stone Lantern The first person to correctly identify the artist of each of the 10 bonsai illustrations in this post will win a 50$ gift certificate to Stone Lantern (see 3. below for exception). Details 1. You must send your answers to me: wayne@stonelantern.com. Answers posted to comments (below) will be deleted and disregarded. 2. Contest ends October 10, 2011. 3. If no one has correctly identified all the artists by October 10th, then the person with the most correctly identified artists will win. 2 3 4 … Continue reading $50 Bonsai Detective Art Contest

Slow Down & Stop Thinking So Much

Michael Hagedorn reworked this collected Sierra juniper (grafted with shimpaku) in a half-day refinement session at the Weyerhaeuser collection in Federal Way, Washington, way back in 2009. The before photo is below. Sight of the Blind Man It’s very rare to find writing that explores what goes on with our thoughts and feelings when we work on our bonsai. Mostly we just talk about our trees and what we want to do to them or what we already did to them. That’s why I was surprised and delighted when I read Michael Hagedorn’s latest post on Crataegus Bonsai, Sight of … Continue reading Slow Down & Stop Thinking So Much