American Tropical Bonsai, Hurricane Andrew & One Penjing

Would you say that this prize winning Ficus neriifolia by Ed Trout looks relaxed and sensuous? Maybe, but it’s hard to deny its powerful trunk and nebari which lend stability to the tree’s natural uncontrived look. Monday morning and too much going on around here, so it’s time to dig into our archives once again. This one is from all the way back in April 2010. It was titled Tropical Bonsai with Mary Miller & Friends. I’ve enlarged and brightened the photos a bit, and done a little rewriting. All the photos were originally from Bonsai Mary. Mary Miller is … Continue reading American Tropical Bonsai, Hurricane Andrew & One Penjing

A Magnificent Monster & Bjorn’s Online Bonsai Course

The magnificent monster was sent to us by Oscar at Bonsai Empire. It’s part of a package about Bjorn Bjorholm’s upcoming online intermediate bonsai course. This post is not so much about this tree above (or the others shown here) as it is about an upcoming online bonsai course by Bjorn Bjorholm. However, I will assume a connection… that Bjorn at some point had a hand and scissors in them all. He has been fortunate in that regard; his six plus years of apprenticeship under the famous Bonsai master Keiichi Fujikawa afforded countless opportunities to advance his hard earned skills … Continue reading A Magnificent Monster & Bjorn’s Online Bonsai Course

Dancing on the Edge of Balance

Juan Andrade’s precariously balanced Japanese white pine stone planting. If I understand the translation from Spanish, the stone is not bolted, glued or tied down in any way. Though when someone asked if it is stable in the wind, Juan replied “Yes, the stone is very heavy. But still it is tied down for safety.” This photo was cropped. The uncropped original is below.* Here is what the artist Juan Andrade said about the rock planting above: “Sometimes as artists we struggle to find our own voice… Bonsai that dance in the edge of balance satisfy me the most. I … Continue reading Dancing on the Edge of Balance

An Old Ponderosa Engulfed by 31 Little Mugos

There’s a very cool old Ponderosa pine hidden in there somewhere. The handiwork is by Colin Lewis. Here’s his caption: “Thirty-one approach grafts of mugo onto ponderosa. Got fed up with long needles that get longer as the season progresses. Wish I’d done this years ago.” I discovered the photo above at about 6am this morning while perusing facebook (the NY Times of bonsai news). Just looking at it and reading Colin’s caption (also above) begged more questions than I was prepared to answer. My solution was to bother Colin with 7:00am phone call. As always, Colin was gracious and … Continue reading An Old Ponderosa Engulfed by 31 Little Mugos

Don’t Do It Too Soon but Don’t Wait Too Long

You don’t often see half defoliated trees. You also don’t often see photos of bonsai with both side chopped off, but there was too much noise in the background so this is my solution (you can see the uncropped version here). The tree is a Ficus and the photo is originally from Eduardo Mourão Guedes’s post at Indonesian Bonsai Society. I couldn’t find a live link there but I did find one here. If you live in the tropics you can defoliate a tree like the one above any time of year. However, if you want to defoliate a Ficus … Continue reading Don’t Do It Too Soon but Don’t Wait Too Long

Not to Swamp You with So Many Flowering Bonsai…

An exposed-root, semi-cascade Satsuki azalea with passionate pink flowers. The photo was taken by Hiroyuki Suzuki at the recent Ueno Satsuki Festival. I don’t mean to swamp you with so many flowering Satsuki photos these days, but this is (or just was) their time to shine. And most are high quality bonsai that would be worth a look even without the flowers. With the flowers they are brilliant (unless of course, you’ve become completely jaded). For a little change of pace, we’re intentionally staying away from the heavy trunks and featuring exposed-root and other unusual trunks this time. I borrowed all … Continue reading Not to Swamp You with So Many Flowering Bonsai…

“There’s an intimacy to bonsai that is largely invisible…”

Portrait of a Trident maple by Stephen Voss Stephen Voss seldom shoots the whole bonsai and though I can’t speak for him, it seems as if he searches for the the heart of the tree in details. Like the way bark cracks and flakes, or the sheen on a Trident trunk when the light is just right. We just got our complimentary copies* of Stephen Voss’ remarkable new book, In Training. If you are familiar with Stephen’s work, it’s almost needless to say that it is stunningly beautiful, but we’ll say it anyway… it is stunningly beautiful and to my … Continue reading “There’s an intimacy to bonsai that is largely invisible…”

Before & After Japanese Red Pine Bonsai

Here’s a before and after of a beautiful Bunjin Japanese red pine by Marco Invernizzi. From Marco’s website. Got a couple Japanese pines for you, including the before and after above by our friend Marco Invernizzi. We’ve featured Marco’s bonsai here on Bark going way back to early days and before that in several issues of Bonsai Today. Want to improve the quality of your bonsai? Try wiring all the way out to the tips of the smallest branches. You’ll be astounded by the results. The photo is from Bonsai Today issue 1. Back issues of Bonsai Today are now … Continue reading Before & After Japanese Red Pine Bonsai

Flowering Bonsai & Dissolving Boundaries

It’s a little strange to see such prominent deadwood on an azalea. But then boundaries between acceptable and strange are dissolving in the world of bonsai as they seem to be almost everywhere. A year ago we posted some photos from the 2015 Uneo Satsuki Azalea Festival. Now we’ve got some from the 2016 festival that we lifted from a video by hermanbaik. Most were blown up to fit our format, thus the fuzz. Still, the brilliance of the trees and their flowers can’t help but shine through. More conventional to be sure, but there was a time not too … Continue reading Flowering Bonsai & Dissolving Boundaries

Elegant Bonsai Beauty but Not Really Bonsai

Mixed media wire sculpture by Ken To. Though it might lack the simple elegance of some of Ken’s best, still, so much artistry and fine-tuned craftsmanship in such a small space is quite impressive. When we venture from bonsai into related arts, we sometimes receive a little ‘this is not bonsai‘ flak, but mostly the response is positive. This is the case with Ken To’s delightful little wire sculptures. Perhaps a little flak, but mostly appreciation. This must be about the sixth times we’ve featured Ken’s bonsai sculptures (the first time was back in 2010 when he entered one in … Continue reading Elegant Bonsai Beauty but Not Really Bonsai