Wire All the Way Out to the Tips and Don’t Forget to Take It All Off

Japanese white pine bunjin wired at Taisho en. From ‘The Art of Bonsai.’ Taking the first Sunday of spring (ha!) off today, so we’ll dig it into the vast wealth buried in our archives. The original is titled Wiring Tips: Take It All Off (but not too early). It appeared in May of 2011. BTW: it’s no accident that it’s about wiring. Our Big Kilo Wire Sale ends tonight and I thought this might serve as a good reminder. It this light, I’ve added something called Wiring All the Way Out to the Tips from another earlier post. Take it … Continue reading Wire All the Way Out to the Tips and Don’t Forget to Take It All Off

Two Bonsai Critiques by Robert Steven

Robert Steven’s simulation of a Ficus that was submitted by Yessi Ariesta (see before photo below). It has been a while since we’ve featured a Robert Steven critique and now, out of the blue, we’re blessed with two. The first tree is somewhat dramatic as are Robert’s changes. The second tree is much simpler and that simplicity is carried over with more subtle changes. For years now Robert Steven has been remarkably generous with his free critiques (the word free should be emphasized; what other world renowned bonsai artist and teacher offers something like this?). So why not take advantage … Continue reading Two Bonsai Critiques by Robert Steven

Nothing but Eat, Sleep and Bonsai for Two Weeks

In Jeremiah Lee’s own words … “Here are a couple trees that Juan recently worked on. I got to see him clean up and style this bad ass twisty Shimpaku.” From Jeremiah’s two week apprenticeship at Aichi-En Bonsai Nursery. Juan is Juan Andrade, a soon to be famous international bonsai artist (if he isn’t famous already). This and the other photos in this post are by Jeremiah. I’ve been a fan of Jeremiah Lee’s Yenling Bonsai blog for a while now (here’s an earlier Bark post that owes its existence to Jeremiah). Not only does Jeremiah take very good photos, but … Continue reading Nothing but Eat, Sleep and Bonsai for Two Weeks

Robert & the Tao of Bonsai

Another Robert Steven bonsai masterpiece. He doesn’t say what kind of tree it is but it looks a lot like a Pemphis. This morning I set out to post two new critiques by Robert Steven, but was foiled by a computer glitch (hopefully temporary).* Meanwhile, I discovered a new photo (above) that Robert just put up on his facebook feed. Because Robert only put up one new photo, I’m posting some photos (below) from an older Bark post (February 2011) that features a small sampling of Robert Steven’s great bonsai and some strange text from a day when I must … Continue reading Robert & the Tao of Bonsai

A Fabulous Fake

Whatever it is, it’s wonderful. We just featured this ‘bonsai’ in our last post. Turns out it’s a fabulous fake. Or, maybe fake isn’t the right word. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that it’s a wonderful clay representation of a bonsai. The artist is Paul Finch, according to Nik Rozman. Running behind today so we’ve dipped into our archives and come up with this hodgepodge post from January 2012. Some dated events were removed for obvious reasons. Some unnecessarily wordy copy was also removed. Before and after. It helps to start with great stock. Still, it takes … Continue reading A Fabulous Fake

Two Pines Before & After, plus a Short Treatise on Bunjin

After. Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora) by Naoki Maeoka. Not to be confused with our native Red pine (Pinus resinosa) which are common here in Vermont, but alas, are not great bonsai subjects (unlike the Japanese red pine). If you look at the trunk it’s obvious why they call them red pines (the same goes for our native red pine). On a more frivolous note, I can’t help but think of a ski jumper every time I see this remarkable tree. A talented new kid on the block. Both of the trees shown here are from Naoki Maeoka’s face book … Continue reading Two Pines Before & After, plus a Short Treatise on Bunjin

Satsuki Azalea Trimming Lesson

This old Satsuki azalea, with its massive trunk and wild display of mixed up flowers is from our Satsuki Azaleas for Bonsai & Azalea Enthusiasts book by Robert Z. Callaham (Stone Lantern Publishing). Trying to get out of town for a little R&R, so thought I’d dig this short and sweet Azalea post out of our archives. It’s from the early years (February 2010). Satsuki shears are used to shape azaleas after the spring bloom and before the new buds set in the late summer/early fall. Not only does this technique keep azaleas in shape, it can also increase next … Continue reading Satsuki Azalea Trimming Lesson

Americans Abroad

This beautifully flowing Sargent juniper(Juniperus chinensis var. Sargentii ‘Itoigawa’ – aka Itoigawa Shimpaku) belongs to Douglas Paul, the owner of The Kennett Collection (we’ve featured The Collection here on Bark). This and the other photos in this post are borrowed from Bill Valavanis’ Bonsai blog. Just in case you are not familiar with Kokufu ten, it’s a bonsai exhibition that takes place in Tokyo once a year and is widely considered the world’s most famous and prestigious bonsai event. 2015 was its 89th year, which I believe makes it the world’s oldest bonsai exhibition as well as the most famous. Simply … Continue reading Americans Abroad

Bonsai Wiring Lesson

Front view of a freshly trimmed and wired Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris) by Luis Vallejo. This photo and the others shown here are from Luis’ facebook feed. It’s not often we find good bonsai technique photos on facebook, so I got a little excited when I stumbled across a whole bunch of great photos of a freshly wire Scot’s pine by Luis Vallejo and thought you might like to see them too. I won’t attempt to show all of Luis’ photos in the series. You can make the short journey to his facebook feed if you’d like to see them. … Continue reading Bonsai Wiring Lesson

Still Crazy…

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). I usually try to come up with a good excuse for resorting to our archives (rather than going to the trouble to come up with something new), but today there’s no good excuse. Unless you think laziness qualifies. This post originally appeared in November 2013. It was titled ‘Crazy Bonsai.’ Beyond laziness, another reason … Continue reading Still Crazy…