While We’re Waiting – Part 1

This Shohin display is from Suthin Sukosolvisit’s Bonsai Gallery. Every National Bonsai Exhibition has featured at least one these by Suthin. This year I challenged myself to pick out Suthin’s display as I walked into the Shohin section of the Exhibition. It was easy. Taking nothing away from some other wonderful displays, still, Suthin’s immediately demanded my attention from across the room. Though word is trickling out, we’ll wait for the official announcement (and photos) of the winners of the 4th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition before we say anything. Meanwhile, here’s a collection of bonsai that belong to some of … Continue reading While We’re Waiting – Part 1

Stepping Out of Character for Just a Moment

The first thing that caught my eye in this photo is the tree’s overall graceful fluid movement. Next is the swirling gnarl that, for lack of a better word, we’ll call the trunk (see below). This photo and the others shown here are from a recent facebook post by Robert Steven. Robert Steven is, without a doubt, the artist most featured here on Bonsai Bark. You can chalk that up to him being one of the most accomplished and innovative bonsai artists in the world. Prolific too. But there’s more. We don’t usually do lists here nor do we usually … Continue reading Stepping Out of Character for Just a Moment

Mixed Maple Bonsai Forest

This playful mixed Japanese maple bonsai forest is by Juan José Bueno Gil. I’m off to work on a mixed forest of my own at a Memorial weekend gala at Shin Boku nursery in New Hampshire. So we’re in a bit of a rush morning. What we usually do when pressed for time is plunder our archives. This one is from April 2011. Rare indeed You don’t see too many mixed bonsai forests, and my guess is that you’ve never seen one with this many varieties (above). They may all be the same species for sure (Acer palmatum), but they … Continue reading Mixed Maple Bonsai Forest

Penjing Vs Bonsai

Robert Steven’s simulation of a Japanese black pine that was submitted by Mike Liu (Mike’s original is below). Still out of town and still digging deep into our archives. This one is from almost three years ago (December 2010). It’s original title is: Robert Steven Critiques a Black Pine and Offers Some Insights into the Five Schools of Penjing. It’s one of many brilliant Robert Steven critiques, though, aside from starting with such a well developed tree, what sets it apart is Robert’s discussion of the five schools of Chinese Penjing. As you may know, Robert is a world famous … Continue reading Penjing Vs Bonsai

Bonsai Critique Times 2 Plus 3(D)

Simulation number two by Robert Steven. Simulation number one is below. (Our reasons for putting the second one first is NOT to confuse you; it’s just that we like it more). Simulation number one by Robert Steven. A first This is the first time Robert Steven has presented us with a two part critique. It’s also the first time we’ve offered a 3D image. Rather than confuse the issue any further than we already have (see above), we’ll just go straight to what Robert has to say. Robert’s two part Jun Ilaga citique in his own words These two pictures … Continue reading Bonsai Critique Times 2 Plus 3(D)

Weekly Wire: Tasmania! Tule Fog & an Unimpressive Little Baobab

Holy Toledo! (as my dad used to say). Great tree and a most excellent photo. Now if everyone only paid this much attention to detail when they shoot their bonsai. It belongs to Piotr Czerniachowski (here’s a YouTube demo by Piotr) and has been accepted for the 2012 Noelanders Trophy exhibition. I found the photo on facebook. Speaking of the Noelanders Trophy Exhibition, here a tree from their 2011 show. I lifted it from this YouTube video. If it looks familiar to you, it might be because we featured it in a post almost two years ago (that photo … Continue reading Weekly Wire: Tasmania! Tule Fog & an Unimpressive Little Baobab

That Old Argument Resurfaces

Hinoki cypress by Dan Robinson. From Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees. An excellent example of a naturalistic bonsai. Judging from your comments… There are two ways we can gauge reader interest. One is by the number of visits to a particular post (our host keeps track for us), and the other is your comments. Judging from your comments, the discussion about the virtues of highly refined Japanese bonsai vs a more naturalistic western style (championed by Walter Pall among others) is a topic that at some of you are interested in. I count myself among this interested group. An impassioned comment … Continue reading That Old Argument Resurfaces

Stealing from Michael Once Again: Matt Reel & Other Bonsai News

Matt Reel. Another American apprentice in Japan. From Kinbon magazine via Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai. Japan’s most prestigious I don’t think it’s very often that a young American bonsai apprentice shows up in Kinbon, Japan’s most prestigious bonsai magazine. The artist is Matt Reel, who has been apprenticing in Japan under Shinji Suzuki since 2006. Matt is from Portland, Oregon (that’s where Michael Hagedorn and Crataegus reside). If you’d like see more photos and read what Michael has to say about Matt, you can visit Crataegus (one of my favorite bonsai sites). Michael’s excellent book Michael Hagedorn also apprenticed in … Continue reading Stealing from Michael Once Again: Matt Reel & Other Bonsai News

Swept Away

Doing what you can We encourage you to think about helping the Omachi family. You can simply send your contribution to the address above, or, if you have questions you can contact marco@marcoinvernizzi.com. Doing what we can Stone Lantern is pledging 10% of all sales of Japanese items to the Japanese Red Cross and several of our contributors and customers have already pledged their help by donating contest winnings (see comments here).

Japan Personal: Time to Help

We are still waiting to hear from our friends and colleagues at Koyo Tool Company in Osaka (marked by the balloon with the A). They were a fairly safe distance from the quake epicenter (roughly where you see the black circle) and far from the ravages of the Tsunami, but we still haven’t heard from them, so we are concerned. We will let you know when we do. Bonsai nurseries We also haven’t heard anything about any Japanese bonsai growers. Many are in the Omiya area (green circle northeast of Tokyo), which is quite close to the epicenter of the … Continue reading Japan Personal: Time to Help