Styling

Bonsai from Scratch Judgement Day

It’s almost time for the judges to do their thing. A little update on our Bonsai from Scratch contest We’ve received all the final submissions and the judges have been notified. Now I just have to finish sorting through and organizing all the submissions, and then, off to the judges. When they’ve finished, their numbers will be averaged, and then, the posting of the results. Please be patient. All this will take a little time. Blind justice FYI: lest you’re worried about rampant corruption, the judging will be blind. Our esteemed judges will receive no names with the photos. So … Continue reading Bonsai from Scratch Judgement Day

Improving a Less-Than-Beautiful Design

Robert Steven’s simulation of a Chinese elm root-on-rock bonsai submitted by Ikhsan. The original (before) photo is below. Still impressed No matter how much I try, I don’t see nearly as much as Robert Steven sees when he does his critiques (it’s not even close). So, once again, I am left to sing the praises of Robert’s bonsai wisdom. If you’d like proof of that wisdom, just read on. Or, you can check out Robert’s books and search his name on this blog and read through dozens of his earlier posts. It’s time well spent. Robert’s critique How can two … Continue reading Improving a Less-Than-Beautiful Design

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

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

Deadline for Our Bonsai from Scratch Contest Is Rapidly Approaching

Simon Carr styled this little gem from scratch for an artofbonsai.org contest way back in 2005. It later appeared in Bonsai Today issue 103 in an article entitled ‘Instant Bonsai.’ Which reminds me: all back issues of Bonsai Today are now 65% off. It’s October 15th A friendly reminder to of you who have sent in your before photos of untrained stock, your ‘after’ photos must be received by Oct 15th for our Bonsai from Scratch Contest. That’s just over 2 weeks from now. Don’t procrastinate! There are lots of valuable prizes and you just might win something. You can … Continue reading Deadline for Our Bonsai from Scratch Contest Is Rapidly Approaching

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

Redwood Bonsai at the REBS

Coast Redwood at the Redwood Empire Bonsai Society 28th Annual Show. Photo is by Jonas Dupuich, Bonsai Tonight. Stupendously magnificent Two of the most fascinating trees in the world are the Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and it’s mountain dwelling cousin the Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum). Both are fascinating for the same reason; their stupendously magnificent size. The coast redwood is the tallest tree in the world and the Giant Sequoia is the largest tree in the world. However, the Coast redwood is also very, very large and the Giant sequoia is also very, very tall. Redwood bonsai So far, the … Continue reading Redwood Bonsai at the REBS

Exploring Bonsai Subtleties Courtesy of Robert Steven

Robert’s simulation of a submission by Nyoman Agus (the original is below). Getting down to the finer points So much of what you see and read in bonsai books and elsewhere, just repeats the same old basic principles. Even some of the most experienced teachers seem to fall into this trap. It’s easy to understand, given that bonsai is still fairly young in much of the world and so many of us are still trying to learn those basic principles. But still, it’s a breath of fresh air when someone digs into subtleties that most of us would never think … Continue reading Exploring Bonsai Subtleties Courtesy of Robert Steven

Whoops!

No sooner did I send out the notice about the winner of our $100 Mystery Bonsai Contest, than I got an email from Robert Steven saying he was mistaken when he identified the bonsai number 6 artist. In Robert’s own words: “it belong to Wayan Arthana from Bali….” I wonder if it’s one of those trees that has changed hands a lot, and thus the confusion (I have now seen it attributed to four different people). None of this changes our winner(s). I’m going to stick with Joe Rauscher (and Ferry Freriks in second place). So the only thing that … Continue reading Whoops!

We Have A Winner

This is the tree that gave people the most trouble. You can blame facebook if you’d like (unattributed and mis-attributed bonsai abound in that crazy free-for-all world). We have Robert Steven to thanks for setting us straight on this one. It’s a Pemphis acidula and the artist is Adjie Christian. And the winner of our $100 Mystery Bonsai Contest is…. Master Bonsai Detective, Joe Rauscher. For his diligence, Joe will receive a $100 gift certificate to Stone Lantern (scroll down to the bottom for the correct answers). A close second Ferry Freriks was hot on Joe’s heels, so we’ve decided … Continue reading We Have A Winner