Who Doesn’t Love Good Multi-Trunk Bonsai with Their Morning Coffee?

Trident maple at the 2013 Taikan-ten Exhibition which is happening right now (Nov 18-26). There’s a lot going on with the tree; three major trunks and a baby one sticking out the back, a large mounding nebari and a whole lot of movement. I particularly like the trunk on the right that emerges from the base of the nebari (the base of the base). I borrowed the photo from Bjorn Bjorholm (facebook of course). I started this post thinking we’d show a few Taikan-ten Exhibition trees from the last few years. A sort of mini-history lesson. But that proved too … Continue reading Who Doesn’t Love Good Multi-Trunk Bonsai with Their Morning Coffee?

Rehashing Raw Stock

Robert Steven’s simulation of a tree that was submitted by David Royinsyah (below). Another broken promise Even though I promised I wouldn’t do any rehashed posts for a while, my day is already full and it just happens to be my birthday, so I’m going to cut myself a little slack. Anyway, what better to rehash than a Robert Steven critique? This one originally appeared almost three years ago. Robert’s vision and artistry This one is quite unusual. The stock is totally raw and not that interesting. Robert simply manufactured all the branching and the foliage from nothing and the … Continue reading Rehashing Raw Stock

Chaos & Harmony

A couple things qualify this bonsai as unusual. First, as you can see, it’s got all kind of lines looping and jutting in an almost chaotic fashion. But there’s a method to the madness. All the loops and juts not only add interest and excitement, but they come together into a very compelling overall shape. Second is the fact that it’s a Procumbens juniper. A species that you don’t see that often as specimen level bonsai. You do see a lot of dwarf Procumbens as little beginners’ trees here in north America, but that’s another story. Bjorn Bjorholm is one … Continue reading Chaos & Harmony

Pretty Good, But Not Good Enough

Robert Steven’s simulation of a Pemphis acidula that was submitted by Nurul Fajri (the original photo is below). When I opened my email from Robert Steven and glanced at the before photo (below), I thought it was the after photo. But only for a moment. It’s the pot that gave it away. The rest looked pretty good. Beyond pretty good actually (some of us might trade our entire collections for a tree like this). But not good enough for Robert who always seems to find ways to improve any bonsai (maybe we should challenge him improve a Kimura masterpiece… just … Continue reading Pretty Good, But Not Good Enough

Making an Apex Look Like an Apex

After. Compacting the apex of a Japanese white pine. Borrowed without permission from our friend and teacher, Michael Hagedorn (can you really borrow something without permission?). The before photo is below. It has been a while since we plundered from Crataegus. It’s the before and after apex that caught my attention (the other photos are just for the fun of it). Reason being, that for many of us, figuring out how to make an apex look like an apex is no mean feat. Maybe this will help. A little slice of Crataegus Bonsai. Those doors lead into Michael’s spacious … Continue reading Making an Apex Look Like an Apex

Invisible (& Visible) Bonsai

Aside from the fact that this is a remarkable bonsai, there’s the play of light and shadow on the wall. Though I didn’t set out to chose photos with shadows, because there are so many great trees to chose from, it seems like a good way to narrow it down a bit. The photo is from Segundo Congreso y Concurso de Bonsai via Bonsai Fachforum. The remarkable bonsai you see here turned up on Bonsai Fachforum, a German language site that is overflowing with photos of great trees. The Spanish language poster (see below) says Segundo Congreso y Concurso de … Continue reading Invisible (& Visible) Bonsai

Less Is Still Enough

Shimpaku juniper. This photo is titled ‘Shugaten 2013 – Tokyo Ueno.’ Guillaume Billaud posted it on facebook. I’m not sure I need to say anything about this magnificent little bonsai except that that’s a whole lot of tree to fit into such a small pot and I’m delighted that someone bothered. BTW: Shugaten is being held right now (until the end of this month). Shohin again (see our previous post). Enough said for now… Shohin Pyracantha with yellow berries. A couple things jump out. First are the luminous berries. Without these, I don’t think we’d bother. With these, we’d … Continue reading Less Is Still Enough

Less Is Enough

I think this one qualifies as Mame (‘bean’ in Japanese). Bonsai-wise, mame is a common word for the very smallest bonsai. I found it on Pinterest. It says Repinned via Luciano Guimarães. I’m not sure exactly what that means but my best guess is that this tree does not belong to Luciano. The photo had the Bonsai Empire logo in the corner (now cropped out to magnify the tree), but I couldn’t find it on their site. In any case it’s a sweet little gem and so’s the pot. “Shohin are small bonsai. When compared to large bonsai, shohin cost … Continue reading Less Is Enough

So Fine & Just a Tad Controversial

Japanese maple from Seiko-en Bonsai Garden in Omiya Village, Japan. From Fine Bonsai. Art and Nature. Value added It’s time to resurrect another favorite from our illustrious past. This time with some value added in the form of a few new words and three new photos (including the one above). First the new words: Fine Bonsai is a tad controversial. Some people give it a big shrug (or worse), while some others (like me) are very enthusiastic. I think the shrugs may miss the point. This is not a tradition bonsai art book. Rather, it’s a photographic art book, with … Continue reading So Fine & Just a Tad Controversial

Crazy Bonsai

I’ve seen this one somewhere but couldn’t find it on a search of Bark, so I think we’re safe. Safe or not, it’s hard to deny the mind stopping power and originality of this bonsai. It’s by Luis Vila and the photo is by Salvador De Los Reyes. We pinched it from Empire Bonsai (apologies to Salvador and Empire for our crop; we wanted to maximize the tree). Once again we’ve been out stealing from honest, hard-working folks. And we’re not even that embarrassed. I suppose we’re redeemed by our fanatical devotion to attribution (if you want to be a … Continue reading Crazy Bonsai